In Front of the Yellow Line

Tourists

By Shawn Wells

Over the course of the last couple of weeks in my city, there have been a few different major events happening. As a bus driver, it makes for a very unique time at work. We have had a FIFA women’s finals happen, a province wide bike race that made a stop in our city and of course a major international triathlon. On top of all this, we have also had other various city festivals and sports events.

I had one of the other drivers say to me during this time “Boy. It sure is nice to be appreciated again.” I can definitely see his point. Driving a bus, just like any service job, can definitely have it’s unpleasant customers. People that blame me for everything, even construction and traffic. Personally, I let very little get to me on a daily basis and find that my days usually run smoothly. Whereas some of the other drivers let themselves get worked up over the smallest little things. But whether or not I’m better at letting things go than others, I can still identify with that sentiment. There are some days you feel like you’re getting shit on for a living. But now, bring in a bunch of people from out of town… out of country even, and your whole perspective changes.

I’ve spent the last few weeks feeling very much like an ambassador for my city. It has been a very unique and refreshing experience. You really learn to appreciate your own city again and see it through new eyes. I had actually already started seeing my home town in a different light recently because of a friend of mine. She had been living in Europe for a couple of years and anytime she saw a picture of mine online from back home, I would start hearing about all the things she was missed. And it wasn’t even friends and family... It was things like the river valley. So, that had me looking at the things in my city that I take for granted. Now, bring in a bunch of people that are visiting for the first time and you start to wonder. What do they think about this city?

While the Triathlon was happening, the athletes were allowed to ride the bus for free. So, I was seeing a lot of them every day. New Zealand, Chili, Mexico, U.S.A., England, China…. I thoroughly enjoyed asking every one of them where they were from (if their clothing didn’t advertise) and what they liked most or thought of my city. Unfortunately, for many of them, they didn’t have strong enough english skills to tell me much. However, quite often it was what they didn’t say that I noticed most.

For example, the Mexican athletes were obviously cold. I found this hilarious. Maybe because I’m a born and raised Canadian, I am just desensitized enough to the Canadian climate. But we were getting nice weather that week! Low 20 degree celsius, but still. For me, quite pleasant. Shorts weather even. But the Mexican athletes had toques, quilted jackets and quilted pants.

Or, another example of actions speaking louder than words, was facial expressions. I didn’t have to understand what they were saying to read their looks of wonder. I’ve never noticed certain things before. I’ve never thought of my city as having many major tourist attractions. No Louvre or Big Ben or Sphynx or enormous Jesus statue. We have a giant mall. To me, this mall doesn’t seem all that impressive anymore because I’m just so used to it. But to these visitors from out of town, they had looks of awe. Their mouths would drop open.

It was also interesting that I didn’t have to ask a lot of the questions I was thinking. Other passengers on the bus were enjoying showing off their city and asking them questions as well. They were embracing the opportunity to be ambassadors of their own. First question out of all their mouthes… “Have you been to the mall?” But it’s also interesting to hear what they suggest as other attractions. Some of them suggest some very strange things that have me asking myself “Really?!? You think they should go see THAT?!?”

It did also intrigue me to see the difference in bus behavior with the out of towners. For the most part, they were very polite and courteous, giving up their seats for everyone. They were engaging people in conversation. Asking questions that made me feel like an expert on my own city. I particularly liked the British family heading to a football game one evening. Discussing amongst themselves rules of Canadian football. And dressed much fancier than any football fan I’ve ever seen.     

Through all my enjoyment of teaching people about my city, there is one major, glaring problem with all these major events. Detours and full busses. As great as these things are for my city, it also makes for a stressful shift. Dealing with detoured traffic, having to learn your temporary route for the day, having people mad at you for taking detours (because, as I mentioned earlier they blame the driver for stuff like that) I had one girl, during our city’s marathon that said “I don’t understand why they have to close streets! Why can’t they just run on the sidewalks?!?” Obviously someone that has never run before in her life. But any minor annoyances and grumpy people was more than made up for by the people from out of town.

It’s nice to be appreciated again.

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.