Professor Emeritus
My friend Michelle and I walked for about 35 minutes today with this 86- or 87-year-old man (he told us his age twice, and those two ages are what he told us, so...um...yes.) who had a bad back and walked somewhat unsteadily. Don't know what he teaches, but he told us he was a Professor Emeritus from some other university. But anyhow, I'll tell you how all this began.
So at about 11:30 AM, our group for Auditing class finishes discussing our new assignment, and head out of the building to go and photocopy some things. Just outside the building, we encounter Professor Emeritus ("PE"), who asks whether we're students at the university, and we answer in the affirmative. And then, I'm fairly certain he asked if one of us could help him walk to the library, so Michelle says okay, and I say I'll go with them, too. The other half of our group goes off to do the photocopying, and we head off in the other direction, down the street.
Okay, so we're off, walking south down the sidewalk of this street. PE asks if we've got parents or grandparents around his age, and we say, yes, our grandparents (my grandmother's 95). We walk for a little while longer until we approach the library. "You're going here, right?" Michelle asks PE, who responds with something slightly unintelligible and then says, "Why don't we stop at the next corner?", which we agree to.
So...before we get to the corner, he stops suddenly (well, as suddenly as it gets when you're moving that slowly), saying, "Okay, let's stop now." And just as Michelle and I think maybe we're no longer needed, he says, "Let's turn around." Um...okay... so we head back up north the same street, and he says we're very nice, and he reiterates that if he needs to grab one of our arms, that he's not doing it because he's "gay" (and here I was thinking the term had something to do with people being the same gender, but what do I know? I'm only 22.), and says that we probably have parents or grandparents his age. So on the way back up to where we started from, he says, "Do either of you know where Prince Arthur Avenue is?" And we both say no, and start to worry that he doesn't actually know where he's going. I don't know how we'd get that impression, what with him walking down and up the same street, with a bad back and wanting people nearby to help. But anyway, he says it's at the next light, which makes us even more concerned, since the next light is Bloor Street. So...we just keep going, 'cause what else can we do? When the ground is uneven he does need to grab my arm for support, which I'm fairly used to from helping out my grandmother. We've got class at 12, and the clock is ticking, but we can't just leave the guy alone...
So we pass Bloor Street, and Michelle whispers urgently, "Where are we going?" and I kind of shrug covertly and silently hope that Prince Arthur Avenue is actually here. PE says it's the next street, and we are quite relieved when the street sign comes into view confirming this fact.
By this time it's about 10 minutes before the official start of class, and we'd really rather get going, but I saw the address he had written down, and it's on this street, and honestly, we really cannot just leave. Besides, he's a nice (if a little offputting) old man, and he's saying, "I understand if you have to leave, but if you could just walk with me down [this street] that would be [great]." Well hey, we've still got 10 minutes, right? And even if we're late, at least we have a good reason. So okay, we walk down Prince Arthur with him, hoping that his building will turn up soon. He says we're being very nice to him, and that our grandparents would probably appreciate hearing about how we helped an old man (yes, if my grandmother and I spoke the same language, maybe she would), and to please stay with him (as in beside him...I was beside him the whole time, but I think he had to be able to see me in order to feel secure that help was nearby), and that we were both being very nice.
We finally get to his building (he doesn't live there; a friend does) and before the front door, he says, "You probably want to leave now...It's always nice to have someone help me go up the elevator to my door, but if you'd like, we can just say goodbye now." I take that as our cue and say, "So, you can take it from here?" But apparently, by "now", he means after we actually help him through the door to the building. Thankfully there is a doorman there who knows PE, and so we leave PE with him, PE thanks us again and wishes us good lives, and off we go, with a whole 5 minutes in which to get to class.
We get to class and our 2 group members are like, "Where did YOU guys go?" And Michelle and I are like, "I don't know, I thought we were just gonna walk down the street!" And anyway, it was amusing, and we got to help somebody, and we even got to class on time. Go us. :)
So at about 11:30 AM, our group for Auditing class finishes discussing our new assignment, and head out of the building to go and photocopy some things. Just outside the building, we encounter Professor Emeritus ("PE"), who asks whether we're students at the university, and we answer in the affirmative. And then, I'm fairly certain he asked if one of us could help him walk to the library, so Michelle says okay, and I say I'll go with them, too. The other half of our group goes off to do the photocopying, and we head off in the other direction, down the street.
Okay, so we're off, walking south down the sidewalk of this street. PE asks if we've got parents or grandparents around his age, and we say, yes, our grandparents (my grandmother's 95). We walk for a little while longer until we approach the library. "You're going here, right?" Michelle asks PE, who responds with something slightly unintelligible and then says, "Why don't we stop at the next corner?", which we agree to.
So...before we get to the corner, he stops suddenly (well, as suddenly as it gets when you're moving that slowly), saying, "Okay, let's stop now." And just as Michelle and I think maybe we're no longer needed, he says, "Let's turn around." Um...okay... so we head back up north the same street, and he says we're very nice, and he reiterates that if he needs to grab one of our arms, that he's not doing it because he's "gay" (and here I was thinking the term had something to do with people being the same gender, but what do I know? I'm only 22.), and says that we probably have parents or grandparents his age. So on the way back up to where we started from, he says, "Do either of you know where Prince Arthur Avenue is?" And we both say no, and start to worry that he doesn't actually know where he's going. I don't know how we'd get that impression, what with him walking down and up the same street, with a bad back and wanting people nearby to help. But anyway, he says it's at the next light, which makes us even more concerned, since the next light is Bloor Street. So...we just keep going, 'cause what else can we do? When the ground is uneven he does need to grab my arm for support, which I'm fairly used to from helping out my grandmother. We've got class at 12, and the clock is ticking, but we can't just leave the guy alone...
So we pass Bloor Street, and Michelle whispers urgently, "Where are we going?" and I kind of shrug covertly and silently hope that Prince Arthur Avenue is actually here. PE says it's the next street, and we are quite relieved when the street sign comes into view confirming this fact.
By this time it's about 10 minutes before the official start of class, and we'd really rather get going, but I saw the address he had written down, and it's on this street, and honestly, we really cannot just leave. Besides, he's a nice (if a little offputting) old man, and he's saying, "I understand if you have to leave, but if you could just walk with me down [this street] that would be [great]." Well hey, we've still got 10 minutes, right? And even if we're late, at least we have a good reason. So okay, we walk down Prince Arthur with him, hoping that his building will turn up soon. He says we're being very nice to him, and that our grandparents would probably appreciate hearing about how we helped an old man (yes, if my grandmother and I spoke the same language, maybe she would), and to please stay with him (as in beside him...I was beside him the whole time, but I think he had to be able to see me in order to feel secure that help was nearby), and that we were both being very nice.
We finally get to his building (he doesn't live there; a friend does) and before the front door, he says, "You probably want to leave now...It's always nice to have someone help me go up the elevator to my door, but if you'd like, we can just say goodbye now." I take that as our cue and say, "So, you can take it from here?" But apparently, by "now", he means after we actually help him through the door to the building. Thankfully there is a doorman there who knows PE, and so we leave PE with him, PE thanks us again and wishes us good lives, and off we go, with a whole 5 minutes in which to get to class.
We get to class and our 2 group members are like, "Where did YOU guys go?" And Michelle and I are like, "I don't know, I thought we were just gonna walk down the street!" And anyway, it was amusing, and we got to help somebody, and we even got to class on time. Go us. :)