A Bit of Fresh Air

So, it's the beginning of Reading Week at the universities in Waterloo, and the students are running amok causing havoc, and wearing practically nothing (as usual). It actually boggles my mind how these girls can wear mini skirts and high heeled sandals in the middle of February. Seriously, people, what the heck. They don't even wear coats! Oh, the vanity! Sometimes I feel like it is a prerequisite of attending university to look like a prostitute. Only sometimes though. Slut-cicles. It really is about minus 15 degrees outside.

Anyways, this is going to be a short post, because I sliced my finger open cutting up an onion today, and typing is proving to be a bit painful.

So, I was sitting at the bus stop watching girls in tiny clothing rush past, when a big burly black guy carrying a box from Campus Pizza entered my bus shelter. A few minutes later, a second guy, kinda scrawny, but not too bad-looking came in as well. He was carrying a Pizza Nova box. After a few seconds, the first guy says, "So you prefer Pizza Nova to Campus Pizza?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm not gonna lie, it's delicious. Crispy crust and all, yo. And I'm not gonna lie, I went there because it's closer. But Pizza Nova is definitely better," says the second guy. He didn't sound very articulate to me. Kind of like your average partying student. The first guy admitted that he'd never been to Pizza Nova. Anyways, the point is, the impression I was getting was that this was the first time these guys have ever met, and they were having a good old conversation about pizza joints. The second guy then started complaining about how he got kicked out of residence just now because his don thought that he was drinking outside the res. They talked about that for a good five minutes, then proceeded to talk about what universities they went to and what programs they were taking. The second guy said he was in psychology because he wanted to be a psychologist. The first guy thought that was very interesting.

"That's really great. I was seeing a psychologist a few months back, cause I was sick for a good three months, you know?" says the first guy. The second guy asked him about his sickness, and the first guy told him that he had some issues going on like bipolar and stuff. I thought that was very open of him. It surprised me a little, really.

The rest of their conversation was surprisingly intelligent and open. They just seemed to get along really well, even though they had only just met. It was really refreshing and encouraging to see.

Then I got on the VERY crowded bus full of drunk and yelling students on their way to "start" the Reading Week celebrations.

Two Brothers

A few days ago, I felt the need to travel on the bus for whatever reason. I can't remember exactly where I was going, but I do remember what happened while I was sitting at the bus stop.

I had gotten to the stop about a half an hour early because I mixed up the days, and the schedule wasn't what I thought it had been. It wasn't so bad, since it was a pretty beautiful day out. So, I sat in the bus shelter all by myself, which was nice. I hate it when you're in the bus shelter with someone else, and you feel like you have to share the space with them. You most certainly can't sit in the middle seat on the bench.

Anyway, I was sitting, just looking around, when I noticed that a lady was shoveling her driveway directly across the street from where I was sitting. She was holding her shovel at the very end of the handle and kind of pushing it back and forth across the width of her driveway. It wasn't really doing much, but she seemed content, so I wasn't complaining.

As she was just finishing her "shoveling", a very tall man with dark hair (we'll call him Dog Man) crossed the street towards the house beside her, walking a very small, fluffy white dog. It was kind of funny to see. Dog Man waved to Shoveling Woman, then went inside the house. A few minutes later, Shoveling Woman finished (sorta) and went inside. Not two minutes later, a taxi pulled up to Dog Man's house and another very tall man with dark hair (we'll call him Taxi Man) came out and knocked on the door. The garage opened, and Taxi Man went around to meet Dog Man in the garage. They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before vigorously shaking hands, then kissing each other three times on the cheeks. Right, left, right.

Keep in mind that I'm watching all of this happen from across the street where I can't hear a word of what they're saying. I'm judging though, by the greeting and the dark hair, that the two men are from some country in Europe like Romania or something (I'm not up on my European greetings geographically). They seem to be brothers or cousins. Related somehow anyways. Maybe brothers-in-law.

Anyway, a few minutes after they had both gone inside, Dog Man came out and started shoveling his driveway, starting from the bottom. He was doing it so meticulously, I though that it would take him a century to finish it. Finally, after a few painful minutes of watching Dog Man shovel, Taxi Man came out with another shovel. Obviously, he noticed that it would take approximately a hundred years before he got to visit with his relative, so he decided to help speed things along. Taxi Man started from the top, and was doing not nearly as good a job as Dog Man, but was taking considerably less time to do it.

Dog Man noticed the shotty job that Taxi Man was doing, so he snuck up behind him and started shoveling what was left behind. I saw some hand gesturing and heard some mumbling that might have been instructions on how to properly shovel a driveway, but I'm not sure.

Anyways, after a few more minutes of shoveling, Dog Man said something to Taxi Man. Then I saw him go into the garage, put away his shovel, and leave poor Taxi Man to shovel the rest of the driveway. Thanks, bro.