This afternoon I quietly realized another thing I dislike about the Compass card system–the fare gates are biased toward right-handed people, as the spot to tap your card is on the right. I can’t really argue against the logic of the placement as something like 90% of the population is right-handed. Still, it’s another little thing that irks me about the system.
But never mind that, I was tapping in at the Lougheed Town Centre station and proceeded up to the platform to wait for the next train. A shortish young man with a thick beard was conversing with three SkyTrain attendants. I didn’t catch everything said but enough to gather that a bag was laying on the track. I looked and sure enough, a green Save on Foods grocery bag lay resplendent upon the middle rail. One of the attendants noted that it would need to be removed ASAP. Immediately another young man came up asking if the system was going to be brought to a standstill for half a day because of this. I’m paraphrasing but from his tone, I’ve captured the essence of his question, even if he didn’t use those exact words. The attendant assured him there were be no delays.
One of the other attendants radioed something to SkyTrain control. Probably something like, “Don’t let the next train run me over, thanks!” as he next clambered down onto the track, grabbed the bag, handed it to the third attendant, who then handed it to the shortish young man with the thick beard, as apparently the bag–which contained undisclosed items–belonged to him. I never heard his explanation for how the bag went from his hands to the track area. Only the security cameras will know for sure. He had a weird glint in his eye, though.
The next train arrived a few minutes later, there were no delays, and the young man got on the same car as me, gently holding the bag at his feet. He said nothing and did nothing before I got off two stops later. But that glint in his eyes never went away as he stared out the window.
It was all a little weird.