Two things occurred yesterday. well, alot of things occurred yesterday but I had two particularly contrasting experiences of strangers yelling out of cars. They happened only hours apart and fortunately the bother of the first one was all but eradicated by the hugging of the second.
My mother and my sister drove me to the ferry. Or rather, I drove us to the ferry in my mom’s car. I had to drive fast, but not too fast, because my mom was in the car. So a safe 10 kilometers above the speed limit, and we got there in tonnes of time. Arriving at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal my sister pointed out that I needed to be in the right hand lane, but I was all the way in the left hand lane. So I crossed over and stuck myself between a couple of cars and there we were.
We got out of the car to get my stuff out of the trunk. The driver of the car behind me opened his door and said “You’re a terrible driver. Seriously,” he went on, “you nearly caused two accidents back there.”
The rest of it was background noise. Background noise that made my goodbye with my mom and sister more awkward and strange than it needed to be.
The ferry ride was spent thinking of witty rejoinders I could’ve used to shut that guy up or engage him in fisticuffs that I won handily in my mind.
I was still a little bothered when I got off the ferry in Vancouver on my way to El Rancho to see some improv and Brad on his last night in town.
It’s coming up now, the point where I get yelled at again, and everything becomes OK with strangers.
Walking past Mountain Equipment Co-Op I saw a cardboard cutout standing against the exterior wall. It was sarah Michelle Gellar, TV’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer. So I picked it up and brought it along with me.
I was then forced to justify this when 15 seconds later I ran into my friend Allen; he was of course curious. I explained I found her, and didn’t know what to do with her, but she was in mint condition, and deserved better than the ignominy of standing facing the MEC shop, like a child being disciplined.
Just then, a voice yells from a van “Hey! Where’d ya get Buffy?” Eager to have a distraction, and distance myself from this cardboard cut-out I was holding I replied “I found her. Do you want it?”
Making an illegal left turn the van sped to a halt around the corner. Getting out, the bearded man in his early thirties couldn’t believe his good fortune. He offered money, and exaltations. We settled on him buying us a coupla beers. The bear hugs he threw in.
He was thrilled, and I was too, because it counteracted the embarrassment of earlier in the evening and reminded me that not everyone yelling out of a car is a total prick.
