To help get our message out and ease the Q Card transition, three of our best Ask Me team members have been stationed at the RideStore, where lines have sometimes been long, as people wait to get their Q Cards.

At one point in the afternoon, the line was 45 people deep. Those at the top of the line said they had been waiting 45 minutes to an hour. The METRO staff behind the glass windows worked rapidly to process each client.

But among the bored faces, three angels draped in red vests weaved their way through the crowd, each with a bright smile and sparkling eyes. Call them the Ask Me queens. That's what one customer today dubbed the three ladies - part of the 100-member team METRO has dispensed to the rail platforms, transit centers and RideStores to help in our transition to the Q Card.

Meet Thlyrial Smith, an Ask Me team member since Jan. 2.

The young mother said she loves answering disgruntled people's questions because "I AM the Ask Me queen! I got all the answers to any question about the Q Card," she beamed.

"I'm a people person. And I like to interact with customers. I want to know exactly how they feel so I can relate to it," said Smith, whose knowledge of sign language has also come in handy with our customers.

Angry customers? Smith says that's the fun part - soothing the savage beast.

Christine Ybarra, an Ask Me member for only two days but already an angel, said she enjoys helping people and patiently answered questions.

Then there's Regina Miller, an attractive woman with shoulder-length hair and thick eyelashes.  "I love people. I like to be funny. A lot of people don't like change. They're content with the way things are. After they calm down, they accept that."

I watched Miller in action as she patiently answered questions, joked with customers and emoted empathy. Besides charming our customers, Miller would also disarm them with a question. If someone complained about the Day Pass going away, for example, Miller would ask follow-up questions and help solve the customer's dilemma.

And then she would follow up with all the benefits of the Q Card: more efficient boarding, no more bent or torn transfer passes. And she'd add that the new fare system would allow METRO to do more for our customers.

By the time Miller is through talking to customers, even the angry ones have a smile on their face.

But that's not all. Miller said customers will come back to see her after they get their Q Card at the window and give her a hug or shake her hand. She averages three hugs a day from patrons.

While I was interviewing her, a tall gentleman walked by and waved, "Hey, thanks for your help," he called as he strolled out.

Miller nudged me: "He's one of the ones who was really upset."

"And he would have hugged you if I hadn't been talking to you?," I asked.  

"Probably."