People in Vancouver are nice
Two young kids were approached by a confused elderly man. He didn't know which stop was the correct one on the Skyline, the transit system in Vancouver. He asked, "which do I get off at for the for Four Seasons hotel?"
The first kid said, "uhhm, I don't really know. Maybe just get a cab." -He did not say this to be dismissive, he really didn't know. He said he lived in Surrey and wasn't that familiar with the area. His pal sitting next to him was better informed.
His pal said, "maybe just get off at Waterfront. There are a lot of hotels there, but I'm not sure about the Four Seasons."
The guy sitting in front of them was already fumbling in his pockets for the solution. He looked like the pony-tailed version of Val Kilmer. You know the version.
He pulled out his phone and typed for a bit and said, "the Four Seasons is on Georgia street."
Then, from seemingly miles away, in the terroir of metro-trains, a young, angry looking, guy walked over. This was the kind of guy that most people would actively avoid not sitting near on a train. He was hispanic with tattoos all over, a tattered tank top on and sneakers that had laces but didn't employ them. He had a mo-hawk but a lazy one that didn't look all that mo-hawky anymore. He approached all of them and said.
"The Four Seasons is best accessed via the City Centre station. What you'll want to do is exit the station...."
He continued to elucidate the best possible route to the hotel for the old man. In short, he was awesome. I have no doubt the old man was less confused and probably found his way easily to his hotel.
The woman next to me smiled at them all, approving of the discourse. She said, "yep, thats the exit you want dear." -She looked like lil.
I had nothing to contribute to the conversation and so I offered them all gum.
Only lil accepted. Everyone else politely declined. Then a cute girl with a strange abrasion on her wrist sat next to me. It took all of my restraint not to ask how she got the injury.
That was my first taste of Vancouver. More tastes to come as I update this post.
I'm having dinner with sounds_sound tonight. As I write this, I'm having sushi, sitting outside and having an IPA made here in Vancouver.. The sushi was fantastic and now, I've opted for a second beer. I've put on Steve Gunn's Way Out Weather, which sounds_sound introduced me to.
Good times. This city is gorgeous. More to come. Photos to follow
Gas Town:
Hotel Room view:
About to go play tennis and bike ride with sounds_sound.
Reading this makes me hate the Norwegian public transit culture even more. It is viewed as extremely weird to start a conversation with someone you don't know. I broke this rule today, I started to chat with an Italian guy while I was on a train on my way to the city of Moss. Heads were turning as I stole the silence from the fellow passengers. I had a lovely conversation, though.