Dear Golden Gate Bridge Toll Booth Workers

Dear Golden Gate Bridge Toll Booth Workers,

Today I opened the New York Times and read that the people were being taken out of your soul. Computers were replacing those who stood in your tool booths collecting bills and giving smiles.

I remember all of you with great love -- when I used to visit my father up in San Francisco and the people in the booths welcomed us into the city when we drove over from Sausalito.

Your hearts beat inside the wonder that was created to lift spirits and connect lands.

You are not just a combination of steel, cables and paint -- you are a smile on the way to work, a look in the middle of traffic, and a piece of humanity that gives us all pause when stuck inside our vehicles.

How many lives did you all touch, you magnificent workers inside tiny spaces? Moments of pause have been deemed too costly. Perhaps they can build another sports stadium or do product placement over what were once windows filled with citizens of the city the great Golden Gate protected.

For generations now, those who cross your entrances and exits will be greeted with another electronic statistic void of personality.

It's progress they say -- a cost saving tactic designed at efficiency. What of the people who no longer have jobs to go to? Jobs that required being friendly and welcoming with pride in their work?

I thank you, all of you who shared your energy with me throughout my lifetime -- making the voyage to San Francisco seem like a magic act with each visit.

Though you have been removed from the physical bridge, you are in so many souls, forever.

For the billions of bridge crossers, we thank you.