The Train In Vain: Sharing Commuting Stories

Monday, March 16, 2015

Gum and Paperwork, Part II

Get a load of this! On February 20th, 2015, I had trouble with a MetroCard and wrote about it in a post called Gum and Paperwork. To briefly recap, a wonderful and well-adjusted individual decided it would be a solid idea to gum up a MetroCard reader. The gum caused my newly filled card to buckle in the center. It was rendered useless.

To further refresh your memory, the man at the token booth (real New Yorkers still call them token booths) told me I'd need to fill out some forms and send them to the MTA for reimbursement. I figured it would take a long time, but that I'd get a response some day. I didn't want to forget about it, so I put a reminder on my calendar for 1.1 billion years from now, several days before our sun is slated to burn up all its hydrogen. I figured the MTA would want to tie up its loose ends before the sun's expansion envelops the orbits of Mercury and Venus.

Letter from the MTA, and my new MetroCard

But no, I was wrong. And I am happy to admit it. Today, I got this letter in the mail. It's all business, no apology. That's fine with me, because also in the envelope was also a shiny new MetroCard containing the $40.04 balance that was on the gummed up MetroCard.

The MTA did right by me, and I just love my new MetroCard. I may even post a picture of myself with it. This experience has turned out so positive that I'm considering demagnetizing the new card with my Apple MacBook charger, so I can send it back to them and see how they handle that situation.

Perhaps I shouldn't press my luck.

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Happy and safe commuting, and may you encounter uncommon sense.

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