MUNI Nazi

I tell my friends and family visiting the city to never ask a bus driver or other MUNI operator for directions, help or any assistance. They are downright grouchy, grumpy and rude.

Instead, I tell them, ask anyone else from San Francisco. Unlike any other city where I've traveled, San Franciscans transit riders are polite to a fault. They will give you directions, help you find the right bus and even give restaurant suggestions.

But we all know that the MUNI Nazis are downright mean. Now we have proof.

It took Channel 7 (ABC) two years and a lawsuit to get MUNI to release its complaint records. We now know the name of the grouchiest, rudest, and PMSiest operator of all.

Cynthia Thompson has had 139 complaints in three years. That doesn't count the ones that MUNI didn't think deserved any action. She has more complaints against her than any other operator.

Some Quotes:

May 18, 2004: “The operator was on her cell phone from the time she boarded … until she got off.”

January 26, 2005: “She reminds me of the ‘Soup Nazi’ on Seinfeld.”

September 13, 2004: “Extremely rude and unnecessarily rude toward passengers.”

January 2, 2006: “Operator was clipping her nails while driving the bus.”

March 23, 2005: “Close doors on patron’s wrist. Patron had to pull his wrist out to avoid being dragged by the bus.”

October 3, 2005: “The rudest, most disrespectful operator this patron has ever seen.”

Channel 7 had to go ride her bus to get to talk to her. Within minutes, she trapped a little girl's foot in the door. (Click link to see undercover video.)

Soon afterward she committed the unpardonable sin in San Francisco - she used her horn on a car parked in the bus lane. A passenger objected to her use of the horn and she cusses him out and calls the transit police on him. (Click link to see undercover video.)

Both of these were on the same bus ride on the same day! Unfortunately, she is not alone.

I've had my ability to read called into question by train operators. It was my first ride on the train outside the subway. The doors don't open automatically in the Avenues like they do in the subway, even if you step down like you do on buses. The signs telling you to push the almost indistinguishable bar are helpfully placed at shin height.

My 70 year-old mother was treated rudely for asking if she was going the right direction when traveling home by bus while I was in the hospital. But the riders gallantly came to her rescue and verified that she was going the right direction and made sure she knew where to get off the bus.

But for every rude driver, there seems to be one or two that really shine. My nephew and I were on a bus earlier this month. The driver was one of the most friendly and helpful drivers I've ever encountered anywhere.

I wish I'd gotten his name or number so I could have written and praised him to his supervisors. If Ms. Thompson is the MUNI Nazi, he is surely the MUNI Saint.