Riding Black

The transportation options in Berlin are pretty sweet.  If you do not feel like taking your bicycle through the flat city on one of the many bike lanes there is always mass transit.  We have been taking the bus, trams and metro lines constantly since we arrived.  They are new, clean and always punctual (if not early).  This is a stark change from New York City.  The metro is divided up into many segments with the S-Bahn and U-Bahn doing the heavy lifting.  The S-Bahn stands for StadtSchnellBahn or City Rapid Railway and the U-Bahn is the UntergrundBahn even though much of it is elevated.  A passenger only needs a single ticket to ride any of the modes of transportation and it is based on the honor system (again, unthinkable in NYC).  I have been very dutiful to keep my monthly pass on me at all times, but recently I changed up my routine.  This week I also met the undercover ticket enforcement agents that confronted me on the last stop of my route.  Naturally, the one time that my ticket is sitting on my desk at home is the time I need to flash it.  The gentleman was not sympathetic to my plight and I had to pay forty Euros on the spot for "riding black".  That hurts.  I don't know where the phrase comes from, but it sounds pretty nefarious.  I could feel the cold stares from my fellow passengers as I mumbled a mixture of German and English regrets.  Needless to say, I now check hourly that my card is on my person at all times - if I accidentally ride black again I'll be in the red.