Paranoid about train ticket stubs.

Whenever you take the trains or subways over here, the ticket machine spits out this little stub.

You have to stick these tickets into the magnetic ticket reader gates, and I used to always get a heart attack every time I had to go throug one.

Nowaways, I'm doing a tad bit better with the gates, but until a while ago, all the exits looked the same to me, so I would stick the ticket into the first ticket reader I saw...and BAM! the gates would shut on me!

I couldn't figure out WHAT I did wrong. My logic was that I had a ticket in my hand, I got off at the right station (whew!), I see an exit before me, so that must mean I need to stick my ticket in to get out. Over time, I've learned that not all the gates are "exits" but instead "transfer gates" to get onto different lines. Personally, I'm not very good at telling the difference between a real exit and a transfer exit. They both look the same to me. I guess I should look a little closer to what the signs say, but even when I look, I still don't seem to be able to tell what the difference is.

My heart still beats fast whenever I have to put my ticket through the ticket gates. I'm always nervous about the gates slamming shut on me. I feel a huge sense of relief when it doesn't shut on me and I get to walk right through =).

Another thing that I get paranoid about, is losing the ticket. I stick it in one pocket or another, and then panic when I get off, 'cause I can't find my ticket. Sometimes I really can't find the ticket 'cause I put it away somewhere "where I won't lose it".

These days, just so I don't give myself a heart attack, I just hold onto the ticket the whole ride, like I'm doing here in the picture. It's working, 'cause I don't panic anymore when I get off the train!