Leaving the bar after the Cubs/Mets game in Chicago, my sons
and I headed toward the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) Red Line station at
Addison, for the trip back into the center of Chicago and our hotel. The crowds
had dissipated somewhat and so had our thirst.
The CTA has a system of cards that one purchases from a
vending machine, where once you purchase, you can then stick it into the
turnstile and it records so much money off it and allows you to pass through.
This is an efficient system, which I tried to improve in my dotage. How? Do you really want to ask? OK,
I’ll tell you.
What you do is attempt to use your hotel key, that little
card with the stripe that allows you to enter your hotel room. It is a nice
working key for the duration of your stay, but it does not work on Chicago
turnstiles owned by the CTA!
It seems it all happened while standing on the corner
outside the station as I searched for my card, frantically, while #1 Son is
watching. He suddenly spots what he thinks is my key and says: “There it is!” I
believe him and hold the key until I get to the turnstile, where I attempt to
stick in the card. Now I’m not blaming #1 Son, I should have looked myself, but
his word is good to me.
Suddenly this lady who works for the CTA is laughing herself
silly as my card is being rejected! I wonder why she is laughing so hard and at
who, but boy, it sure is annoying. She finally comes over to me and I realize
what has happened. #’s 1 and 2 sons are already through the turnstiles, and now
they are laughing at me!
“You’re using your room key!” says #1 Son.
“HAAAA HAAA HA! WHO”S PAYING FOR GRANDPA? HAAAA HAAAA HA!
Now it was bad enough that she called me ‘Grandpa’ but the
biggest pain to me was: I WAS USING THE HOTEL KEY FROM MY LOS ANGELES STAY A
FEW WEEKS AGO!
2 comments:
A perfectly reasonable question would be: Why did you still have your hotel key from Los Angeles in your wallet?
-#1 Son
Because I was afraid I'd lose my train ticket someday?
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