Oscar Wilde was an Irish playwright, best known, perhaps, for his widely-performed work, The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde also wrote poetry, numerous short stories, and one novel. His Irish wit, for which he was apparently well-known, became clear to me today when I went online to find the origin of the phrase “No good deed goes unpunished.” GoodReads attributes this quote to Wilde. So why was I interested in this questionable statement?
I took an ill-advised trip to San Francisco on Tuesday. I’d been dogged by a nagging, persistent cough for several days, so I had considered rescheduling my breakfast get-together with friends at Caffé Trieste. When I woke up Tuesday morning, however, I felt pretty good. The cough seemed to have dissipated somewhat, and I’d had a good night’s sleep, so off to The City I went — by public transportation.
From home, two well-timed Valley Transit buses took me to the Santa Clara CalTrain station. Twenty minutes later, I was on Train #217, arriving in The City, as scheduled, at 8:22 a.m. It was rush-hour, so it took awhile to get off the train and through the station. Conveniently, however, a #45 Union/Stockton trolley bus, which would take me directly to North Beach, was waiting right across the street. I hopped on, grateful for the smooth connections I’d experienced all morning.
As we crossed through downtown, more and more people boarded the bus. By the time we reached Chinatown, on the other side of the Stockton Tunnel, few vacant seats were available. This is when, at one stop, a young Asian woman with a toddler got in the bus through the back door. This, by the way, is acceptable on San Francisco MUNI vehicles, as one may “tag” their Clipper Card inside either the front or back door.
When the woman turned to look for a place to sit, I could see that she noticed an empty seat next to me. There was another empty seat on the other side of the bus, against the window. I indicated to her that I would be happy to move to the other side of the bus so that she and the toddler could sit next to each other. She smiled in appreciation. As I stood up and turned to change seats, the trolley bus lurched forward abruptly, as trolley buses often do. I had not yet employed Murphy’s First Law of WingWalking: “Never let go of what you’ve got until you’ve got hold of something else.” The sudden movement of the vehicle sent me crashing back into the seat, my right side taking the brunt of the hit.
This created quite a stir among the other passengers, who exhibited genuine concern for my well-being. More embarrassed than anything else, at that point, I assured everyone that I was okay and sheepishly moved across to the open seat by the window. As we continued our journey toward North Beach, I did a quick assessment of the right side of my body — shoulder, upper arm, forearm, wrist. I was sure nothing was broken, but I knew all too well that, in the days to come, I would be in pain. I am.
After one visit to Kaiser Hospital and three days of bed-rest, I feel like I went three rounds in a ring with Mike Tyson, with his right hand tied behind his back. My left side, from my neck to my rib cage, was traumatized by the fall. Oh,…. and that cough I had? It’s worse, and every cough affects the ribcage as if I’m getting pummeled yet again.
The good news is that this, too, shall pass. I'm just hopeful that no one captured a video of my fall on their smart phone. I can just see it now on social media: "Big white guy tackles bus seat in S.F.'s Chinatown." Or, perhaps, a kinder message:
“No good deed goes unpunished.”
~ Oscar Wilde
