Miracle at the MacNab Transit Terminal

There are stories that you hear and disbelieve because you think that you live in a very rational or at least sensible world. There are stories that make you question what you are doing with your own life. And then there are the stories that come out of my hometown.

I am from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, a city well-known for steel and its working-class culture. It’s also the home of the first Tim Hortons in Canada, Martin Short, and apparently a small-town attitude that makes us reticent to crow about the above. I had to dig pretty deep to discover other facts about the town that I will not share with you here, but perhaps I will feel more comfortable writing about them one day.

It has seen better days. It hurts me to say that, as a kid raised in the downtown core, I no longer feel comfortable with anyone in my family spending the day down there. Gore Park, located dead centre in the core, is now more of a gathering place for the homeless, drug-addicted, and generally forgotten as a former bus stop. There are still stores and shops, but with the most popular shopping centre - Limeridge Mall - located safely in the suburbs, there is no reason to go down there. I saw so many rundown and sad faces out there the last time I visited my family that I promised myself to not head downtown unless it was an emergency. And I kept my promise. But I still have to wonder about what has happened to my hometown and how my fellow Hamiltonians are dealing with this long fall from grace.

And I think one man has found a very interesting solution.

On Tuesday, November 11th, a bus driver decided to take a break as his vehicle idled, heading to the bathroom in the MacNab Transit Terminal rest area. And while he did so, a fellow citizen decided to do his job for him.

Parts of this story make me smile, cringe, and realize that you can always tell a Canadian from the rest of the hoard out there. How else can you explain someone taking a bus for a joy ride…and following the exact route of the bus? There were ten passengers on board, and the driver, according to the official report “did a great job” driving and making “all the scheduled (stops) along the route, letting people on and off” (he even made pickups, refusing to let someone with an invalid bus pass on board until he paid).

Of course, all good things have to…well, you know. He was arrested after driving for fifteen minutes – strikingly close to one of the colleges I used to attend – and taken “without incident”. He is thirty-six years old, of no fixed address (no surprise there), and he has been charged with theft over $5000, possession over $5000, obstructing police and driving while prohibited. It will be some time before all the details are released – what is your name, sir? – but I am really going to pay attention to this one. It is the one story, apart from a Paul McCartney concert, that has given my hometown international attention. We are always the poor cousin to our neighbours to the north (Toronto) and south (Buffalo, New York), so this is an amusing little distraction from all of the regular nonsense in the press.

Folk hero? Disgruntled Hamiltonian? A desperate loner who just wanted to be remembered for doing at least one crazy thing in his life? I really cannot say yet, but I do not think that he did this to be evil or to hurt anyone who did not care about his seemingly sad life. I would not like this to become a trend, but I know that even a joyride on a city bus can be better than the usual malaise and greyness of life in the Hammer.

And yes, I know that it is the punchline of a Seinfeld episode:

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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