Not so Smart(Trip card) now, are you Ride On?

I tend to get indignant fairly easily. That is, I’m not exactly someone who can Let Things Go.

When a Subway restaurant employee once refused to give me a free sub even though I had honored the written obligations of my “But 12, Get One Free” card’s contract, I wrote the franchise a strongly worded letter indicating my displeasure.

When a taxi driver once tried to get out of taking me home, I sat in his cab for 30 minutes arguing until I convinced him I was right.

So when the bus driver on my Tuesday morning commute screwed me out of $1.50 through no fault of my own, you bet your ass I was Not Going to Let it Go.

You have to first understand something. Commuting on Maryland’s Ride On bus is usually the most mundane part of my day.

I walk the three blocks to the bus stop. I silently curse its chronic tardiness. I get on the bus, I scan my SmartTrip card, and look for a seat as far away from the craziest-looking person there. I ride in silence, listening to my NPR podcasts.

Sure, sometimes these morning trips can be entertaining. Like last month when a Muslim and a Christian got into a fight about Jesus. The Muslim had admonished the Christian for not reading the Bible in the language it was originally written, only to have the Christian rebut him with, “The Bible was written in English! When Jesus was dying on the cross, he said, ‘It is finished.’ THAT is English.”

More often than not, though, nothing much happens.

But on Tuesday, I got on the bus and scanned my SmartTrip card. It only had 55 cents, not nearly enough for the $1.35 fare.

I took out a $20 bill and hit the button to reload my card.

Nothing.

I tried again.

Nothing.

“The button isn’t working,” I told the driver.

“Try it again,” he said.

Nothing.

“The button isn’t working,” I said, “I’m trying to fill up the value of my card.”

The driver was not happy. He paused for five seconds, looking like he was going to wave me through, then finally said, “You’re going to have to ask someone for change.”

It was too early in the morning to argue about why I shouldn’t have to pay cash when it was the bus’s fault I couldn’t use my card. So I looked at the people on the bus.

“Does anyone have change for a dollar?” I bellowed, stunning everyone awake.

People looked away. They cowered. They shunned me. Like a Jew on Christmas, I was lost and alone on the bus.

Finally, a woman helped me, giving me four quarters for a buck. I put $1.50 into the box and wondered what the odds were the driver would give me 15 cents change. Then I took my seat.

I rode the bus to the Metro and got off.

But as the day went on, I grew more livid at what I perceived was at best ignorance on the driver’s part of Ride On’s SmartTrip card’s policy and at worst his schadenfreude at my situation.

So I called Ride On.

“What is your policy on…” I asked the operator. I explained what had happened that morning and wanted to know if I was wrong in this situation.

After putting me on hold to consult with his supervisor, he came back on and said those 9 beautiful words I had been longing to hear: “You should have been allowed to ride for free.”

I thanked him and hung up.

I didn’t want to file a complaint. I didn’t want to get my money back. I just wanted to know I was right.

Finally, I was able to Let it Go.