stranded

The snow yesterday was unwelcome. I hate when it snows here because, regardless of how much snow we get in a season, every snowfall wreaks havoc on Main Street. I gave myself loads of time to get to work yesterday, expecting buses might be running a little late. I didn't think they wouldn't run at all in the direction I wanted to go.

I watched 7, 8, 9 buses go the other direction, the sun shining brightly, the temperature a little above zero, the pavement wet but snowless. I waited for the bus, thinking that of course there would be a bus any minute now. I waited 25 minutes and no bus. Had I known no buses would be running up Main I would have walked to the Skytrain station, a 25 minute walk. Why wouldn't a bus be running when it's sunny?

My cell phone informed me I would have to get to the station in mere minutes to be able to get to Surrey in time for my noon o'clock shift. I stuck out my thumb, hoping someone would stop and take me along in the direction they were going anyway. I know this doesn't happen very often: in all the time I've waited for buses, only once was I offered a ride, and that was just a few weeks ago when a woman watched a bus drive away as I ran for it. After a few minutes of people looking at me and driving by, I gave up with the thumb. Stupid drivers.

But then someone came around the corner and asked if I wanted a ride. I asked if a couple others could get a ride and she agreed. She admitted she drove by, saw me with my thumb stuck out, and then thought about it and went around the block to pick me up. We had a pleasant chat, and I know she will think about picking people up in the future; we were all so thankful for the ride.

I'm sure people in Vancouver would like to be friendlier with each other, but crazies make it hard to let down the barriers enough to be friendly. I realised today that I make sure people don't speak to me every time I plug my (beloved) iPod into my ears. So I might have to make a deal with myself: if there are interesting-looking people on the bus I will try to take my earplugs out and make eye contact and be open to conversations. It probably will only happen less than 1% of the time, but the effort should be made.