Over the summer I worked at Pitzer. Two of my coworkers and I took the Metrolink to Downtown one Friday. We were on the 4:30pm train and the cars were packed. About an hour into our ride, we arrived at El Monte. Two stops later and we would be at our destination. Suddenly, two sheriffs boarded the train and started checking tickets. You could tell they were in a bad mood. One came to our seats and asked to see our tickets. He approved my ticket and one of my coworker’s tickets. He picked up my other coworker’s ticket, stared at it for several seconds and then said, “I don’t like this one.” We were very confused. We all got tickets at the same time and used the same machine. He explained that my coworker had only purchased a ticket to Baldwin Park, the previous stop. My coworker apologized explaining she meant to purchase a ticket to Union Station. She found the ticket machine confusing and accidently selected Baldwin Park instead. I jumped in and explained that we would happily pay for the rest of the fair to Union. “You don’t understand. You don’t understand,” the sheriff responded, “I could charge you $200 for trying to cheat the system!” My coworker repeated that it was her mistake, and that she was sorry. My other coworker and I reminded the officer that we could pay for the rest of the fair and said it was ridiculous to make such a big deal over the situation. But he continued to harass my friend about her ticket for a solid five minutes. He repeated that she didn’t understand the consequences of what she did. He also told her that she was unintelligent for not understanding how to use the ticket machine (he knew we were from the Claremont Colleges and thought it was funny that “students of higher education” couldn’t use a basic machine). During his rant my coworker and I kept tried to come to our friend’s defense But, every time we did, he raised his voice. We eventually just stared at him in disbelief. He was getting this angry over a ticket. Really?! By the end of his rant, my coworker was almost in tears. He told us that he would let my coworker off this time, but if he saw her “cheat the system” again he would fine her. Once the sheriffs got off the train, one of my coworkers said, “I’m glad you were here. Otherwise, he probably would have fined her.” My coworker felt that the sheriff treated our friend badly because she was Latina. I was a little taken aback by this. It was just a train ticket. My friend made an honest mistake. Why should color of skin or ethnic background matter in this situation? My coworker explained that this was the kind of harassment that she and her friends went through almost on a daily basis in Los Angeles. Because of her darker skin color and ethnic background, the officer automatically assumed that she was trying to cheat the system. This was the first time I’ve witnessed a sheriff harass someone. Witnessing this injustice, I now have a better understanding of the challenges people of color may face on a daily basis.
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