People often borrow my Muni Pass here at work, if they want to go somewhere on their lunch break and want to save the fare. As long as I’m not planning on going anywhere on my lunch break, I don’t mind. They take it in the morning. They return it in the afternoon. Never had any problems.
Until today. Genius borrowed it this morning and then called me in the afternoon from Oakland. Not only was she out for the rest of the day, but she’s not coming in tomorrow.
Well, she is now to return my pass and pay me for the 2-3 fares I’ll have to pay for between now and then. I’m off to the allergist tonight and I don’t know if my transfer will still be good to get me home. When she heard that she considered coming in tonight, but I didn’t feel right about forcing her to come back in.
It’s not so much the money that bothers me, it’s the hassle of having to track down a dollar fifty every time I want to ride the bus. That’s the primary reason I bother with the Muni Pass in the first place. Now there’s also the nagging worry of the unknown. Being “Worst Case Scenario Guy” as I am, I worry that she won’t come in tomorrow for some reason and I’ll be stuck without it all weekend. Then I worry about her not wanting to pay me for the extra 4-8 fares I’d rack up over the weekend. What if this creates a major rift in the office the decreases productivity and ultimately causes the collapse of a major corporation and plunges our economy further into a recession?
Maybe I should have been harder on her. Maybe I should have forced her to come in tonight. As it is, she just called me to say she’s giving it to another co-worker tonight who lives near her. That’s a measure of piece-of-mind I guess.
I’ll tell you though, I’ll think twice about lending it out in the future. The fate of the nation could be at stake.
So... did she offer the $1.50 (or multiple of) to compensate you for your out-of-pocket loss when she finally returned your monthly pass?
ReplyDeleteYes she did. She even rounded up and didn't ask for change.
ReplyDeleteNow that's class.
ReplyDeleteI lost my MUNI pass on Sutter Street a few days ago (at 533 Sutter St., specifically) and borrowed a monthly from a friend (cough Tara cough), so I know the feeling from both perspectives. I almost forgot to return the pass, which would have been an expensive mistake, knowing how the hawks at Powell St. would have snagged her first thing this morning.
Of course, I'd have paid for the fine should that have happened...