Careful who you trust

[owlmoose]

T and I went to the Exploratorium today (the local hands-on science museum, one of the best of that type that I know). We took the bus there, and on that ride I had a new experience: a bus driver who flat-out lied to people when they asked him for directions. This particular bus has two different terminals, one at Fisherman's Wharf and one out in the Marina District, close to the museum. Several people asked him whether this particular bus went to the Marina, or Beach Street, or the Exploratorium. "No," he'd say, every single time. "You want the bus behind me." So I fretted the whole way, waiting for the bus to stop short. But it didn't. It stopped at Broderick and Beach, mere blocks from the Exploratorium. Teach those tourists to believe a word the bus drivers tell them! Except I have literally never seen anything quite like this. Mistakes are one thing, but outright lies? It was a little disconcerting.

We spent most of our museum time in the sound and vision sections, which was fine by me because those are my favorites. There were cool pictures taken, which I hope to get around to posting. I played with xylophones set to the pentatonic scale. We watched swans and seagulls swimming in the lake next to the museum. Then we came home and played Okami, which I continue to enjoy immensely. So overall a good day. But that thing with the bus driver? Definitely strange.

Comments

J

[kunstarniki.livejournal.com]

Is it possible he was new to the route and really did not understand where the museum was located? I agree, it is very strange that a person in the public service sector would deliberately mislead people. SF makes a lot of cash off tourists and must keep them happy. I know here in Atlanta, we will discommode our own citizens to cosset the tourists. (Except for a cop here and there.)

Re: J

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

That's possible, but it wasn't just the museum, it was almost every time someone asked him a question about where the bus went. I wonder if he was playing a weird joke on the driver of the next bus, which was only a couple of blocks behind us.

Whatever the reason, it was really odd!