Turnpike Toll Gift

I had a very busy day yesterday and today but, before I go to bed, I wanted to make note of something that happened when I was driving to Portland yesterday morning.

First, a little background…I have an EZ Pass for my vehicle. For those who don’t know, an EZ Pass is a way to ride the Maine Turnpike, which is a toll road, without having to give the toll collector the toll ($1). There are EZ Pass lanes that allow travelers to zoom through without stopping. It helps traffic flow smoother and saves people time.

I used to be on a quarterly plan for the EZ Pass. I would pay $59 every three months and I could ride the Turnpike as much as I wanted without paying an additional toll. This came in handy because the $59 was less than 1/3 of what I would have paid if I to pay the $1 each time I went to and from work and it wouldn’t cost me anymore if I wanted to use the Turnpike on the weekends or evenings. When my job moved away from Portland, I decided to not pay the quarterly fee but instead just pay some money into my account to use whenever I wanted to drive on the Turnpike.

My account for EZ Pass has dropped pretty low and I haven’t added any money to it. I seem to not remember until I am getting on the Turnpike and then I see the yellow light and the message saying that my account is low. I am planning on adding more money to the account soon.

Since my account is low, I have been carrying a dollar in my van in case I approach the toll booth and the light stays red (meaning my account is empty) and I need to pay the toll. Yesterday was a beautiful day and I was in a wonderful mood. I was thinking, as I approached the Turnpike entrance, that I should do what I tend to do at Christmas. At Christmastime, I try to go through the toll booth that is manned so that I can give a $5 to the toll taker. I tell the toll taker that, even though I have an EZ Pass, I want to give them the $5 to pay for the next five vehicles. I tell them, also, to wish the recipients a Merry Christmas. It makes the toll taker smile, brightens the spirits of those five drivers and kind of freaks everyone out. It also makes me feel good because I feel generous but also because I like to freak people out that way.

So, as I was driving yesterday, I decided that if my dollar wasn’t needed to pay my toll because I still had money on my EZ Pass, then I would still give the dollar to the toll taker to pay for the next driver. I would tell the toll taker to tell the driver that it was a gift and to have a nice day.

When I stopped at the toll booth, I unrolled my window and reached out to hand the toll taker the dollar. The toll taker said, “you have EZ Pass”. I said that I know but I wanted to pay for the next driver. The toll taker then looked directly at me and said, “you have EZ Pass”. I said, “Yes, I know but I want to pay for the next driver”. The toll taker said, “I don’t have to do that” and went back to sorting his papers.

HUH???? Excuse me???? What is that supposed to mean? I sat there for a few seconds and then realized it was pointless, rolled up my window and drove away.

“I don’t have to do that”. What a fine response. What a stupid response. What a completely inconsiderate response.

One thing I do need to mention is that the Maine Turnpike Authority has been under fire lately. Apparently the upper management has taken advantage of their positions and have been using gift cards for their own use and have ripped off the Turnpike for hundreds of thousands of dollars. This has ticked a lot of people off and they have responded by being very rude to toll takers. They, some of the people who use the Turnpike, have made rude comments, thrown money at the toll takers and generally taken their aggression out on people who had nothing to do with the scandal.

I do feel bad about this. I would never treat people rude in that way and I feel bad that other people do act in such an inconsiderate manner. But, if that is the reason the toll taker was rude to me, then I can kind of understand his response. I can understand although I still think it is completely puzzling and wrong. I was trying to be nice and make someone else’s day brighter and the toll taker decided to take his bad mood out on me and the person who would have received my gift.

I think, in the interest in the Easter holiday, I am going to try it again tomorrow. I really have no need to take the Turnpike anywhere because I can take other roads to church tomorrow night. But I will take the Turnpike just so I can give my dollar to the toll taker for the next vehicle behind mine. Hopefully it will go well and my gift will be passed on.

I have said before and I will say it now, there are ripples we all send out as we go through each day. Good ripples and bad ripples. I tried to send out some good ripples but they were blocked by the toll taker’s bad ripples. Oh well. I am not discouraged and will try again. Because I truly believe the good ripples will win out in the long run.