Justin Posted

Needless to say, I settled for a combination of both.

I had an interesting dilemma today. I was sitting on my chair at work when I realized that I didn’t have a drive to get home. Mind you, I live some 13 kilometers away from where I work (according to Google Maps) and this is calculated using the most efficient means of getting to my house which involves the freeway. Safely add an extra 4 kilometers if walking to avoid the freeway.

I started thinking, how was I to get home? Sure, I could call a cab, but cabs are expensive. For a ride of this length, I could expect to pay at least 35$. For a single work day, 35$ is a big deal for me. I could also potentially try to call a friend, but who wants to be bothered on a Saturday. I came up with the idea of walking to the local mall, hitching the bus, and then walking some more as the bus doesn’t quite reach my house.

Why go through all this trouble you may ask? I assure you, bare with me, my reasoning is good.

I quickly checked the bus times, and surely the bus to my destination was having its last route at 6:00, I had an hour to get to the mall, plenty of time! I locked up, and started walking.

I realized early on this was going to be a long walk. I zipped up my hoody and headed out in the drizzling night. I passed through an urban area, flights of cars were passing by, people of all types walking alongside me, I was at peace with the night. Some 45 minutes later, I was bound at the mall.

I had some 15 minutes to kill, a perfect opportunity to eat some supper. Heck, I probably would have been too lazy to make myself anything come home anyways. I grabbed a bacon club sandwich at Tim Horton’s, ate it real quick, and then headed outside to take the bus.

Minutes later, the bus arrived. I made sure I was heading towards the right area and payed my two dollars fare. As the bus was about to leave, a lady screamed “Hold on, there’s two more!”. This lady was of far more interesting character than I had first thought. Throughout the ride, you could hear her speaking of strange tales to her neighbors very loudly as to capture our attention. We rode for a while, and when she reached her destination she went out the front door wishing us all “A good night”.

I stayed on, we traveled through streets which I have never been on before to finally arrive at my stop a few kilometers away from my house. I went out and started walking on a road which I seldom walk on, this road is very long, straight, and full of little hills. Occasionally, the sight of a car coming up the opposite direction blinded my sight. I had another 45 minutes to think, without technology or people to distract me.

Finally I arrived home, some two hours later than I had left from work.

What is the point of this? Sure I could have taken some (faster) choices to get here. A cab for example. But would I have had the same experiences? Would I have gotten anything out of the ride, besides moving from point A to B. Would I have broadened my sense of the world? Surely, no!

I would not have witnessed the kinds of unique people following me, I probably would not have ate anything good, I would not have seen the unique character in the bus, I would not have had the chance to ponder alone.

What is the moral of the story? Simple. Different choices can bring you to the same place. But try to ask yourself, what did you get out of the experience? Did you impact your own personnal growth and/or the well being of the world?

By choosing this obscure path, I did a lot of exercise, saved some carbon emissions, and gained new experiences. Oh and… I even managed to save a huge 35$!