The End of an Era

Over the weekend, while riding the bus in the rain while on my way to my soccer game, I had my SmarTrip card in my hand while I was wrapping up my umbrella when the card suddenly snapped in my hand. I let out an loud gasp because although the card hadn't snapped completely in half, I knew it wouldn't work anymore.

For those of you who aren't from DC, a SmarTrip card is a reusable card that you use to board the metro and the buses in the area. I bought my card over 3 years ago when I first moved to DC and have had it ever since. I used to use it every single day, when I took the metro to work, and even now I still use it a few times a week.

Yesterday I had to pay cash for the bus in order to get home from my soccer game, something I have never done before. Today I went to CVS to buy a new card (it costs $10 but the card comes with $5 loaded on it) so I would have something to use in the meantime. As much as I complain about WMATA (the DC transportation system company), I have to give them props on their website for the SmarTrip cards. Since I already had my card registered, I just went online and reported the card as damaged and they will supposedly transfer the balance to a new card and mail the new card to me. Let's see if it really is that easy.