Anyone for Tea?

Two kilos of quarters...

In any city, I guess there's some random anomalies. Those one or two occurrences that slip through the net. This morning is a fine example.

Leaving - i thought - a comfortable hour to get from the b&b from whence I checked out to the starting point of this morning's cycle ride, I set off down Bay St to the ferry terminal.

The directions are clear "pay at muni-meter" so I park up and look round... "what does a muni-meter look like" - asking the nearest human, I'm told that I'm parked in the wrong place - I should be at the other end of the car park.

So, hop back in the car, drive up to where I now espy a meter and park. Security guy though says "nope, the only spaces for none permit holders are those 30 over by where you came in! It is at this point I'm doubting whether the bus might have been the easier option!

So, eventually I get parked up and return to the meter. It's now at this point I realise that it only takes quarters and dollar coins (the latter of which were discontinued in the late 90's).

Picture then the scene, a confused looking tourist, sprinting - no less -around the north-eastern tip of Staten island, into every deli and laundrette, asking random passers by and security staff to help me 'get change for a dollar'.

Eventually, and clearly extremely late for my bike tour - I get in my hand a good 1kg of nickel and feed it patiently into the machine.



Now I just have to figure out how to get to the ferry from here...

posted by RichB @ Wednesday, July 06, 2005