Yet another bus mishap

I'm not famous, but in my personal history I'm famous for some of the funny things that happen to me, or the funny things I do related to commuting. And today I pulled a good one.

I was recharging my Opus card, adding six measly south shore bus tickets to it. Today was September 29, which meant a lot of people were in the lineup to buy monthly passes for October.

I usually fill up at the machines, and today was no exception. There were three machines, and no one was lined up at them, the lineup was only for service by a real live person.

One of the reasons I use the machines, by the way, is so I don't have to try and explain in my broken French what I want to buy. When I deal with a person, I say, "seese beeyets, see voos plet." Then the person wants to know which zone I want the tickets for, and I'm lost. I haven't got a clue what zone I want. I don't know which zone I live in, or what zone I want to get to. Really, why did they have to go and make zones, anyway? I want to take the dratted bus over the bridge. And sometimes I take it to a mall. Why do I have to learn all the zones?

Well, two of the machines weren't working - par for the course - but the third one was available, and nobody seemed interested in using it. So of course, that's what I did.

I put in my card, pressed the button for English...The menu seemed a little bit longer than usual, and when the machine informed me that there would be a service charge added, and the total came to $24.50 instead of $18, I grumbled that the price had finally gone up like they said it would, and pressed "ok."

It spat out my receipt, and, oddly enough, it also spat out another Opus card.

Now, seasoned travellers would immediately suspect what was going on, but in my pre-coffee muddle, I picked up the extra card and looked around me - like the answers were going to be found on the walls or written on bystanders' foreheads or something.

In the end, I gave the card to the next person in line, saying, "It gave me an extra card!" We were both shocked, and I continued on my way.

About the time I reached the next bus stop on my way to work, it began to dawn on me that I hadn't just purchased a refill for my card, that I'd actually purchased, and given away, a new card, with six tickets on it.

I told this story to an acquaintance at the bus stop I chat with frequently. The expression on her face said it all - I'm an idiot. She said "Next time the machine gives you an extra card, keep it, at least till you've had a chance to think about it!"

I also told a co-worker, a young woman who works in my building. She was more forthright. She said "you need an attendant, 24/7!

Well, I hope the youngster I gave the free tickets to enjoys the rides! And on my way home, I recharged my Opus card, properly, and it only cost $18.00

Sigh.