A List of Bad Manners by Giants Fans

I personally love going to Giants games.  It's a time for me to unwind at a night game after a tough day at work, or spend time with my dad at Sunday afternoon games.

Because of the way the ticketing system works, I don't get a choice in what row to sit in; I sometimes get the choice of what specific section.  One of the more annoying seats I get assigned to is the first row in the upper reserved section.  About half of the time I get assigned the first row, I always get some kind of obstructed view and as you see in the photo, I get a clear view of home plate, but have to view the outfield through the plexiglass while seated.

I'll tell you, there's a lot of fans at AT&T Park that needs a lesson in proper manners.  Here's my list of the most annoying things fans do:

Standing for way too long:  Unless if you are in the very last row in the super nosebleed seats, don't stand-up for too long when there's a spectacular defensive play or a great offensive play like a home run.  Standing-up and cheering at sports games is a tradition, but do it for too long and you become a thorn for fans sitting behind you.  When I stand-up and cheer at an important moment of the game and I know I've been standing longer than I should, I turn around and check the fans behind me; if they are standing and cheering too, I'm okay to continue doing so, but if nearly all of them are sitting, it's time for me to sit.  I haven't noticed this in a few years, but in some cases, if you stand too long or stick out like a thorn too often, I've seen the cops escort the person out because they are too drunk.

Not making room when going through the row:  I hate those moments when you are trying to get to your seat located in the middle of the row and you have to get through about a dozen people.  There's always those people who refuse to stand-up and sometimes will just scoot their legs one way so you don't trip and fall.  Reality check folks, be nice and just please stand-up and shove your calves into the seat as far as you can so you can help your fellow fan get to their seat as quickly as possible.

Using a seat as a step to the next row:  I don't see it that often anymore; there's those fans who puts their feet on a seat to get into the next row.  As I like to say to those who likes to put their feet on seats, "I don't want your foot on my ass, get your feet off the seat!"  The floor is a nasty place, and all I don't want is a nasty beer soaked shoeprint on the rear end of my pants.

Drinking way too much: Stadiums makes handfuls of money selling overpriced little cups of beer, but when people drink way too much, they get on my nerves.  To the fans who drink, beer is treated as liquid gold, and to me, I'll stick to my 75 cent bottled sodas I bought at the grocery store.  When some fans drink too much, they can become belligerent and I've seen my share of fans being arrested for acting like jackasses.

Can #SFGiants fans learn to STAY IN THEIR SEATS until the inning is over? Stop blocking my view!
— Akit (@AgentAkit) July 1, 2012

Those who leave their seats in the middle of the inning: Sitting in the first row has its perks and weaknesses.  I don't understand why people have to leave their seats right in the middle of an inning, especially when the batter is in the box or the ball is still in play.  Is it that important to grab a hot dog or go to the bathroom at that moment during the game?  Why can't you at least wait until the inning is over to leave your seat and go handle your business?  Sometimes it's okay to leave your seat after an out, but only if a fan is sitting close to the aisle, and can make it to the bottom of the steps before the next pitch.  But if you can't make it, then just wait.

While I'm talking about people who leave their seats at the middle of an inning, I'm going to talk about the most annoying fans EVER.

Those who block the views of the front row people:  Yeah, I know you fans, the ones who tries to go to their seats during the middle of a game.  The ushers can only do so much to tell fans to wait until the play is completed to return to your seats.  As I said before, sitting in the front row has its disadvantages and this is one of them.  I'm sitting there watching pitch-by-pitch and you have those fools who walks right into the my view in the middle of a pitch, and sometimes I miss a key play.  I've even had to tell people starting to walk up the stairs to: "please wait, as you are blocking my view of the game."  Sometimes that technique works, other times, they are totally oblivious and just going up the stairs or gives a rude "excuse me."  Other times, there's the fans that goes up the stairs and instead of keep walking, they stand at the step totally blocking my view, while the fan thinks they have a totally unobstructed view of the game.  I usually give them the hand waiving motion to get the hell out of the way, otherwise I start to get verbal.  Here's my tip on when it's the right time to return to your seats: Wait until the inning is over.  Unless if you can run up the stairs and get into your seat from the time the out is declared and the next pitch, JUST WAIT UNTIL THE INNING ENDS.

In summary:

1. Respect others
2. Give courtesy to your fellow fans
3. And have some patience!

I'm probably missing a few items on the list of bad manners.  What's your list of your peeves while at the ballgame?  Leave your comments.

Bad BART Manners - Foot on the Window

I thought some passengers on BART have bad manners, from clipping nails to hogging seats with luggage, but this one reaches new lows.

The photo I just took yesterday afternoon shows the worst manners of all. I was riding from Daly City to Downtown Berkeley on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line and found this guy sleeping on the train by laying on both of the seats. He then proceeded to put one of his feet up against the window when the train was going through the transbay tube up until I had to transfer at 19th Street.

I thought the BART seats was infected with all kinds of nasty bacteria. Surely I don't want to lay my face on one of those funky seats.

BART Passengers to & from SFO Have Bad Manners

This photo just shows the poor manners of BART passengers by leaving their luggage on the train seats and not letting anyone else be allowed to sit on those seats.

I took this picture yesterday (Sunday) on the train heading towards San Francisco International Airport. The trains are a popular option for passengers going and leaving the airport on weekends as most of the seats are usually taken.

In other cases, I have found luggage hogging all the seats in the "quad" area, and on this same train where I took this photo, found a huge piece of luggage blocking the doorway.

Proper manners with luggage is to park your stuff in the open space where wheelchair passengers use or put them in your lap. Here's a photo of people doing it appropriately.

Want to see more photos of bad passengers hogging up space on the train with their luggage? Here's one, another one, oooh another one, and this one is the worst of the worst!

Tourists in San Francisco: Why don't you move to the back of the F-Market?

Here's an itching question that needs an answer:
Is there a reason why tourists hate standing in the back of the F-Market historic streetcars?

I was riding the F-Market today from the platform near Embarcadero station to Pier 39, and when the orange colored Milan car approached, I thought it was crowded. But once I got in, I moved all the way to the back of the car that there was so much room, I could literally lay down on the floor and not even kick someone. During the entire ride, the sardine packed mob that conquered the first 3/4 of the cab and never even moved towards the rear.

Even worse, I was watching people at the boarding platforms frustrated like hell that the trolley skipped them, and seeing me, the only guy with plenty of room in the rear.

Yet... while it is a frequent problem with the tourists, it occasionally happens on the regular Muni routes too. I'd say "excuse me" and "pardon me" to get through the swarm, and there's plenty of comfy room to stand in the rear of the bus!

--------------------

Here's my take to the problem:

I think people always believe the back of the bus is always full of the "bad" people and usually the easiest sign is the graffiti and glass etching on the rear windows and on the walls. Typically, nothing ever happens or goes wrong as people go on their merry way home.

But here's the strange part: the F-Market is relatively clean and always safe. I've never seen any graffiti or destruction to the Milan cars, but the PCCs sometimes have a little graffiti, but not much (maybe because of the knee-banging legroom of the seats close proximity).

So what are the tourists afraid of by not scooting themselves to the back of the F-Market? Would you enjoy having the trolley skip you because tourists can't understand a damn request by the driver to shove your butt to the back?

On several occasions, I even yelled out to people to move to the back of the train, but does anyone even listen? HELL NO. Maybe I should buy a cattle prod.

Serious Thoughts of Why SF Muni has Gone Down the Drain

I was born and raised in San Francisco. I remember riding Muni as a little kid with my late grandmother when the bus fare was just 85 cents for adults, 15 cents for seniors, and just a quarter for the kids. Back then, riding Muni was civilized, people respected each other, the buses were kept clean, and was usually on-time.

But being that I have lived in this city for over twenty years, I have seen a big shift with this public transit agency.

I feel this started about ten years back, Muni was starting on a landslide that they could never truly recover from. I felt this started with the infamous "Muni Meltdown" when the metro system's new automated train system failed miserably, the buses started doing no-shows and illegally skipping stops, and public opinion for the system was going down the drain faster than the P.R. people could fix.

But after all these years, have they recovered? Absolutely not. Things have been much worse. We have graffiti that is impossible to fully erase from inside the buses, the new metro trains break down frequently, passengers hate the fare inspectors, they are dirtier than before, and back door boarding is frequent on the major bus lines.

What happened to the decency when riding public transit? I still remember as a kid that nobody ever entered the back door, especially in areas like Chinatown, now notorious for passengers trying to get in and evade paying their fare. Why do people feel they have an obligation or right to enter the back doors of a transit vehicle when it is clearly not allowed?

I feel that back door boarding was too difficult on Muni with their older generation of buses. The back doors of the past were narrow enough to only let one person exit, or for the two passenger width exits, only one door on your side would open if you stood on the sensor pad; making it pointless to attempt to illegally enter the bus. Today's Muni buses now open both doors upon activating the back door, and it gives an opportunity for passengers to exit one lane while others illegally enter through the other. If Muni wants to buy new buses, they need to use the one door exit measure or be like the current hybrid fleet that has a door that's only wide enough for one passenger to exit at a time.

Interestingly, the most respectable people I find who ride Muni are the peak-hour express bus passengers. At Davis/Pine, they all make neat lines at the stops, everyone enters through the front door, doesn't graffiti or eat food, and keeps cell phone usage to a bare minimum.

Lastly, it never seems fair that the people who obey the rules and policies of Muni gets stiffed with higher fares and cuts to bus lines.

The San Francisco Manners Quiz

I'm going to rip-off an etiquette quiz on SFGate by publishing my own set of questions, have fun!

Question 1: You notice a Muni passenger picking his nose on the bus (and I mean, the guy doesn't use the other hand to cover it). Do you:

1. Let him keep picking for fools gold.
2. Make an insulting joke at him saying: "Pick harder! You'll reach your brain soon."
3. Give the idiot a tissue.
4. Record it on your cell phone camera and post it on YouTube.
   
5. Slap him with the morning newspaper.
   

Question 2: Aboard the quiet express bus, a phone rings and a lady answers it. She starts having a conversation for ten minutes, and nobody tells her to shut-up.

1. Let her chat away and listen in: "My butt itches bad, and this cream is not working!"
2. Tell her to shut up.
3. Get on your phone and have a 'counter' conversation, telling her of how much of a bad passenger she is.
   
4. Slap her with your morning newspaper.

Question 3: You see Mayor Gavin Newsom scratching his butt in public. What do you do?

1. Ignore it.
2. Offer him some Preparation H.
3. Snap a photo and post it online.
4. Yell out what he's doing. "Hey everybody! The Mayor is scratching his butt!"
5. Slap his scratching hand with your morning newspaper.

Question 4: You are driving down the street and a moron starts crossing the street when it's the red light for him. Do you:

1. Honk your horn.
2. Mow him down.
3. Yell out how much of an idiot he is.
4. Conduct a "drive by" slap of the morning paper.

Question 5: The front end of the Muni bus is packed, but the back part is empty. What do you do?

1. Wait for the next bus, surely it won't be that bad.
2. Be like those pushy folks in Chinatown getting aboard the 30 Stockton.
3. Yell out: "Fare inspectors!"
4. Tell them: "In Japan, they have these Japanese dudes shoving you in the train. Now, why can't we be like that?"
5. Just start slapping people with the morning paper to move aside.
   

Question 6: You just entered your car at the parking lot. Another car wants your space. What now?

1. Hurry up, get the engine running and let him/her take the space.
2. Screw around with the other driver for five minutes by just sitting in your car. Hell, I'll just activate the brake lights once in a while.
3. Read the morning paper, then go up to the other driver, offer him/her the paper, then slap the driver.
   

Question 7: You see ashamed ex-supervisor Ed Jew walking down the street. Do you:

1. Just ignore him.
2. Point your finger and laugh.
3. Offer him a gift certificate to an erotic toy store, since prison will be "lonely" time with his fleshlight? (Or getting it in the butt).
4. Slap him with your morning paper (preferably one with his picture on it).

Question 8: KRON 4 is having a live call-in show with financial consultant Rob Black. You and the entire city hates KRON channel 4. What do you do?

1. Watch the show.
2. Turn off-the TV.
3. Make a prank phone call, get through the screener with a B.S. question, and insult the station and the guy live on TV.
4. Visit the KRON studios and slap him with your morning newspaper on live TV.

Question 9: You ride Muni metro and the train breaks down in the tunnel, just short of the next station.

1. Wait patiently while Muni find a solution to evacuate the train.
2. Sing an insulting song about Muni's problems.
3. Pull the emergency door lever and walk 50 feet to the next station.
4. Wait until the Muni supervisor tells everyone to hold on for another hour, walk up to him/her and slap him with your morning paper because now you are late to work and there's no cell phone reception to call your pissed-off boss.

Answer key:

• If you picked the slap with the "morning newspaper," maybe it's time to switch to a different type of coffee.
• If you ever recorded a person doing something bad and posted online, you've got some guts.
• Lastly, if you do nothing, um... can I buy you a punching bag for you to unleash your rage? You can't can it forever!