The Inadequacy of the MTA

I was walking in the park today when a young gentleman approached me with a sad story.  He had lost his wallet and therefore had no cash or Metrocard to get to his home in the Bronx.  Could I perhaps spare a dollar or two?

I asked him what subway he needed to take.  "The Q train," he told me.  This was good news, because we were not very far from a Q station.  I offered to walk him to the station and swipe him in with my Metrocard.

But we had walked only about 5 or 10 steps when he identified a defect in my plan:  the Q train doesn't run to the Bronx.

Chastened, I took a moment to consider our options.  Luckily we were not very far from the 2/3 and the 4/5, both of which run to the Bronx.  (In fact those are the only trains near Prospect Park that go to the Bronx, at least on the weekend.  On a weekday you could take the B.  However, you could also take the Q and then switch to the 2/3 or 4/5 at Atlantic, the 4/5 at 14th Street, or the 2/3 at Times Square.  All of those are free transfers.)

So I offered to swipe him onto the 2/3 or 4/5, but he declined my offer.  I guess neither of those trains could meet his needs.  I wished him luck and went on my way.  I hope he managed to find the train he was looking for.  But to editorialize a little, this really hammers home just how inadequate the MTA is.  Here was a young man, stranded without his wallet, forced to ask strangers for help getting home—and there was no train that could take him where he needed to go.  Shame on you, MTA!  Shame on you!