BREAKING NEWS: Greg is a Fugitive!

Through work I can buy a discount train pass if I go through a certain website. This might be surprising to many of you, especially those who recognize my preternatural business sense & laser-like focus, but I bought the wrong the wrong pass. I thought that since the website knew where I lived & where I worked that I would only be allowed to buy the right pass. Whoops.

The first week I had no problems & the train guys never questioned my pass, but last week a train guy cheerfully explained that I would owe $3.50 each way, every day, because I bought the wrong pass. $7 extra per day because I need to go one stop further than allowed by my pass.

They won't let me trade up for the right pass, even if I pay the difference (way less than $7 per day). So I have no choice. They are forcing me to become a fugitive & ride the rails as an outlaw. Now I have to constantly keep my eyes on the train guys, always knowing where they are & whether they are asking for tickets/passes. Some days they never ask, but you never know.

I've devised a plan to avoid the train guy who first asked me for $$ & identified my less-than-desirable pass by waiting between where the doors of the train will be & waiting for the few seconds when the train guys step off the train when it comes to a complete stop. This allows me to choose the car without the hardass train guy. This plan isn't perfect because while the hardass train guy likely will always ask me for money, any of the other train guys could do the same.

You can never tell what will happen. One particular train guy saw my pass & asked me for $3.50 last week, but then has not asked for money the following times he has seen my pass. I use my thumb to hide the most tell-tale marking on my pass but this is also imperfect because my pass has a slight but noticeably different background from the correct pass.

Today was exciting as I realized that one of the train guys recognizes me from my daily commute - a minor level of trust that I can exploit to my advantage. On the way home I had to stand in the aisle because the seats were full. When my new buddy was walking down the aisle asking for tickets & passes I began to reach into my pocket for my wallet, where my pass is located. He saw this and said something to the effect of "don't worry about it buddy." I made a mental note to always have both my hands full in the hopes that my new friend wouldn't want to inconvenience me with having to juggle my possessions in order to get out my pass. Pray for me that I can make it until my new correct pass arrives for October.