Fare evasion

Shannon, Jeff and I were just walking out of Milagros tonight when we heard the train sounding its horn.

"There's your train," says Jeff.

"It can't be," I said. "It's early."

I immediately got into a sprint for the train. There was no way I was gonna wait another hour for the next train. Or foot the bill for a $30 taxi tonight. I kept sprinting and amazingly the train doors were still open when I got there, but there was no time to buy a ticket. I got on the train anyway. Afterall, the train was early. Surely they'd understand.

The train waited another minute, then started moving south. All of a sudden, it stopped. I heard a Caltrain employee announce over the intercom that something had been hit and they need to check the train and the tracks. After 2-3 minutes, we started moving again. Apparently we only hit a garbage can.

At that point, I felt obligated to find a train employee to tell him about boarding without a ticket. Afterall, in the past I had made an error when buying a ticket and the train attendant told me that if I ever had a ticket problem again, I was to immediately contact the conductor when getting on the train or else I would be subject to citation.

So soon enough, I fould train conductor Kitty Swanson.

"Excuse me," I said, as Ms. Swanson looked out the window. Then she looked up.

"I didn't have enough time to buy a ticket so I go on the train without one," I said. "The train was early."

"Do you know how many times a day I hear that?," says Ms. Swanson.

"The train was early," I said.

"Do you know that's it's illegal to board a train without a valid ticket?," asked Ms. Swanson.

"The train was early. I didn't have enough time to buy a ticket. That's what I'm trying to tell you."

"Sir, you need to work on your time management skills. You need to get to station a little more early," said Ms. Swanson.

"But the train was early, you can't expect me to plan for that." I said.

Ms. Swanson then got on her radio to the train engineer. "What time did we leave Redwood?," she asked.

"8:52," said the engineer.

"What did you expect him to say?," I said.

"Sir, he left on schedule. Besides, the engineer would get fined $1500 for leaving early."

Ms Swanson proceded to ask for my ID and started writing me a citation. We pull into Menlo Park and I could see from my trusty Verizon cell phone that were still early. Then we pulled away.

"I see we are still a minute early," I said. "Even after waiting 2-3 minutes to clear the garbage can in Redwood City."

Ms. Sawanson said nothing. I now had no doubt we left Redwood City early.

I banter back and fourth with Ms. Swanson. Finally she requested my signature on a citation for fare evasion. I signed it, which means I promise to appear in court on March 28.

Should be fun.