I still can't, for the life of me, understand what makes people think its "OK" to get on the bus without paying, if they happen to not have refilled their bus pass for the month...
Every month! They can refill their bus pass from the 20th of the month onward. Every month, they get one day's reprieve, as their pass will work until 11:59pm on the first of the month. Every month, they get on the bus on the second day of the month, and realize their bus pass is no longer valid. Every time, they'll ask if it's OK to go to the subway station to pay.
NO! IT'S NOT! YOU GET ON THE BUS HERE, YOU PAY HERE!
Try going to the grocery store, getting all your food, and then telling the cashier that you don't have any money until you go to the bank to cash your check, and that you'll come back to pay for the food then (but you still want to take the food with you now, of course...) See what they have to say about that...
Some people, I will "allow" to stay, AFTER I have told them that if they do choose to stay, and that an inspector catches them, they will have to pay a $250 fine. This is after having tried to convince them to pay the $3.25 in cash (or to go back home to get said money), and they genuinely don't seem to have it. (Some people sound more honest than others, while others are just arrogant and unrepentant in the least...)
But if the first thing they say, when they get on, is "I'll take my chances," this tells me this is not the first time you do this. You know your chances of getting caught while not nil, are pretty low (not enough inspectors). That's when I put my foot down (figuratively speaking... it's already down on the brake pedal, after all...) and insist that they either pay or get out. Some do. Some don't care, and go sit down. I try to convince them that I won't leave until they exit. Sometimes, I even turn off the bus. Some people then exit, but other still don't care. They'll let everyone be late, rather than get out or pay. Eventually, I do have to leave, but that pisses me off.
Although at times, other passengers have told off the person and made him leave (usually only verbally, but one time, physically, as well!)
I get freeloaders all month long (particularly late teenagers, but sometimes adults as well, some of whom will try it every single time I meet them...
![Evil or Very Mad :evil:](./images/smilies/icon_evil.gif)
) But on the 2nd of the month (or 3rd, if the 2nd falls during a weekend or on a holiday), it happens a lot. It is simply bothersome. I still manage to keep my good humor (I won't let idiots like that bring me down), but it still bothers me.