life lesson at the toll booth

A story I often tell to illustrate...well, all kinds of things, but mostly a "centered set":

In between high school and college, I was a toll collector on the Connecticut Turnpike.
I had some amazing bosses and co-workers (I have to tag Sts. Raymond Powers and Al Meliso).

We would alternate which side of the highway we worked on..
...but the catch: on a given day, it would .be easy to temporarily forget which side you were on.

Two questions we got all the time:

From westbound motorists: "How far to Providence?"
Of course, we had the answer memorized: "Ninety miles."

From eastbound motorists: "How far to New York City"?
We didn't have to think about the answer: "Seventy miles"

(Note: on the East Coast, people gauge trips by miles, here on the Left Coast, we answer in time estimates)

One random day, a motorist asked "How far to New York City?"

I was honored to help.  I smiled and responded: "Seventy miles"

"Thank you, " the driver cheerfully responded.

But a few seconds later, I tried in vain to shout out what I had just realized:

"But you're going the wrong way!"