Mexanese Mumbo Jumbo

As you may know, I've sold my car and become a full time transit commuter. I've had many adventures on transit, and this week was no exception.

An elder gentleman, let's call him Lawrence, boarded the bus and proceeded to negotiate a free ride from the bus driver by claiming he was trying to get to his church on the other side of the bridge. Nothing overly exciting as negotiating for a free bus ride appears to be a common occurrence in Vancouver. He sat next to me, wearing a lovely cologne mixture of stale beer, mud and B-O while sporting a silly grin on his face.

He then proceeded to annoy the bus driver by trying to talk to her. Like a responsible public transit employee, she politely asked him to shut it while she was driving. At the next stop, a slow moving, elderly woman boarded the bus and Lawrence immediately got up and offered her his seat. He even assisted her as she sat down. A short while later, at the elderly woman's stop, he helped her get up from her seat and practically walked her off the bus.

I have to admit, I was pretty shocked. Not only was that not expected from one of Vancouver's drunkards, it was extremely chivalrous of him. Goes to prove that while there are a lot of stereotypical homeless folks in Vancouver, not everyone has forgotten their manners or social graces.