Why do streetcars hate me so?

YES, why indeed? I must say, although parts of the city are wondrous, the transit system has seemingly taken upon itself the job of doing away with me completely! In my first week here we had an unpleasant encounter with a less-than-human man on our way back from our first dinner out, and ended up having quite some difficulty finding our way to a working streetcar...not to mention trekking through a highly unsavoury part of town to accomplish it. All hostilities forgiven, this week we had a taste of the left-over communistic nature of some people in the region when we were reprimanded by a transit-worker for not carrying our passports with us...personally I would rather keep mine in a safe place until absolutely necessary, but supposedly that is not the expectation of all.
Finally, yesterday we were returning to our dorm from the Opera House (where we saw Swan Lake, so great!), pouring rain, and found out after waiting for over half an hour that the needed streetcar did not serve into the late evening...a taxi might have been an option if only a building with a phone and the telephone number were provided. But it was not so, and we hoped we could hop from tram to tram and at least come near our destination. Yikes, we made it a few stops, then had to wait another half-hour before the next streetcar came which would bring us halfway to our dorm. The system describing the order of stops was messed up, however, and we missed our stop - ending up far out into a really deserted, unfriendly part of town...after 11pm. We started to make our way back to the previous stop on foot, but some really big, mean looking characters coming toward us ensured our complete confusion in direction as we avoided them. If it weren't for a kind couple - the only beings we'd seen after what seemed like, well, way too long - I don't know exactly where I'd be right now. Wow, their decision to lend a hand to a lost Canadian felt like a miracle :)
So when I get back home, I am to send them a postcard, that is all they asked...all I know is the first name of the lady, and their faces, but I will never forget them and I will send them silent thank-you's every day. Who knows, perhaps one day I will be on the other side of the situation. All I know is, I will make sure to lend a hand to that person in need.