wednesday july 1

today i got on the spadina streetcar to head home after a canada day barbecue, and found myself on a fairly crowded new car. in order to get one of the fare-paying machines on the streetcar, i would’ve had to push through a bunch of people, so i decided to take my chances and not pay the fare. after all, i’d been taking the spadina car regularly for the last couple months and no one had ever checked my transfer, so why not take my chances for once?

predictably, when we arrived at spadina subway station, there were three inspectors waiting inside the station to inspect everyone’s proof of payment, blocking my path to the westbound subway car. unsure of what to do, i kept letting other people go past me, and even considered sneakily moving over to the line of people waiting for the car i’d just exited, then getting back on it. finally, just as i was on the verge of having to make a definitive decision, one of the three ttc fare inspectors walked off with a customer to look into some situation, and i was able to casually glide by and get to the subway without a proof of payment. lesson learned though -- i don’t want to feel that sort of anxiety again, i'll pay next time and every time after that.