Stuck in the Snow Bank

Alright, first of all... I hate early mornings. You may say, "Well, you're not going to like your summer job with the City then!" ... We'll see how that goes... BUT, for now, I cannot stand waking up early; especially for school. When I do, I literally feel sick with a cold and a splitting headache, not to mention being exhausted. It's the worst. It's also bad when it's snowing/freezing temperatures and you're waiting with ~30 other people at the bus stop on Bishop Grandin as already full buses drive by you.

I'm sorry for using this time to vent my frustration, but there will be a purpose to this post, I promise.

So as the 30 of us were waiting for the next bus with some standing space, I noticed that an SUV had swerved up and into the snow bank. The driver was spinning the wheels hard and they just kept digging, sinking the vehicle further into the trap. I realized that no one was stopping to help and that the 30 of us waiting for the bus didn't even care (even though we were doing nothing, just waiting for a bus that wasn't even in sight yet).

It's strange how in large groups of people, everyone believes that someone else will step forward and help. I don't know the specifics (I believe it was in Montreal, years ago), but the best example, though extreme, would be when a woman was stabbed within her apartment block and was screaming for help. The stabber fled due to the screaming but then came back to finish the job because even though people heard her screaming, no one came to her rescue or called 911. Everyone thought someone else had it covered!

Life Lesson: Take the initiative.

Okay, back to my story. It bothered me that I stood there and watched for 5 minutes without doing anything. So I decided to be a good Samaritan and head over to the vehicle to see if I could help. I tried to rock the vehicle back and forth with her (the driver's) help, but there was just no use once I saw that the right front tire was completely submerged in the snow bank. Thankfully, two other people stopped to help and one had a truck with a heavy duty tow-rope! Boom, he pulled her out pretty easily. And that was that.

I didn't write this to sing myself some praise. Since deciding to major in Psychology, I've opened my eyes to look for certain situations (especially behavioural) to study and analyze. In this situation, if I hadn't gone to help, how long would it have taken for someone else to stop and help? It's easier to go out of your way to help someone if you see another already in the process, right? Agree or not, that's what I think. The guy with the truck and tow-rope maybe would have stopped if I wasn't there anyways... who knows. Nonetheless, it felt good to help! If I was in that stressful situation, I know I would want the same help and concern from a stranger.

p.s. When she got out I should have asked for a ride to school, and then maybe I would have been on time. This was the fourth straight time I've stood on the bus... it's brutal, not gonna lie.

It Wasn't My Fault!

Let me just say that I would consider my journey on the way to school Monday, very similar to the one Luke Skywalker endured when he was lost on the Planet Hoth (the second Star Wars movie was my favourite). Let me take you through this Hoth-like excursion I encountered...

I literally could not see anything when I stepped outside of my house to go and catch the bus to school. The sidewalks were non-accessible, so I trudged on the road, pushing against the raging winds that pierced my face. I finally made it to the bus stop. I immediately took cover in the bus shelter. I glanced to my right and found that the fierce winds had blown a tonne of snow on to the exit ramp of my bus stop! NO! I called Telebus (the very convenient bus schedule line) to find out if there were delays or significant changes to my stop. Nope, everything was normal apparently. The bus was delayed a couple minutes and when it came, it actually stopped and hesitated on exiting the main road to get to my stop. I waved and the driver decided to come and pick me up. This is what she said: "You're lucky, all buses were told not to enter this stop because the exit ramp isn't cleared." She thought that it had been cleared, that's why she came and picked me up.

"Let's hope we make it!" She exclaimed, as she plowed through the snowy exit ramp. We were moving, we were going to make it! Almost there... then it happened. The bus was just rev'n and the driver couldn't do anything about it. "Well, we're stuck," she concluded. "Shoot," I said, "sorry, I should have came to the main road to get on." She proceeded to call for a tow-truck. There was an off-duty driver in the back, he eventually came up and joined the front of the bus. Luckily, he provided comic relief. Plus the driver wasn't even that mad! Although, I guess this did mean that she didn't have to work for the moment. I would be in a cheerful mood too! The real worry/question was: Were the passengers angry?! The number on the bus was few, but there were a couple "Oh Great!" sarcastic comments that came from the back. It technically wasn't my fault, though it did happen because of me; I was the only one at the stop.

While we were waiting for the tow-truck, the driver explained how this was her first time ever getting stuck. She's been driving for as long as I've been alive! Twenty years, and she has never been stuck! Great... now I feel special. It didn't take long for the tow-truck to get here. Thankfully it was only a 15 min wait. The rescuers did some shovelling around the tires, hooked up the bus to the truck, and then the one guy came into the bus. He told us to sit down and then took over the wheel. When the driver came to sit down, she murmured: "It's not my fault, it's this guy's," with a laugh. I shrugged, sh#% happens (don't worry, I didn't actually say that; I handled the situation with class)!

It was a quick tug (that's what...) and we were finally free! The bus driver took over again and we were back on the road. When we came to my stop, I apologized to the driver. She replied with: "It's not your fault!" We both laughed and that was the end of it. What's really funny is, that on the way home, my bus pulled into my stop only to find another bus stuck right in front of it on the exit ramp! There was no way out for the bus I was on. Again, I was the only one to get off at the stop... Sorry!

One Thing I've Noticed

Alright, what I've come to notice over the duration of the last few weeks is that I always overhear women talking/complaining/worrying/discussing/whining/gossiping about their relationship troubles! Does this happen all the time!? I've heard it in the library, on the bus, and even in my physics lab! It always happens right beside me too. It's not my fault that I'm listening in (even though I love to eavesdrop sometimes). It's just right there beside me, I can't help it. Plus it's usually quite interesting. Here are some quotes from a few of the people that were venting their troubles.

Girl in the library talking to one of her girl friends: "It's just weird. When I want him, I draw him in. Then the next day, when I don't, it's like I just, like, push him away! Hahaha, complicated eh?"

Girl beside me in my lab consulting another girl beside me in my physics lab: "I just love the cuddling... I know it may be wrong but it's happening. Should I just ignore it? Or should we talk about the whole thing?"

Girl on her phone in the bus, sounding very concerned: "If he can find that out about my friend, who knows what he can do! ...If I stabbed him, that's self-defense right?"

Ya, no joke. For this last one, my jaw dropped when I heard this. The conversation quickly descended after that though. I was in shock. It got me thinking. Do I want to be in a relationship right now? Or are these just special cases? UNREAL!

~~~

Anyways, yesterday when I was on the bus going home, I saw the same girl from before, but my attention was not on her this time. It was on this little boy who was with his mother, older brother, and baby sister. He went to the back of the bus with his bro and they were being very violent towards one another (well, it was mostly the younger brother!). He would often flail his arms at his older brother. I tried not to laugh. But then he started to spit on the bus! I could not believe this kid's manners! All of this was happening when the mother was sitting in the front with her baby. The next stop came and the little boy (maybe around 5 or 6 yrs old) actually pressed the yellow strips to get off! The mom freaked, the boy ran outside and eventually went to the front doors of the bus. It was craziness. The mom brought him back, scolding him harshly. The boy was not happy. In the midst of all this, the baby sister was casually and comfortably sitting there in her stroller. She gave me a look, like the "this is nothing new" look. She just kept eyein' her brother up and down and then she would glance at me. Wow, what a calm and collected baby. All in all, what a bus ride!

Just a Few Quirky Things

Yesterday, a few quirky things happened during my day at school. It all started during my spare at 1:30pm. I had to finish writing up my Physics lab report, so I headed out to find a quiet place. I thought I was going to be a keener and sit by myself to finish the dang thing, but I was wrong. I initially sat in the open casual area of Dafoe library (the place to be) to primarily eat my lunch. I was going to find a quieter spot after, but I decided to stay there. I was making progress until I got distracted by the girl across from me; she unexpectedly answered her phone. It was not English she was speaking. I was immediately intrigued. She fluently mixed her speech with English and Russian and had a sweet Russian accent. Her male friend then joined the table as well. They went off on tangents, speaking in Russian with breaks of English for the next 20 mins or so! I wasn't annoyed at all but actually was quite entertained with what was going on. They were hilarious. The guy started talking about how he had a date on Saturday, but if it fell through, then he would go skating at the forks with her instead. He compared himself to a character in that one skating comedy with Will Ferrel. They couldn't remember the name and I was just dying to shout it out. After he guessed Balls of Fury, I laughed and then butted-in and said Blades of Glory. They laughed and proceeded to talk about other Will Ferrel and Jon Heder comedies, quoting many of their hilarious lines. We then talked about school, the girl tried to convince me to go into Nursing because that's what she wanted to do. I said what I always say, "we'll see," said good-bye and then headed to my class (not finished my lab, mind you).

What was odd next, happened during my entrance to my next class. I was enjoying my delicious apple walking down the hallway when I noticed that the girl who was walking in front of me was also chomping down on one! We were the only two people in the hallway and we were both enjoying an apple. Now, we were in the same class and when she entered eating her apple, I followed doing the same. If I saw this happen, I would think: What are the CHANCES! Unless the two people knew each other. How many people do you see walking around school, who chomp on an apple when they walk, let alone two people in a ROW!? Unreal.

After my class, I headed straight back to Dafoe to finish my lab. On the way, I ran into my Russian friends again! I wasn't sure whether I should say hi or if I should just walk by. It turned out there was no need to decide; the girl said, "Hey, it's the Library Guy!" I said, "Hey! I'm actually heading to the same spot right now!" She laughed and then said, "Cya later!" So now I'm known as "The Library Guy" (not the best title, but I'll take it). I finished my lab, handed it in, and went straight to the bus stop to catch my bus.

This is where my final quirky thing happened for the day. Lately, I've been really enjoying the strange things that go on in buses. First of all, last week there was a woman who sat at the front of the bus and kept talking to the driver. You could tell the driver was really annoyed. It was hilarious. What's more is that the woman had a balloon beside her that said Happy Valentines Day!!! Why? It's not even close to Valentines Day! Secondly, last week while waiting for my bus, I saw the shortest white woman I have ever seen. She must have been around 4'7"ish, no joke! Thirdly, yesterday I saw the newest shortest woman I have ever seen! She was Asian (any surprise there?) and must have been less than 4'5", closer to 4 feet!!! I'm not kiddin' around here. I couldn't believe it and I actually let out a short burst of a chuckle. And Finally, I saw the craziest MP3 player on the bus yesterday. It was like an iPod touch but looked like an upgraded Creative player. It also had a menu like a PS3 or a PSP. It was very enticing. I keep forgetting that not everybody has iPods! Now I want one of these mysterious devices.

~~~

Speaking of quirky things, here's a short clip of a very funny, quirky thing that I saw while heading back to school from skiing in Austria. Check it out:

Little Drummer Boy from MannyG on Vimeo.

Stakeout!?

Now that I'm back at the UofM, I do in fact, take the bus to and from school. On the way there I catch the bus on Osborne and then transfer at Dakota and Bishop Grandin in order to get to the university. However, the way back is a bit trickier. I get off at St. Mary's by the mall (if I'm lucky the second bus will already be stopped waiting at the red light) then further down I have the option of getting off at Glenlawn or staying on until the stop at my street. The bus at Glenlawn brings me to the stop where I first begin (thus a shorter walk home). What's convenient, is that there is such a thing as Telebus! So I call the number and it tells me when my bus will arrive at a certain stop. What's not convenient, is that the bus that passes Glenlawn either comes right away or comes approximately 20 mins after I get there. So on those days, I neglect the option to get off at Glenlawn and instead, I get off at my street to walk the "decent" walking distance (meaning it's harsh and way too long when I endure ultra sub-zero wind-chill temperatures) to my house. Thankfully the weather has been amazing recently, so I actually loved the walk I experienced coming home from school that evening... especially since there was a potential crime busting situation awaiting to unravel!

When I reached the 1/4 mark of my journey, I saw an idling Dodge Ram with a conspicuous man leaning back in the driver's seat. I walked a little further and saw two idling cop cars about a cars length apart, each with two cops inside. I was immediately intrigued and scanned my surroundings in order to catch a glimpse of the reason why they were all waiting there (I even thought about a scenario in which I actually tapped on their window and asked what was going on). At this point I dismissed the idling truck from having anything to do with the police situation. I walked on, laughing in awe of the situation and carried on with my stroll down the street. When I passed under the bridge and came up around bend, I saw two more cop cars and another ghost cop car! I could not believe it, they had all the exits covered on my street! What if it was me they were after (I really did pretend this for a split second; I do love to act... lame but sweet to think about, I know)!? There was a man who looked concerned on his cellphone and beside him was a woman. One of the undercover cops was standing there as well as if he was supervising. When I walked by I heard the man ask, if "she" (he was on the cell still) had the right to contact her lawyer. Was he talking of the woman beside him!? Was I walking beside a dangerous felon or was she just someone who skipped her court date?! I will never know...

Anyways, after passing those three police vehicles, there was yet again another idling Dodge RAM! The guy was leaning back in the front seat just like in the previous Dodge. Unreal. This must have been significant!

When I walked past the same area the next day I could not help but look around to see if there was any progress on the sitch (situation, if you forgot). All I saw was just a guy clearing out his garage; although, why were all his lights on in his house!? Hmmm... I think it's time for some covertness.