Friday, May 15, 2009

Do you have your ticket handy before you reach the gates?

I think most of us who are daily commuters, know to have our ticket handy before we reach the ticketing gate, in order to keep the line moving at an efficient pace. I know I'm not the only one who gets annoyed when someone breaks that progression by fumbling through their purse or brief case, takes out the ticket, don't know which way the ticket should be entered, and can't find where the ticket pops back out. Or, even worse, can't figure out why the ticket keeps getting rejected. This person keeps standing in front of the line, re-entering the ticket again and again...finally, turns around and is greeted by many angry faces.

It's unfair to expect non-commuters to know the unspoken etiquette during peak hours. I don't generally react negatively when someone in front of me takes more than 5 seconds to get through, although sometimes I can't help but tell them what they're doing wrong..nicely of course.

2 comments:

BARTsurfer said...

This is bad, but doesn't bother me nearly as much as the people who stand on the left on escalators!!!

Anonymous said...

two more tips to help speed folks through the gates: (1) insert your ticket pointing upward a bit (you can use the sloping ticket-insert hole as a guide) and (2) insert your ticket as the person ahead is removing their ticket (i.e., you don't have to wait until their ticket has been completely removed).