excitement on the tram

01.23.08

i journeyed into town this evening by way of my #17 tram and encountered a bit of excitement. here's how it works...

there are several options to pay for a ride on the public transportation in praha. you can
1. send a text message (they call it an sms) and they'll deduct the price of a ticket from the credit on your phone
2. you can have a monthly pass...or
3. you can buy a ticket at one of the stations.
well...
1. i haven't figured out how to do the text thing because all the instructions are in czech
2. i don't ride the tram enough to pay for a monthly pass...and
3. there isn't a ticket purchasing station where i get on the tram, which is at cerny kun (pronounced cher-nee...it means black horse).
so with that said, when i don't have a pass on hand, i like to spice up life a little and push it for the free ride. well, tonight my luck has clearly run short. i knew that randomly police officers get on the tram and check for paid riders and if you haven't paid, you get taken off the tram at the next stop and get a ticket which is 500 krowns...about $28 plus the embarrassment of having not paid. on with the story...
so i was on the tram...riding for free...when a group of boy-bandish looking 16 year olds got on. then at the next stop, a few more people got on...including what i thought to be a homeless man. after the doors closed, the homeless man approached me and showed me something from his pocket. i thought he was trying to sell me something so i didn't make eye contact and just said "no"...but when he insisted and then spoke in clear english, "ticket," my heart skipped a beat and i knew i had been caught...just two stops away from my destination. dang! so as i fumbled for my phone to fake like i had done the text message thing, he moved to the boys. and thank my lucky stars, not one of the boy band members had a ticket. at the next stop he pushed them off the tram and i was a free woman.

lesson learned: pay the $0.60 to ride the tram.

the end.