Thursday, March 08, 2007
Did You Bring Your Wallet??
You're driving towards the toll booth. You've just had a session where you sang two songs for a really, really nice man. It's been a full day. You're singing along to the radio at full volume. You feel content. Then you see the sign, "Approaching Toll Booth. $4.00." Oh no. You purposely left $3.00 in your wallet for the toll. The OLD toll. The sign says it right there, "Toll $4.00 beginning January 1, 2007." Crap.
You pull off onto a dirt road. You turn the radio off. The content feeling has slowly mutated into a sort of panicky feeling. You're thinking about the time that you accidentally left your wallet on your desk and when you got to the Golden Gate bridge you told the toll booth collector your predicament. You remember him explaining to you how you'd get something in the mail and him waving you through. Then you remember the "something" you got in the mail. Yeah, it was a letter telling you how you were a toll evader, how they wanted you to pay the toll and a $30.00 fine. But you wrote a letter to the transit authority and they let you off with just paying the $5.00 toll. Hah. You beat that one. Whew.
You're not feeling like you can pull that off again. The odds just aren't in your favor. Okay, okay. You've got the $3.00 over there on the passenger seat. Coins, coins, see how many coins you have. Eighty-eight cents. You have eighty-eight cents. That's it. Well. It's just going to have to do. You're going to have to go for it. You pull up to the toll booth. You explain your problem. You tell the toll collector that you really, really, REALLY don't want to be a "toll evader" and that you really, really, really, really, REALLY don't want to be fined. You look at him. He looks at you. The tension mounts. He looks pretty serious. What's it gonna be?
"Awe, you're only short twelve cents. Go on ahead," and he waves you through. Life is good again. You turn the radio back on, you start singing at the top of your lungs again, and you're grateful for people like the toll booth collector and their small but generous acts of kindness.
You pull off onto a dirt road. You turn the radio off. The content feeling has slowly mutated into a sort of panicky feeling. You're thinking about the time that you accidentally left your wallet on your desk and when you got to the Golden Gate bridge you told the toll booth collector your predicament. You remember him explaining to you how you'd get something in the mail and him waving you through. Then you remember the "something" you got in the mail. Yeah, it was a letter telling you how you were a toll evader, how they wanted you to pay the toll and a $30.00 fine. But you wrote a letter to the transit authority and they let you off with just paying the $5.00 toll. Hah. You beat that one. Whew.
You're not feeling like you can pull that off again. The odds just aren't in your favor. Okay, okay. You've got the $3.00 over there on the passenger seat. Coins, coins, see how many coins you have. Eighty-eight cents. You have eighty-eight cents. That's it. Well. It's just going to have to do. You're going to have to go for it. You pull up to the toll booth. You explain your problem. You tell the toll collector that you really, really, REALLY don't want to be a "toll evader" and that you really, really, really, really, REALLY don't want to be fined. You look at him. He looks at you. The tension mounts. He looks pretty serious. What's it gonna be?
"Awe, you're only short twelve cents. Go on ahead," and he waves you through. Life is good again. You turn the radio back on, you start singing at the top of your lungs again, and you're grateful for people like the toll booth collector and their small but generous acts of kindness.
# posted by Loralee @ 1:16 AM 
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Between this story and SF banning plastic grocery bags it has been QUITE the day in the bay area!!!
I love stories like this, it makes my heart happy.
I love stories like this, it makes my heart happy.
I always keep an assortment of quarters and at least one one-dollar bill in an unused desk drawer at my office for those moments when I need...REALLY need... a Diet Coke and discover I have no cash (or no small bills) for the vending machine.
Perhaps you could do the same. Put a baggie of several dollars' worth of coins in your glove compartment or something?
Just a suggestion!
(I can SO see you rummaging through everything looking for pennies, though!)
Perhaps you could do the same. Put a baggie of several dollars' worth of coins in your glove compartment or something?
Just a suggestion!
(I can SO see you rummaging through everything looking for pennies, though!)
I am going to have to remember to have cash when we come down there this summer. Thanks for reminding me Loralee. =) Can't wait to see you in June.
I never keep any coinage on me and it's a real pain in the ass sometimes. In Canada, we use our ATM cards everywhere to direct pay so the need for cash just isn't there most days.
I'm always shocked when the odd store doesn't accept the ATM card. And I'm doubly screwed on laundry day. Not only do I have to take out a 20, but then I have to spend it around enough so I can get enough coins for laundry. Sure, I could go to the bank and just get a roll of quarters, but that's too simple for me.
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I'm always shocked when the odd store doesn't accept the ATM card. And I'm doubly screwed on laundry day. Not only do I have to take out a 20, but then I have to spend it around enough so I can get enough coins for laundry. Sure, I could go to the bank and just get a roll of quarters, but that's too simple for me.
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