Thank you God – for Todd
Tuesday, 7. August 2007, 13:44:19
A few of you out there in Operaland have been praying for me regarding work (to get a “legitimate” job instead of working through a temp agency; that has been an experience in itself, let me tell you).
I came very close to that goal just last month, but then my car died. The out-of-town job had to be dropped (which was a disappointment to the area supervisor of the plant who called the agency back to see if there was any way I could get back there). I had to accept another job on the whole other end of town because it was on a bus route. It takes about 1.5 hours to get there and 1 hour coming home (a kind co-worker drops me off at a major terminal on her way home).
But today’s post is about a regular kind of hero…
In Canada, the first Monday of August is celebrated as a Civic Holiday. Most people don’t work that day, but there was an opportunity to garner some extra money to pay rent. The buses stop running way out where I work around 6pm on holidays. What to do at 11pm when I go home? Calling the city’s transit office revealed that the nearest stop would be a 5.5km walk (no one from work was going that way and my regular ride wasn’t working the holiday). So after 8 hours of being on my feet, it was another 45 minutes of fast paced walking to make the last bus at 12:08am.
I thought there was a final connection to get to my end of Hamilton. The bus driver informed me I was mistaken, and upon rechecking my schedule, he was correct.
Sigh…
The bus driver asked me where I lived and it seems he lives right in the same neighbourhood!
“Tell you what,” he says, “just stay on the bus. We will head downtown; then I go back to the yard and I’ll take you home in my car.”
“Really? You would do that?” I asked incredulously.
“Sure; I do it a lot. The transit service really sucks because a lot of the last buses have no connections. I see people like you getting left in the lurch all the time.”
He was true to his word and I finally got home around 1:15am – without having to walk any additional kilometres. We exchanged names as he dropped me off and I told him (again) how grateful I was for his generosity.
Thank you God – for Todd. A top-drawer bus driver who excels at customer service.
I came very close to that goal just last month, but then my car died. The out-of-town job had to be dropped (which was a disappointment to the area supervisor of the plant who called the agency back to see if there was any way I could get back there). I had to accept another job on the whole other end of town because it was on a bus route. It takes about 1.5 hours to get there and 1 hour coming home (a kind co-worker drops me off at a major terminal on her way home).
But today’s post is about a regular kind of hero…
In Canada, the first Monday of August is celebrated as a Civic Holiday. Most people don’t work that day, but there was an opportunity to garner some extra money to pay rent. The buses stop running way out where I work around 6pm on holidays. What to do at 11pm when I go home? Calling the city’s transit office revealed that the nearest stop would be a 5.5km walk (no one from work was going that way and my regular ride wasn’t working the holiday). So after 8 hours of being on my feet, it was another 45 minutes of fast paced walking to make the last bus at 12:08am.
I thought there was a final connection to get to my end of Hamilton. The bus driver informed me I was mistaken, and upon rechecking my schedule, he was correct.
Sigh…
The bus driver asked me where I lived and it seems he lives right in the same neighbourhood!
“Tell you what,” he says, “just stay on the bus. We will head downtown; then I go back to the yard and I’ll take you home in my car.”
“Really? You would do that?” I asked incredulously.
“Sure; I do it a lot. The transit service really sucks because a lot of the last buses have no connections. I see people like you getting left in the lurch all the time.”
He was true to his word and I finally got home around 1:15am – without having to walk any additional kilometres. We exchanged names as he dropped me off and I told him (again) how grateful I was for his generosity.
Thank you God – for Todd. A top-drawer bus driver who excels at customer service.
WIDGETIZE