It has been the snowiest week in Boston (recorded) history and things are getting desperate.
West Roxbury. Monday morning, February 2, 2015, I was standing at the bus stop in another hellacious, blinding snowstorm. The snow was coming down sideways in stinging, slanting sheets. Only plows and a few trucks were making their way through the snow clogged streets. I was standing knee deep in snow-plowed dirty, soft-snow-mush with no buses in sight, chatting with the only other pedestrian crazy enough to be out trying to get to work. Her name was Deena and she works as a waitress at a pub in Roslindale. She looked a little worse for the wear and tear. Like she had been up late the previous night celebrating the New England Patriots Superbowl victory. Plus, she had no gloves. I thought about whether I had another pair to give her. Nope.
We waited for a bus for almost a half-hour, when a snow covered 4-wheel drive mini-SUV pulled over. The driver got out and shouted if we wanted a ride. He just drove in from Dedham and he didn’t see any buses coming our way so he offered to give a lift to the Forest Hill T station. For a second, I sized up the good Samaritan to see if he looked like a serial killer. He looked harmless. The waitress and I looked at each other. We jumped in. She got in the back behind the driver. I rode shotgun.
The driver was a really nice guy. His name was John and he was going to work in Cambridge. He said was originally from Columbia, and they don’t get a lot of snow down there. He was obviously very happy to be navigating the treacherous streets in his new Toyota Rav 4, and happy to be giving people rides. We had one seat left open so we pulled over and asked some woman at the next bus stop if she wanted a lift. She declined. That wasn’t the case with the exchange student from China at the bus stop after that. The exchange student thought about it for a second, then jumped right in! We didn’t get her name, but she was happy to get a lift. We chatted up a storm of our own as we crept along the snow covered street.
After about twenty minutes, John dropped us at the subway station. We thanked him and he went on his way. I’m sure he picked up new passengers on the way to Cambridge.
Despite the blizzard, we all had fun.
copyright 2015 Magnus Incognito