MY GOOD DEED
Tonight as I was nearing the end of my final trip of the night, a lady woke up an elderly lady who had fallen asleep on the bus. She asked if we passed 4th and Nicollet yet. That is downtown and I was in northeast Minneapolis (route 17). The poor old lady was quite a distance from where she wanted to be and I was supposed to pull in for the night. The pull in takes the highway to south Minneapolis...bypassing downtown. I called the Control Center and asked them if it would be OK for me to make my own pull in route so I could drop the elderly lady off at her bus stop downtown. She wanted to catch a 16 to St. Paul. They said that would be fine (they have never told me "no" when I've called to help a passenger...nice people!) so I did just that.
On the way downtown we talked. She had the cutest German accent. As I spoke with her, I realized she may be one of the homeless people that used to ride all night on the 21 (it doesn't run all night anymore). It made sense to me. She mentioned that the 16 and the 5 are the only ones that run all night. Usually, the only people that seem to know that are the homeless that ride them for a safe, warm place to be during the night. She was such a darling old lady. I asked her if she liked strawberries. She said she loved them. I happened to have brought a bunch of fresh strawberries for something to munch on on the bus and I hadn't eaten them. I asked her if she would like them and her eyes just lit up. She acted like I had just given her a bar of gold. She kept saying "are you sure? They look so fresh." She said she had a cold and fruit usually helps her get better. I couldn't help but think...everything happens for a reason. I usually eat all my strawberries by the end of my work day 'cuz I love 'em. Here, this old lady falls asleep on my bus and I am given permission to give her a ride downtown and I happen to have strawberries and she has a cold...HMMMMMMMM.
To top it off, I gave her a new transfer. Heck, she slept for a lot of the time on hers. They last 2 and a half hours so I figured she'd be good 'til almost 2AM with a new one. She was so happy. It made my day.
On the way downtown we talked. She had the cutest German accent. As I spoke with her, I realized she may be one of the homeless people that used to ride all night on the 21 (it doesn't run all night anymore). It made sense to me. She mentioned that the 16 and the 5 are the only ones that run all night. Usually, the only people that seem to know that are the homeless that ride them for a safe, warm place to be during the night. She was such a darling old lady. I asked her if she liked strawberries. She said she loved them. I happened to have brought a bunch of fresh strawberries for something to munch on on the bus and I hadn't eaten them. I asked her if she would like them and her eyes just lit up. She acted like I had just given her a bar of gold. She kept saying "are you sure? They look so fresh." She said she had a cold and fruit usually helps her get better. I couldn't help but think...everything happens for a reason. I usually eat all my strawberries by the end of my work day 'cuz I love 'em. Here, this old lady falls asleep on my bus and I am given permission to give her a ride downtown and I happen to have strawberries and she has a cold...HMMMMMMMM.
To top it off, I gave her a new transfer. Heck, she slept for a lot of the time on hers. They last 2 and a half hours so I figured she'd be good 'til almost 2AM with a new one. She was so happy. It made my day.
posted by Jeanne Ree at 1:05 AM
2 Comments:
Very kind of you to give her your strawberries, and a new transfer.
I couldn't help myself. She was a sweet old lady with a cute accent. Besides, it is quite rewarding to do nice things for someone that really appreciates it.
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