The broken pass syndrome
It was a minor detail, but my “beep” was absent. I hear it, several times a day; whenever I get on a city bus. This morning…
Not good. Several beeps would mean that I’d forgotten to “recharge” the smart card for the new month. A single beep would mean that symbiosis continued. Nothing; never means nothing. The driver was quick to call me to order, as I headed towards a seat. Try again, and then. He agreed that something was mechanically wrong. My problem, though.
I had work to do, so I had to wait for a break in my routine, and catch a bus into the city core. Another driver to convince that my intentions were good. As she dropped me close to the client help office, she reminded me to “go straight there”. And, given the early hour, that office was still closed, for more than an hour.
I tried to see (at a nearby corner store that sells bus passes) to see if the problem could be fixed without paying more money, but the clerk shook her head, sadly. Sometimes my second language skills invoke that sadness. I found the address of another office that opened earlier, convinced yet another bus driver to let me “deadhead”, and then debarked at client centre #2. There, the clerk showed me that my bus was truly, beyond a doubt, broken (in half). Smart card technology is fragile.
Happily, the database did show that my two pieces of card had been paid up for February, so I received a free replacement, along with two (virtual) bus tickets for being a great client (at least, I think that’s why). And, for $1, a stronger sleeve for the card. Just because.
Back to the curb, and two more buses later I arrived at destination. A not-so-routine way to start a day.
