Current Thought - 10.10.11

I have a confession to make. Some of you may not have the constitution to read what I have to divulge. If you are lacking in said department, please steel yourself, as it may be worth reading.For the past ten months, I have been collecting abandoned MetroCards. I have reached down and liberated them from dusty platforms, dirty walkways, and sticky subway car interiors. Not all of them yielded value. In fact, the vast majority of them had $0.00 on them. Every time I was confronted with a non-existent card balance, I got discouraged and told myself, "This is stupid." Thankfully my "stupidity" and luck, with avoiding any illness I could have contracted from the destitute cards, yielded amazing results.I knew that a human attendant at any large transfer station would combine my rescued cards. Not only that, they would also accept expired cards. So I turned in all of the emancipated cards, with my personal well-worn card, and asked the woman behind the bullet-resistant glass to please combine them. The look on this 50-something's face was invaluable. She was so surprised to see such a significant number from the forgotten cards. This was a good sign, as I had never estimated the total value. Let this be a lesson to everybody; never discard your MetroCards just because the turnstile states "Insufficient Funds" or "Card Expired."Total Value = $58.05