Your Hero Moment
I was 10 years old the first time I went to the movies and ate popcorn.
My mom put down the newspaper (that’s how you checked for movie times back then) and told me the big news.
I was so excited, my first time not only at the movies but also we were going to take our first trip to Yorkdale (the mall).
We got on the 84 bus headed to the Downsview subway station and after two stops on the train we arrived at the mall.
As we were taking the escalator up I could smell the butter in the air…my mouth is drooling as I type this story.
I can’t remember what we watched but I remember feeling happy.
As the movie finished late in the evening, we got back into the subway and hopped on the 84 bus headed home.
About 15 minutes into the ride my mom looked at me and says in Russian
“Oh boy…I think we are lost. I don’t know where we are. Don’t panic though.”
I mean…how can you tell that to a kid?
Stunned my only reply was “What! Where am I going to sleep tonight?”
My mom looked around and at this point, we are so far off course there is no one else on the bus.
“Go talk to the bus driver and ask for help.”
I looked at my mom as I started to cry.
“The BUS driver doesn’t know where we live!” I yelled at her.
My mom rolled her eyes at me “Just go ask for help.”
In her defense, she didn’t speak English and I was the translater in the family.
I remember walking down to the front of the bus and crying as the bus driver turned his head and asked…
“What’s wrong”
More tears burst out of me “WE’RE LOST!!! My mom got us lost!”
“Don’t worry. Where do you live?”
I got flustered…I told my mom he won’t know where we live.
“I don’t know…my mom doesn’t even know…”
At that moment I heard my mom yell out “Bathurst…Sheppard…Bathurst…Sheppard”
That was the main intersection where we lived.
He smiled and said, “Ok, go sit down, tell your mom I will take care of you.”
After another 20 minutes, he finished his shift and then took the TTC bus and drove us to our doorstep.
Can you believe that? To our door, a man who probably gets no love from most people who get on his bus the whole day and night, working long hours…he drove us home.
To this day I remember that moment 25+ years later.
Most people would have said, that’s not my problem, take a taxi.
I think that’s what a hero is. A person who says “I didn’t cause it but I’m here so I’m going to make it better.”
So next time you see someone going through something, or struggling…it might not be your problem…but it sure can be your hero moment.
Who knows, maybe they will be talking about you 25+ years later.
