Only In New York…

This from my New Yorker best mate, Barry Fast, in today’s NY Times Diary http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/08/translating-the-muni-meter/?ref=topics&_r=0:

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.

I tried again. Nothing. Again nothing.

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.”

I did not ask how she knew this. I thanked her and said, “Only in New York.” She laughed, “For sure.”

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.

The receipt was in English.