OH, THE IRONY!

Two purchases yesterday deserve mention.


THE FAST PASS

A fast-pass for surface travel only costs sixty six dollars. It allows one to use municipal transit vehicles for an entire month. The one-way fare is two dollars, so a fast pass is incredibly useful. Except that the Muni employees are presently on strike. It's not a complete work-stoppage, as that is not allowed, but a "sick-out"; buses are few and far between. So I walked over the hill to Chinatown, did various errands in the downtown entirely on foot, and hiked back over the hill again. All told, over fifty blocks.
Didn't get to use my fast pass.


THE CHANGE

The total for the merchandise came to thirteen dollars and seven cents.
I placed a twenty dollar bill, three singles, a dime, and two cents on the counter. Then, when I saw the counter-clerk going into a panicky freeze, looking like she was about to cry, I patiently and avuncularly explained that what it meant was that the change would be one ten dollar bill, and a nickel. I walked her through the complex math. Once it made sense, she gave me the money.
She's a hard worker, as most Chinese are.
She'll go far.



Fortunately, transit to Marin County is not a service offered by a San Francisco company, but available along the Van Ness corridor, where Golden Gate buses run. Outbound stops at the corner of Clay Street, inbound just before the lights at Sacramento.
It's a short walk to my digs.

I hope the strike is over by Saturday, as I wish to have a quick dinner in Chinatown after returning from Marin. I get back usually by seven o'clock on weekends, but if I have to walk ten blocks I'll forgo the luxury.


Both Muni and the girl at the cash register may get their acts together eventually. She obviously graduated from an American high-school, so she may not have needed to exercise her brain very much; I suspect she'll pick up speed soon. The real world stimulates the mind.
I have high hopes for her; she's kind of nice.
Muni, not so much.




PS. To the forty five recent visitors from Saudi Arabia, welcome. Ahlan wa salan. Did you find what you were looking for?




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