New York City attitude.

[akiro]

Today on the bus a lady came running at full speed waving her arms to the stop. It seemed like any other "just about to miss the bus" frantic action, but when the lady rushed in, it was a full enslaught of emotion. She was sobbing full heartedly, not caring that the tears were streaming down her face and she looked a complete mess. She couldn't even choke out the words "I don't have bus fair." The bus driver silently handed her a transfer without even a glance while she stuttered her way through some story of running out of gas and not knowing where she was. Stumbling across the aisle to her seat she looked the picture perfect inner city bus tramp; out of balance, an emotional wreck, though finely dressed and no stench of alcohol. There was something about her stumbling, her tears and her general panic that made me take down my headphones and give her a sympathetic look with a genuine, "Are you okay?" She looked at me for a moment as if I'd grown a third head, but after a half grin she seemed to warm up. Or at least the tears did. She let loose the events that lead up to her emotional bus capture. She ran out of gas somewhere, didn't say where but she called a tow truck, they towed her to the nearest autobody shop, but that was it, wouldn't give her a lift home. From the autobody shop she tried to get change, the clerks turned her out, she hailed a taxi but the taxi didn't believe she had enough money to get to Riverbend and turned her out. That's when she spotted our little suberbian bus. "This must be one of those new buses" I didn't have the heart to tell her, this bus was in fact considered one of St. A's ghetto buses as it was more than four years old, and did not have the snazzy digital displays. She continued her story with a warning never to run out of gas in this city, especially if you didn't know where you were. I nodded and shrugged along. I would never drive without enough gas period, especially if I was traversing from somewhere west of Riverbend, and had to be in Riverbend by a certain time. I told her "Yeah, Edmonton's pretty big". She admitted she was from Montreal, well that shattered that, Montreal hands down is bigger. And as I talked with her more, the tears and sobs subsiding she made a statement that seemed so absurd at the time..."Edmonton sure has a real New York City Attitude." Our little Edmonton? But...it has a grain of truth when you think about it. Just looking at the events of her journey to my little bus. While offering my phone so that she could call the people who were watching her kids I thought about it...and how self absorbed most of edmonton is. There are few who will lend a helping hand to those in need, no matter what they look like. From the tow truck driver, the service station, a lady in a car on the street and the cabbie, only one mute bus driver and a girl in the first seat would give her a second of time. The lady also asked as she gave my phone back "You weren't born here were you? You're helping me, you must not have been originally from here." I had to laugh a litle on the inside, being from St. A in any Edmontonian's eyes automatically marks me a rich snob. so I conceeded "I'm from the suburb not far from here, and that's apparently even worse." As the bus pulled towards the bus depot, I told her that there she'd find many buses going all sorts of places and that the bus drivers were really nice, they'd help her out. She nodded and mentioned a 33 bus she needed to take, it was an express right to riverbend. I took her word for it. I could've left her then and there as the bus pulled to a stop, and as I got up, still conversing I had a thought of that's what I should do. But as she thanked me for being so nice, I got off the bus and decided I could play tour guide just a little bit longer. As we stepped off the bus a little skater slide off behind us and mentioned that the 33 stopped by the back fence(so there was life on that bus besides me and the mute driver). She continued to thank me and say how grateful she was. I could've left her right there but, head swelling with such gratitude I took her into the bus shelter and we found the bus schedule for the 33. We made good time, any second she'd be connecting to her bus. I even saw her off, making sure she got on and the bus took off with her on it.

I'm going to start a one man revolution on making Edmonton a nicer place. Well it'll be a two man revolution as Ariana is already on the bandwagon :P