Kind Words

I just finished having lunch at Mcdonalds (and as a consequence, I’m eating nothing but salad next week). It’s a typical cloudy day over “beautiful British Columbia”. As I’m boarding the bus that goes to the Skytrain to school, I came face to face with the most haughtiest bus driver ever. He had a scowl on his face that, I swear, must have been chiseled there from birth.

He reminds me of Drew’s boss on the Drew Carey show (Nigel was his name, I think).

Anyways, my initial impression of him was correct. We’re heading down the hill towards the last stop before the train, and there’s a gentleman standing at the stop waiting to get picked up.

“For Christ’s sake, it’s only a 2 block walk!” I hear him mutter (over Andrea Bocelli on my iPod).

I was a little taken aback at first. The gentleman boards the bus, flashes his pass, and heads toward the rear. The doors close, and the drive just floors it hoping to beat the light.

It was a useless gesture as he was not able to make it before it turned amber and then red. He flung his arms up and cursed in disgust. Sounds like someone’s having a bad day.

As we pull up to the terminal, I head towards the front of the bus because I wanted to say something to the guy before I stepped off. He turns towards me with a look that would make a tiger cower and I look at him square in the eye.

“Thank you! Have a good day!”, I tell him.

He stares at me for a moment before his face breaks into a grin.

“You too, son. Have a great day!”

I step off the bus and head for the platform pondering at this remarkable shift in attitude.