Yes, Hillary, The MetroCard Struggle Is So Real

We've all been there. Maybe, like me, you were there this morning. The rush of the incoming L train, the crush of passengers, the frantic bag search for your MetroCard — and then, upon swiping your MetroCard, you're barred from entering. "Try again at this turnstile." You stop. Breathe. Try again. OK. The train is gone. Anyway, that also happened to Hillary Clinton Thursday morning. Her MetroCard struggles on the NYC subway proved that she might just be one of us after all.

For New York newcomers and natives alike, the MetroCard struggle is real. Particularly if you haven't done it in a while, it's improbably difficult to sweep your card through the machine and get through the turnstile the very first time. When friends come to visit, you stand patiently on the other side of the turnstile while they push their card through once, twice, three times without success. When you have approximately 12 seconds to swipe your MetroCard and jump aboard the train, the system will let you down. It's MTA lore. It might as well be MTA law.

NowThisNews reporter Sean Morrow tweeted, jokingly, "Hate to sound like a Bernie Bro but Hillary Clinton just took five Metrocard swipes to get in and that honestly disgusts me." Meanwhile, deputy communications director for Hillary for America, Christine Reynolds, tweeted in solidarity: "Metrocard doesn't work on the first try? Happens to all of us, @HillaryClinton!"

In fact, Clinton's struggles are not dissimilar to my father's the last time he visited New York. He swiped and swiped and swiped without success, muttering, "How can you do that and I can't?" (Another thing my father and Clinton have in common: They are at least vaguely aware that you no longer use tokens to get into the New York subway.)

The difference was that dozens of photographers were not on hand to document my father's very real and very awkward struggle to, for the love of God, just get on the bloody train.

A helpful hint for Clinton: Hold the tip of the MetroCard between your thumb and middle finger, and press down on the bottom of the card as you push it, hard, along the line of the machine. It takes a little while, but you'll get there. (Most of the time.)