Or stun guns for riders, Mike writes - in a description of what happened after he slid a $5 bill under the window at the UMass/JFK token booth and asked for two tokens:

"Waddya want?" he snapped at me.

I said: "Two. I wanna go and come back."

"Just tell me what you need!" the guy snarled.

"Two please," I repeated, flatly. ...

He was spoiling for a fight, and was grumping and griping beneath his breath.

I talked over him, but matter-of-factly: Two. Two. Two. ...

"Here," he snarked. And added, inexplicably: "And it's my fault. Remember that." ...