L Rizzy's Adventures: Caught Red Handed

Bloguffies:

As aluded to prior in this blog, when we moved from LA we had to sell our beloved war horse- the 03 Maxima. That whip was put through more hell than any car could ever even imagine. With a shade over 176K miles on it, and several "minor" accidents, fender benders, and brush ups, the car still performed quite nicely on the road. The handling was a bit sluggish, she'd lost a step or two in her advanced years, but the ol' girl still got us from A to B with only a single blemish on her immaculate record of reliability. But alas, we could not fit her into a suitcase to bring her over here, so she was sold to the highest bidder at CarMax in Los Angeles, and we bid her adieu.

Living without a car here was a bit of an adjustment. The City Mini stroller quickly became our grocery cart and mule. We trudged home from the baby store with a unassembled crib draped over the top of the stroller. The blinds that were expertly hung in the family room were transported back from Germany Home Depot (OBI) on the wheels of that masterful buggy. The stroller worked well in place of a car, but even the broad shoulders of the C Min needed a lift from time to time. This is where the tram system came in so handy. With 3 separate pick up points located a mere 2 football fields away, we are always close to reliable transportation. But... the transportation is not without cost.

When we first came to Germany money was pretty tight. We were watching our nickels and dimes like hawks. Having no income'll do that to a family. A monthly pass for the trams and buses will run you 55 Euro. A daily pass is 5 Euro. When we first got here we took a few free rides... after all we hadn't seen anyone checking tickets. I got the monthly ticket, though, seeing as I was using the tram daily. L Mama would by daily tickets as she needed them to travel the city. I was under the impression that if you bought a daily ticket and you do not stamp it inside of the tram that it is still good. I was wrong, super wrong.

L Mama was traveling with L Rizzy back from the Promenade when right before the stop she was approached by a German person who asked for her ticket. L Mama had taken a ticket she had previous bought and stamped it that day. The ticket checker was not impressed and let her know that the ticket was invalid. L Rizzy, not happy with the stranger giving his mother some guff, took to wailing like a wounded Hyena. L Mama tried to explain, but her English was falling onto deaf (and non english speaking) ears. She was issued a ticket, and she proceeded to let me know what she thought about my ticket plan upon returning home.

So we translated the ticket- it was going to be 40 Euros (40 EUROS!?!?!). We found out where to go and the next week, we got her a VALID ticket and headed out. It was super cold outside. We found the place to pay for the ticket and when I entered I was immediately greeted with some less than pleasant German. "Mein Deutsch ist nicht gut. Sprechen sie Englisch" To which another person came out and told me in perfect english that I needed to wait outside. What? There were tons of chairs in the warm indoors that I could surely use. Nope, go outside.

So I did. And I waited and waited. An older lady came and wanted to go in... she spoke to me in German. I smiled and shuffled my feet. She went in and was promptly told to wait outside as well. So there we were, the beauty and the beast, waiting outside in the freezing cold to pay a ticket. After about 6 hours (10 minutes) we finally were allowed inside and the debt was paid. I met up with L Rizzy and L Mama outside, we boarded the tram, and road off into the daylight as legal riders.