I Blame Charlie

Boston has recently joined the ranks of most major metropolitan areas by transitioning its public transportation from tokens to plastic cards. Gone are the days when you ask the T attendant to give you a token for $1.25, now it’s a machine that forces you to add a charge to your credit card of $1.75. For people who ride the T as their only source of transportation it is more economical to buy a monthly pass that is like a credit card that has to be renewed monthly called a Charlie Card. Since I’ve received my card I’ve noticed a problem.

Every store I walk into the security alarm sounds. At first it’s startling but now it’s down right annoying. It’s not only me either. I was at a local drug store last week and about two-thirds of the people walking through the security devices set them off. No one even reacts to it anymore. It doesn’t matter if you are walking in or out, alarms sounds and lights flash. Last night when I went to the liquor store where the alarms are especially loud and once again set off the alarms. The guy behind the counter joked “Alright, hands up in the air.” Steve and I explained our theory of the Charlie card setting of the alarms. The guy said that he had noticed the alarm going off a lot more recently when people were walking in.

I take that as validation of our theory.