Posted on 06/17/2014 10:31:10 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Crowds flocked to Glide Memorial Church to memorialize poet and activist Maya Angelou, who died May 28 at the age of 86.
Around here, Angelou was remembered for being San Francisco's first African American streetcar conductor, a title she earned at the age of 16.
Unsurprisingly, Mayor Ed Lee trotted out that historical tidbit on Sunday, while addressing the congregation. It led him to a strange, rather un-funny joke that later made the rounds on social media.
"If she was still around, I would probably ask her to drive a Muni," Mayor Ed Lee said.
One could see how this comment might be taken as an insult. After all, how many 86 year-old luminaries get asked to drive a Muni bus?
A spokeswoman from the mayor's office has yet to elucidate Lee's quote.
We did, however, get a retired Muni driver to opine.
"I think it's stupid," he said. "If that's what he says about one of the best, most well-known poets in America, what would he say about the Pope?"
Twitter users offered their own rejoinders:
We'll update with comment from the mayor's office if and when it comes.
This man has been San Francisco Mayor for years, but I still don’t think I know him. Compared to past S.F. Mayors with striking and distinct personalities, like Gavin Newsome or Willie Brown, Mayor Lee tends to blend in with his surroundings, one could say, like a Chameleon does. The upside is he usually gets the basic jobs done or started. That aside, if one is not terribly good with off the cuff remarks, better to keep silent. That was a rather dumb thing to say, just for sake of pandering. Maya was so far removed from being some streetcar driver, his compliment does not immediately resonate.
I don’t think it’s an insult.
At least driving a bus requires a modicum of skill compared to what she displayed in her former “profession”.
Yet another person who dies and achieves sainthood by virtue of skin color...
I’d ask Minnie Driver to be a Muni Driver .
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