So
sayeth the good folks at CBC.ca.
Whilst I know the prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - hell, the rest of the country - surely will have no sympathies for our -1 C temperatures and light snow, might I remind you that at least the buses still run in your part of the world?
We decided to set out on foot from a friend's place on Normandy Drive last night around 11:20 when we realized there'd be no chance of getting a cab. Walked the 7 blocks to Renfrew street. Then discovered that, idiots that we are, we should have confirmed if the buses were even running before we left our friends' place. According to the text message service that Translink offers, they were, though there were no signs of any buses in the entire time we were out in the (mild) Winter Wonderland.
We have normal cellular phones without web technology, so there'd be no checking the
Translink Alerts for us.
Set off again northwards on Renfrew, imagining that we'd make it to the next bus stop or so before a bus arrived. Again, no buses appeared. Waited at a bus stop just south of Grandview Highway for awhile. Wondered why there are
no customer service numbers for Translink posted anywhere on the bus stops, or the bus shelters, anywhere. Sure would've been nice to call a number to confirm our suspicions that the buses weren't in operation. Yep, sure would've been nice.
Finally flagged down a cab, who said he'd take us up Renfrew to our street, but "no side streets." Yeah, okay, fine buddy. A little bit further, and a car was spun out ahead of us. The cabbie wanted to drop us off right there to wait for the bus, because he wasn't going to get stuck. I'm just trying to get home, he says. Yeah, so are we, I yell.
We convince him to turn around and head west, then take us up Nanaimo. He yells at us for giving him attitude. I'm sure he's had a rough night as well, but my reaction to him was not 'attitude' but rather rising panic as I see where the direction our situation may be heading. I have
Raynaud's, so getting stranded outside, even in the relatively balmy -1 temperatures and light snow, is more than an inconvenience for me.
It occurs to me, as I sit silent and chastened in the back of the cab, that what feels like fear and panic on the inside of a person often reads as aggression to others. Surely that's the error that fell poor Robert Dziekanski a year ago? Reacting with emotion rather than subservient gratitude?
At our street we thank the cabbie, apologize, and tip him 30%.
So we finally made it home at around 1 in the morning. Took off our snow encrusted pants and made some tea. Felt grateful to be home.
I notice the CBC story quotes a Translink spokesperson that "Buses in Vancouver avoided some routes on Saturday night," and wonder how at the time we might have learned which routes, exactly? All's well that ends well, but...
