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Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

The crowd overwhelms Todd Whiteoak of Old City as he arrives to give away SEPTA tokens and coupons for Stove Top promotion at 15th and Market Streets on Nov. 10, 2009. A second giveaway was planned for 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Nov. 11.

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READER FEEDBACK

Crowds gobble up free SEPTA tokens

By Peter Mucha

Inquirer Staff Writer

"It's an early Christmas!" said Sammy Dominguez, 44, an unemployed cook from North Philadelphia.

In less than 15 minutes, he'd gotten "Five so far!" of the free SEPTA tokens handed out by red-jacketed Stove Top reps this morning at 15th and Market Streets.

The idea was one token per person.

Reality was something else.

The stuffing-mix maker's giveaway - the kickoff of a national promotion called Spread the Warmth - attracted large crowds from 7:30 to 8:30 this morning.

Expect a return engagement tomorrow, same time, same place.

In one hour, the Stove Top team handed out 1,750 tokens, valued at $2 each, along with 4,000 coupons for free products, said spokeswoman Colleen Berk.

At first pockets of people surrounded members of the token team, so an attempt was made to form an orderly line.

The line collapsed after about five minutes.

Darlene Bivens stood back, looking a bit disgusted. Unlike other people, she got only a single token.

"I had to pick that up off the ground!" said the 47-year-old housekeeper from South Philadelphia.

She saw one man, though, "grab a handful" from a rep. "He was just going into the man's bag!" she said.

"Eight so far!" said a gleeful Dominguez, re-appearing then scurrying back into the throng.

"It's wonderful. The strike was horrible," said Patricia Taylor, 56, a West Philadelphia baker who got three tokens.

A passerby said one man kept standing in the same spot and just kept getting tokens.

"Totally ridiculous," said Ericca Covington, 35, a nursing student who took a bus from West Philadelphia for a single token.

She wasn't going to try again.

"Too much pushing and shoving," she said.

"I'm up to 10!" beamed Dominguez, the human boomerang.

Upon hearing a plea, he gave a token to Covington, then disappeared.

"Is this the line?" asked a woman stopping by.

"Yes," Covington said.

"How many tokens can you get?" the woman asked.

"One" she was told.

The woman blurted an obscenity and went on her way.

Nearby, a man was on a phone, saying, "Hey, baby, did you see me on TV?"

A handstamp might be helpful tomorrow, spokeswoman Jennifer Walsh agreed.

She also explained how Stove Top would also be "spreading the warmth" by feeding some parking kiosks near City Hall this morning and tomorrow morning.

For more about the giveaway and a contest - an essay on helping others could mean $2,500, plus $5,000 for the winner's charity - go to www.spreadthewarmth.com.

Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.

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Comments

Posted 10:01 AM, 11/10/2009

kingofpoker

This just shows you-people are EVIL. YOU WERE TO GET ONE>---Animals

Posted 10:13 AM, 11/10/2009

Nickawampus Leroy

Wait until the healthcare is free.

Posted 10:20 AM, 11/10/2009

Fire Man

Hey baby, see me farting?! Sounds like a great idea, except it turned the area into a zoo. I wish they would give me the $15 i spent on a taxi back from the eagles game the night before.

Posted 10:24 AM, 11/10/2009

Could.It.Really.Be...ColonelAngus

People like Dominguez wait at Wal Mart during Black Friday and he's the first to knock over an old lady to get his deals. No class at all.

Posted 10:25 AM, 11/10/2009

Lefils Natif

I want to disagree with Leroy, but if universal health care is operated the way it is in Canada then he's right. If we do it here, it has to be smarter and not a free-for-all.

Posted 10:28 AM, 11/10/2009

Peacemaker

You can't give away free stuff in this city, the animals will rage and riot. I've seen two fat ladies get into a slap fight over some free packets of cat food.

Posted 10:31 AM, 11/10/2009

JerryCurlan

I'm surprised no one was trampled to death - like at the WalMart Black Friday sale last year...The guy giving out the tokens should be getting hazardous duty pay.

Comment removed.

Posted 10:38 AM, 11/10/2009

R Mexico

I lubs me some hand-outs.

Posted 10:47 AM, 11/10/2009

pdditty

Tokens are not valued at $1.45/each not $2. http://septa.com/fares.html

Posted 11:15 AM, 11/10/2009

Kevie Kev

Wouldn't it make more sense to allow the first X amount of subway riders in for free? There's no thought process here.

Posted 11:22 AM, 11/10/2009

Will Quale

How do "feed a parking kiosk"? Feeding a meter is easy, because the "valid parking time" is displayed on the meter and sticking another quarter in extends the time displayed. But with the kiosks the "valid parking time" is displayed on a receipt you put on your dashboard -- putting more money into the kiosk doesn't change what's on the dashboard! Is Stovetop going to put extra money into the kiosks and then break into cars to properly display the new receipts with extra time? This whole promotion is just a giant commercial for Stovetop -- they aren't helping anyone here, and philly.com is giving them a ton of free advertising disguised as "news".

Posted 11:23 AM, 11/10/2009

The_Unknown-Poster

I see the usual crowd is there for freebies. How uncivilized it is to just grab tokens out of the bag. What a bunch of disorderly, uncivilized idiots.