We got on a bus in Mexico City and the driver said we couldn't pay cash. We needed a card that was charged with trips.
Oh.
We turned to get off and a man hallooed from a few seats back, lifting his card.
The driver said, There you go.
I paid the man for our two trips plus a bit extra for his trouble. He tried to hand back the extra coin. No, no, I said, not a mistake. Gracias.
Would that have happened in Montreal? In Toronto? In Vancouver? I'm naming big cities because Mexico City is big--over 20 million. Maybe someone might have helped two strangers with different coloured skin, but would that person have handed over their transit card for the strangers to use? Hey, what if we'd jumped off the bus and run away with it? Maybe it was a scam?
What a lovely story about the bus. I wonder if you just got lucky or if that's part of the common culture. I wonder too if it happened because you were so willing to comply, respectful of the rules of the place you are visiting... there are those who would have shouted the odds, made a righteous fuss, and maybe they wouldn't have been so happily rescued. My favourite pic, btw, the last one. A beauty!
ReplyDeleteSomeone else told me this is what happens--though it all depends on whether someone decides to offer their card.
DeleteI loved the dogs in Mexico. They have a lot of character.
It happened when trying to get on the tain to the Anahuacalli museum.
ReplyDeleteYes, then too.
ReplyDelete