Both of these things happened this week. And both say something important about the state of San Francisco's public transit.

Let's start with the lighter grievance. The backpack problem on MUNI is, somehow, still a thing. Adults — grown, tax-paying adults — are boarding packed buses with fully loaded packs strapped to their backs, spinning like turnstiles every time they check a notification. This is not complicated. Take the bag off. Hold it by your legs. You will free up roughly one human body's worth of space, and you will stop clotheslining your fellow commuters.

As one local put it: "Public transit etiquette has been horrible in general since COVID." Another SF resident offered a theory for why the bags stay on: "Everyone is on their phones so they don't have a free arm for their backpack. One hand holding a bar, and a phone in the other." Fair point — but maybe pick the hand that doesn't turn you into a wrecking ball.

One Bay Area commuter shared a more direct approach: "If someone pushes me with their backpack, I gently push them back. They usually get the picture." We're not officially endorsing that, but we're not not endorsing it either.

Now for the story that actually matters. A woman riding MUNI this week described being cornered by an aggressive man who began banging on things, blocking the rear exit, and trying to grab her. She froze. And then a stranger — described only as wearing a jewel-toned outfit and tassel earrings — stepped in, physically wedged herself between the woman and her harasser, and pulled her off the bus while other riders filled the gap as a human shield.

That's beautiful. It's also a damning indictment. Riders shouldn't need to rely on the spontaneous heroism of strangers to feel safe on a publicly funded transit system. SFMTA collects the fares and runs the routes, but the actual safety net on MUNI is apparently just... each other.

We want more people riding transit. That's good for the city, good for the environment, good for traffic. But ridership doesn't grow when the system can't guarantee basic safety or basic courtesy. One requires real enforcement and resources. The other just requires you to take off your backpack.

Start with whichever one's easier.