A closer look
Parisian transit authorities officially phased out their iconic cardboard metro tickets in recent years, violently dragging the stubbornly nostalgic French public into the twenty-first century by forcing them to use contactless smart cards and mobile apps. These tiny rectangular pieces of paper had been romanticized for over a century, serving as makeshift bookmarks, emergency rolling papers, and iconic symbols of Parisian youth, which obviously means they had to be mercilessly eradicated in the name of digital efficiency and reduced litter. Naturally, the transition caused a massive cultural uproar, because there is nothing the French love more than fiercely defending an incredibly outdated, easily lost piece of disposable trash simply because it possesses a vague aura of romantic melancholy. Now, tourists and locals alike get to experience the much more modern, streamlined frustration of their phone battery dying right before they try to scan their way onto a crowded, uncomfortably warm train
