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<p class="MsoNormal">Translating the Muni-Meter<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By Barry Fast May 8, 2015 8:30 am May 8, 2015 8:30 am<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">New York Times. Metropolitan Diary<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">More Reader Tales From the City <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Diary:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was parking on the Upper East Side, on Second Avenue near 77th Street. I inserted my Visa card in the muni-meter. Nothing happened. Screen stayed blank.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I tried again. Nothing. Again nothing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A waitress came out of a nearby restaurant and said: “Press the button for Spanish. This muni only works in Spanish.” I did not ask why and she didn’t offer an explanation. I hesitated. “Trust me,” she said, “it only works if you hit the
Spanish button.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I did not ask how she knew this. I thanked her and said, “Only in New York.” She laughed, “For sure.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I pressed for Spanish. Inserted my card. The screen came alive and told me, in Spanish, to wait a minute and then to remove my card and press the blue button to add minutes. Then, in Spanish, to press the green button to print my receipt
and, finally, to take the receipt.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The receipt was in English.<o:p></o:p></p>
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