Breakin' the law

The truth is out, I am officially a law breaker. And I have the ticket to prove it! Here's the story. Last Wednesday I took the bus from our little town of Sergy, France to Chene-Bougeries, Switzerland on the opposite side of Geneva. That is where the Theatre classes I help teach are held on Wednesdays. I had a pleasant enough bus ride there in the late morning, arriving in good time for class. We had a good class, I am now assisting in two classes, the minnies and the Stage 1 (7-9 year olds). They were two good classes, my day was going well. I planned on running across the street to the grocery store to break my ten swiss franc bill in order to buy a bus ticket, but the bus was already there and I didn't want to miss it.

For those not familiar with the Geneva area buses let me explain a little. There are ticket machines at every bus stop where you decide how many zones you are going to travel, you push the correct button, put in the money et voila, you have a ticket. You can also purchase a card that has money on it at the transportation offices in which case you don't need the change, just the little card. Fairly simple. The only problem is these machines don't accept paper money AND they don't give you any change back. Those tricky transportation people! Instead of the machine giving you change you have to take your ticket to one of the local offices and get your money from them. Clever, I'm sure most people are like me and can't be bothered to go and get their change or immediately lose their ticket the minute they get home. I mean really. It's not difficult to make a machine that gives back change. There are pop and snack machines all over the place that do it. Can you imagine buying a coke from a machine and then having to go to the Coca Cola office in order to get your change? Ridiculous. But that's the way the cookie crumbles.

So, to get on with my personal story. I didn't want to miss my bus and since I had to changes a bus to a tram to another bus I figured somewhere along the way I'd pop into a store and get some change. Then I'd be able to buy my bus ticket and not have any problems. The thing about bus tickets in Geneva is that NOBODY ever checks to see if you have a ticker or bus pass. I have never had anyone ask to see my ticket while I was on public transportation in Geneva. In fact, I have ridden the bus without a ticket quite a few times. For shame, I know. But if you're only going a short way it seems such a waste. Unfortunately, though at the time it felt very fortunate, I seemed to arrive at the stops at just the perfect time to catch my next tram and/or bus. The one place where I had a few minutes (a stop called Avanchet where I catch the Y bus that goes into France) there were no shops in the area where I could get change. I was a bit nervous, but half my journey was over with and I figured what were the odds the bus police would be checking today.


Well, as you might have guessed the odds were not in my favor. As we pulled up to a stop 3 stops before mine I saw two men in black suits standing there waiting to get on. It was the BUS Police!!! Just my luck. My stomach started somersaulting and I started trying to come up with an explanation in French. Then I landed on the perfect solution. I handed him my ticket from that morning. If I was questioned about the time I'd look all around and pretend I must have lost my other ticket! Perfect. Feeling a little shaky I handed over my ticket. He glanced at it. And I thought, "Success!" But no, once again I was wrong.

He didn't seem to notice the time, but it seems I had bought the wrong ticket! Can you believe it? Apparently I bought the "all Geneva" good for an hour ticket, which the bus police informed me was only good in Geneva. In very patient French he explained that at that moment we were in France. He must have thought I was a complete idiot. I thought maybe the stupid, innocent foreigner look would get me off, but I just didn't seem to have any luck that day. He asked for my passport. I sullenly handed it over. He went to the front of the bus.
A minute later after some consultation with his partner he returned and began filling out a ticket. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and I thought, "Don't cry you idiot. It's your own damn fault. At least he thought you had a ticket!" He looked at me and was very apologetic but said it was indeed an infraction and he had to give me a ticket. 23 Euros if I paid right there on the spot. More (I didn't quite catch the amount) if they had to send me the ticket. I looked in my wallet and realized I only had 10 euros, but I had 50 swiss francs. He said I could pay in Francs - 42 swiss francs is what it came to. Sigh, I paid my debt to society with a little sniffle and a watery smile.

I received my change just in time to get off at my stop. I swiftly glanced around trying to conceal the tears that were about to leak from my eyes and noticed that two other people were getting tickets as well. They looked as though they couldn't care less. Then I noticed that there were only five people on the bus to begin with! 3 out of 5 getting tickets, not a bad hull for those bus police. And, hey look on the bright side: for once I was in the "in-crowd"!

The hubby was told by an office mate that I was lucky. Usually tickets are over 100 swiss francs. Whew, I guess I did get off pretty easy. Still, I think I'll make sure I buy a ticket, the right ticket next time.