Bus Seat Fistfight: More Transit Mayhem Policed By YouTube

One of the amazing things about this screaming fight on a San Francisco Muni bus is the way the citizen cameraman deftly captures every moment. At one point he’s even shooting over his shoulder. Cell phone cameras never sleep, straphangers.

This particular incident is imbued with racial overtones and, as such, is likely to be something of a YouTube sensation. According to a translation posted on YouTube, the Chinese woman said the fight started when she asked to sit next to the other woman, who is African American, and was rebuffed. “She has no heart, always bullying chinese people,” the woman reportedly says. YouTube commenters are discussing the matter in their typical nuanced, racially sensitive manner (i.e. being flaming bigots, repeatedly).

The racial angle aside, the incident is yet another example of how you really can’t freak out on mass transit or on the streets or in airports any more:

• Have a tantrum because you missed your flight? You may well be remembered as the Cathay Pacific airport lady, for the rest of your whiny life.

Shove a guy off his bicycle, while he’s in motion? Someone will film it, and you’ll have to pay.