Crowds gobble up free SEPTA tokens

"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.