Currency Exchange

Yesterday, I had an interview in Connecticut. On Sunday I took the Chinatown bus to Penn Station in New York. Then, I walked to Times Square and took the subway to Grand Central Station. From there I took a train to New Haven. It was a fun little adventure.

After the interview I felt how I always feel after a day of interviewing: exhausted. I was on the platform waiting for the train when I decided to quench my thirst with a bottle of water. I had only a $20 bill and some change. Water was $1.25. Then I noticed that the machine takes credit cards. "Sweet!" I thought to myself, "What are the odds of that?" But for whatever reason it wouldn't read my credit card. Or my debit card either. That's when a stranger who had been watching me struggle came and offered to give me a dollar. I looked in my wallet and asked her, "Do you ever go to Philadelphia? I have a subway token I can give you." She graciously accepted it in exchange for the dollar and said, "Now I will have to go to Philadelphia!" She seemed tickled. It was a lovely moment.