So I fly for a living, based out of Chicago, and when I get home from a trip, I take the Blue Line back to my place. Nothing special about that — except there used to be this guy who worked the train station, and he'd let the crew through without making us pay the $2.50. Just "go ahead," and that was it. No big deal to him, I guess, but after a long day, it genuinely made a difference. We all knew him. We all appreciated it.
Anyway. One night, a coworker of mine got off her flight. She's in a rush and can't find him anywhere. So instead of just paying and moving on with her life, she starts yelling. Right there in the station. Making a whole scene, basically accusing him of not doing his job, like he owed her something.
And of course, that got back to whoever it needed to, and he got in trouble for it. Just like that, the thing stopped happening. No more letting the crew through. We all pay full price now.
It's such a small thing, but it stuck with me. One person couldn't just let something nice be nice, and now none of us get it anymore. Classic case of one person ruining a good thing for everybody else.
Sincerely,
$2.50 Poorer in Chicago
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