CTA card discrimination!

I once knew a guy who refused to get a Chicago Card because he liked putting a card into an actual slot (go figure). He didn't trust the chip in the card to work every time. I thought that was silly and downright stupid of him to always have to worry about a monthly card - but maybe it was just my elitist attitude toward the Chicago Card. When I lost mine, I had to use a temporary floppy card and I felt stripped of some privilege. Also, don't punch a hole in your card to dangle it because it deactivates the card if you damage it in any way.

Having a Chicago Card means a lot of things that don't really mean anything. It means you live in Chicago and are a permanent resident who rides the train enough to have one. It means you have enough sense to get one. It means you have a bank account or credit card to link it to. It means you are responsible enough to carry one around permanently. None of that matters but something about it makes you different from non-card carrying passengers. In any case, it sometimes has its perks.

The Francisco Brown Line stop is on the far north end of the line where the train runs at street level. There are two entrances: one at Francisco and one west on Sacramento. The Sacramento entrance is unattended with a turnstile door and a swinging door. Both a slot and a Chicago Card scanner are there. Sometimes, I would see people enter through the swinging door when a paying customer let them on the platform - Oooooo, naughty!

In response to this, the CTA recently put "Emergency Exit Only" signs on the swinging door and made the turnstile entrance available to Chicago Card/Card Plus customers only. As I approached the entrance, I waved my Chicago Card and went through the turnstile like any other day. The people behind me, however, were turned away with their disposable pay cards - and they had to walk all the way down to the Francisco side to enter the platform. All the while, a buff Securitas guard stands there with his arms crossed watching everyone (including cute old people) look confused, surprised and sad/disgruntled as they were forced to walk the long block down the alley. After years of that stop running the same way, day in and day out - all of a sudden, NOPE!! DENIED! What kind of malarkey is that?

Having a Chicago Card is access to get into the entrance of your choice. People without the card are turned away like they don't matter. Nobody cares. Nobody has any sympathy. Just turn your ass around and get over to that other side, you non-Chicago Card having degenerates. That's right! Get used to it, people!