Today was a good day. Not great, at least not until I walked on the bus, but pretty good. School has kept me fairly occupied for the last week, so I was still a little frazzled from it all. Sometimes a small thing in life changes that, and makes your day go from good to great in an instant. This is a post highlighting on of those things for me and illustrating why it is always better to dwell on the little things in life.
Bus rides are usually ordeals. Waiting for the bus, listening to a couple pedophiles discuss life, riding home, dealing with drunks, etc. all make the experience somewhat unpleasant after the initial excitement of commuting. Today seemed no different as I got on the bus, but rather than see the dour expression that usually greets me, I got a nice smile and a 'hello'. This alone surprised me because usually bus drivers are relatively distant and seemingly unhappy. I mumbled a reply as I sat down, still shocked by the happy greeting I got. This feeling intensified in the coming moments because today I experienced an event that changed my day completely.
As I sat down, I heard the unmistakable static that comes when an announcement is being made. Expecting delays or some such nonsense, I was pleasantly surprised when the bus driver stated: "This is your captain speaking. Thank you for choosing the super duper duper number four with service to downtown Vancouver." Uncontrollably, I began to feel a smile creep onto my face. I could not stop it and the smile grew as the bus driver continued: "Our estimated arrival time to downtown Vancouver is approximately thirty minutes, not accounting for unexpected stops because sometimes other motorists like to test my reflexes." A small laugh came out at the following statement, and my smile grew even larger and I was completely unable to erase it from my face. My bus driver finished with this: "We have reached our cruising altitude of one foot off the ground. I would like to remind passengers to either be seated or hanging on to something firmly or hanging on to someone who is hanging on to something firmly. Have a great ride!" The smile stayed for the rest of the bus ride as he continued to make comments on various stops we were making, keeping in form with the airplane comments he had previously been making. I would have loved to stay longer and keep listening to him, but my stop came all to soon and I heartily thanked him as I stepped off.
The morale of the story: No matter how crappy your day has been going always make sure to focus on the brighter side of life. Because if you do not, you may miss a bus driver flying an "airplane".
-AFR
