A Small Thought for a Thursday

He looked normal.

Really, quite typical.

He's the kind of guy that people would describe as looking ordinary, average, regular.

I got on his bus this morning and he chatted amiably as he strapped me down. He asked with genuine concern if the seat belt was comfortable. I said it was, that seemed to please him. When he dropped off the first passenger he joked with her, carefully, as she was in a bit of a temper. He managed to get a smile out of her. Then we went and picked up two women, a wheelchair user and her assistant. He took care with them as he got them in. They gossiped magnificently on the way to their stop, a large grocery store, these two could talk!

Once they were off the bus, he helped get the wheelchair user into the building and wished them a good day. On the way back to the bus he noticed a homeless man sitting in the cold with a cardboard sign asking for money. It was early, there were few shoppers, he looked cold and alone. The driver put the ramp up, closed the door, dug in his pocket and strode over and handed a couple of coins into a pair of frozen hands. He then tapped the man's shoulder, a mark of encouragement and affection.

He got in the bus saying not a word about the small gift he'd given.

Later he chatted with me about where I used to live in the country and I told him that I had moved because of the isolation brought on by wheelchair use on gravel roads. He told me that he worked weekends as a volunteer driver in a very rural community north of the city. Even though he drove WheelTrans during his shift, he wanted to make sure that he was giving to his community. 'I do this,' he said, 'because I plan to get old. Then some young guy will come and give me a ride.'

Some people are good right through.

All the way through.

He looked average.

Unfortunately, he wasn't.