Editor’s note: Republished here with permission is the text of a Facebook post from Nov. 21 by Stittsville resident Jessica Sultan, which got well over 650 likes in under a day. She adds: “I think there might also be a story there with regards to the safety of the park and ride (or lack thereof) as well as from a broader sense, the way females perceive threats and how males (and other females) can assist, especially in this #metoo culture. Clearly this hits a nerve.”
Tonight I got off the 262 at the Park ‘n Ride on Carp Road in the pitch black, on the latest ride home, with only one other person: a man, who is known to me only because I happen to see him on the bus often. Many times, I find the faces I commute with each day to become familiar, as we all navigate the trials of OC Transpo together 😉
I am writing this post to say thank you to this man. For those of you who use the Park ‘n Ride, I’m sure you can appreciate the fact that it’s incredibly dark and isolated at the best of times, let alone late on a freezing winter night.
When that bus pulls away and you’re left there in the dark in an almost empty parking lot – it’s creepy. It is not the safest of feelings.
The man I got off the bus with today walked behind me into the parking lot, following about probably 10 feet away from me. He called out to me to say that he was walking to his car (which was closer to the road than mine) but that he would wait to see that I got safely into mine, and that I drove away.
I was enormously comforted by this spontaneous act of caring. I don’t know this person, but to have him understand and anticipate my nervousness and volunteer his care and support? I would like to recognize this.
In case this man is your brother, husband, father, neighbour, co-worker or son, and you see this and can pass on how much it meant to me, as well as just to recognize the support and awareness in this gesture and take a moment to appreciate this type of kindness that other people show in our day to day lives: my most sincere thank you. What a heartwarming experience.
Photo: “New Flyer”. Photo by Justin S. Campbell, used under a Creative Commons License.