For the most part I don’t get angry. It’s not really a good color on me. When I get upset, which is rare, I brood a little, maybe mope around, probably do some good ol’ fashioned sulking. But rarely do I get angry and mean.
Today, however, was a different story. Here I am getting ready to go to the au pair meeting, which starts at 10. I look at the clock, it’s 9:44 and the next tram leaves at 9:46. One year of running for trams and trains tells me I can make this. So I grab the necessities in a semi-blind panic and haul myself to the tram stop. I make it to the stop sweating (obviously) and little out of breath. I realize I don’t have time to buy a ticket, but have no fear because I’m (overconfident-ly) positive that no one will be on the tram to investigate.
Not five seconds after I sit down do I hear the infamous, “Gruezi mittenand. (In German) We are the controllers and we are coming to check your ticket, make sure you are following the honor system, and generally make your life unpleasant.” No! This could not be happening. In the eleven months that I lived here I got checked on the tram twice. Twice! And here I am getting checked within a week of arriving. I debate the merits of tucking and rolling off the tram at the next stop, but my plan is foiled when I see a giant burly man standing in front of the doors. When it comes time to fess up I meaninglessly check my wallet and find, wait, what is this?! A ticket I bought for yesterday to visit my friend Whitney. YES! So I show it to the man, and he says, “Nei, nei, nicht gut.” And I stand up to look at the ticket, check the time stamp, annnnnnnnnd…
It expired 20 minutes prior. Yep, 20 minutes. Here, folks, I actually stomped my foot on the ground. Like a child. Or a brat. Or someone who was looking for a little bit of sympathy and understanding. And none was delivered. He promptly told me to pay my fine, there would be no exception to my outlandish rule-breaking. So I forked over 80 Francs (=80 dollars, or doll-hairs, depending on your currency) and stewed and cursed under my breath (maybe a hex or two, whose to say) and actually proceeded to re-sweat from my misery and anger.
Thankfully, the rest of my day picked up from there. I made a visit to see the kiddos I used to take care of and had a great day of arts and crafts with them. Though I had a considerably lighter wallet on my trip out there.
A Broad At Home 