[xp38]

It seems to me the problem was you were not given any other option once you found out your fare card was used up except to pay the fine. The obvious options would be to pay in some other form say cash if that was acceptable or get off and get another fare card. The fact that a fine was imposed because you inadvertently got on public transit without a valid fare was over the top.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“She said “The fine is 2000 Dinar.”

What she really said was “the bribe is 2000 Dinar” “and that’s a nice watch” :-)

[raybbr]

Did you get a receipt?

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Not any worse than Paris! I was on business and had two laptop bags (bandolero style) and a small wheeled suitcase.

Ran my subway ticket and got through the first set of stainless bar room doors but one laptop strap got tangled on the turnstyle immediately after.

A couple of subway cops saw me wrestle through the turnstyle and had me up against the wall within a second of making it through. Neither spoke English and could only say “No ticket, no ticket” over and over.

When I could get my hand free, I showed them the darn ticket. After examining it like it was a counterfeit $100, they waved me on like I had been obstructing rush hour traffic.

Miniature bureaucrats are the same everywhere.

[EEGator]

Did you go to the Nikola Tesla museum?

[norwaypinesavage]

I had a somewhat similar problem in Shanghai (You know, the place where the word shanghaied comes from). We were stuck in a train station late at night and had to quickly get to a higher floor. There were no visible ways to do that except for a group of long down escalators coming toward us. Fortunately, one of them was stopped, so we decided to walk up it.

We got part way up, and a policeman started yelling at us. Of course, in Chinese, so we had no clue what he was saying. We stopped and came down off the escalator. He walked over to a panel, lifted it up, turned a switch to make the escalator run backwards, and started it now going up! He smiled and waved, as we went up the down escalator.

[EternalVigilance]

After what Clinton did to Serbia, you’re lucky they didn’t just kill you.

[csvset]

The joys of traveling in a foreign country.

Our Egyptian cab driver nodded off while driving and we were headed for a palm tree. The front seat passenger woke Abdul by thumping him in the chest and grabbed the wheel in time. Abdul said he worked four jobs.

We told him that if he didn’t stay awake on this one, he wouldn’t have to worry about the other three. No tip for Abdul.

Abdul’s antics pale in comparison to Italian cab drivers though. Had one that took us through a train tunnel to avoid a traffic jam. Using the brake is a sign of weakness. The accelerator and horn rule the day.