Select Bus

Years ago, you dropped in coins;
The driver gave you change,
Just exactly as expected.
No one found it odd or strange.

Next, exact change was demanded
Until tokens did appear,
Though the size of them did alter,
For no reason very clear.

Soon the MetroCard did follow,
Filled with cash so you’d not worry;
Yet at times it didn’t work,
Those times when you were in a hurry.

Fares, of course, kept going up
As I guess they always will
But the way we pay evolves
And so we have to learn the drill.

As for now, on the Select Bus,
You buy tickets by machine
But before you board the bus;
It’s created quite a scene.

People climb aboard and wonder
Why there’s no place there to pay
So the driver must explain
At least a thousand times a day.

Soon all riders will be in on
What to do and where and when;
By the time it seems routine, you know
They’ll change it once again.