In my country, there is one specific type of phobia among people. This is something that I would describe as a phenomenon or perhaps just a lack of a established standards of behavior in public transport. Serbian people are not very interested in buying tickets for public transport. Everything is so expensive and salaries are so low, that buying those tickets became a luxury. A public transport ticket is something that is probably the last thing on the shopping list for many people. The consumer basket doesn't recognize it as a necessity. In my country, many people like to avoid paying obligations, whenever it is possible, even though they put themselves at risk.

Having a valid ticket in public transport is something normal and common. Something that should not be discussed. But not in my country. In Serbia, "no ticket" is the most popular law-breaking. On the other hand, it has a great impact on people's mental health.

Transport ticket system in my country is very simple. It is called "Bus plus" and it is based on technology with electronic contactless smart cards for paying via validators.

The card validation device is an electronic reader. It is used to verify, control and charge for driving and it identifies valid and invalid cards, by simply presenting your bus plus card to the validator.

The rules are also simple. A passenger is obligated to show a valid card at the inspector's request. If the passenger doesn't have a valid card, he/she must show identification document and will be required to pay a fine. If the passenger refuse to do that, ticket inspector will seek assistance of police officers.

The ticket inspectors get on randomly selected buses at random bus stops and you never know if they will get on the bus where you are, to check the tickets. When that happens, several scenarios can be seen.

1. scenario: Getting out

When the ticket inspector gets on the bus, people suddenly start to get out and there is so much crowd that they can barely get through the door. They push each other, go over each other. It is very difficult to get out in this situation. It is a hard struggle. And after that struggle, the bus is empty and it looks like this. 😊

2. scenario: Running away inside the bus

In this case, people start running from one point to another in order to avoid the ticket inspectors. It is something like playing a strategy game.

3. scenario: Showing invalid ticket

It is not a smart desicion. This leads to a bigger problem. You start pretending that you didn't know it was invalid and that story usually doesn't work.

4. scenario: Speaking in English

You can pretend to be a tourist, but if you decide to do that, you need to have good acting skills and to be fluent in English.

5. scenario: Refuse to show identity document

If you don't have a ticket/card you need to provide your personal information and show identity document. People sometimes say that they don't have ID document right now, but it is not a good option. I did that once. Then, they asked me about my personal data and I had to tell them, so anyway I got my fine and I had to pay a certain amount. Since then, I have never been without a valid card again.

6. scenario: Provide incorrect personal data

The worst option, unless you are a professional liar. 😊 When they find out that the data is incorrect, you will pay more.

There are many more possible scenarios, but these are the most common. In my opinion, having a valid card is a must. It will save your nerves. It's very uncomfortable when you are trembling with fear, from the bus stop to the bus stop, while you are hoping that the ticket inspector will not get on the bus. These situations are not tips and tricks to avoid paying tickets in Serbian buses. 😊 These situations have very bad effects on people's mental health. They are stressful and I think that they become a specific type of phobia, that disrupts normal life.

Are there such situations in public transport in your country?

Thank you very much for reading. I would like to thank a lot my new sponsor @Jehoshaphat for supporting me.

Article and photos are original and mine.

Best regards to all readers and writers.