World in Conflict, and DC Metro Passengers

The World in Conflict beta is out. As a guy who's introduction to RTS games was the original Red Alert, I am more than a little intrigued by the game. Alas, I suspect that my elderly laptop(which can play Company of Heroes surprisingly well) has finally reached the wall in games it can play. Time to turn in my Navy-era laptop for a real desktop.

So, one of the tools that the DC Metropolitan area transit system(the Metro) uses for it's frequent customers is a smart card called "Smarttrip". Besides paying for fare, your company/federal agency can also deposit fare directly onto it, which I think is neat. The third use is that it's used to pay for a parking spot at the major Metro train stops(that have parking lots/garages). In fact, it is very nearly the exclusive method of payment at these facilities. But this is no big secret, oh no, there are big signs everywhere(including when you drive in) that say "Smarttrip is the only method of payment here". This isn't frickin' rocket science. How hard is it to pay just a little bit to your surroundings?

Well, this afternoon as I'm trying to leave the station and go home, the fine gentlemen in the car in front of me pulls out his credit card(I could see the magnetic strip) and just starts tapping the reader. And then I see him pulling out different credit cards and randomly tapping it. Probably 90% of the surface area of these readers at the exits say SMARTTRIP in big letters. Then, in the lane next to me, it becomes backed up because some young lady is staring blankly at the empty booth, as if a employee will magically appear. It was a nightmare and a half to get everyone to back the eff up so these two piles of human garbage could turn around and no doubt complain that the big signs all over the damn place weren't prominent enough. Such instances of stupidity happen with depressing regularity, but rarely does it cause a massive back up like it did today.

If you can't even pay attention to the big honking signs all over the place saying what the requirement was, what makes you think you pay attention driving on the road?