The #2 Bus
I had to take the #2 bus today (and no - that's NOT a euphemism) to go to a doctor's appointment on account of my doctor moved offices. I used to be able to just hop on the #95 (which uses the Transitway) to get to her office, so now, even though she's technically MUCH closer to downtown (she's a suburban doctor) she's MUCH further away by bus.
Anyway, the #2 is a pretty urban experience and today, as it went down Rideau Street, I saw lots of regular sorts of people (civil servants abound here, making Ottawa seem very solid, upper middle-class, and they use the transit system because it's very specific to government buildings downtown from houses out in the suburbs) and a range of commercial ventures from upscale shoe stores to trendy tattoo parlours to pawnbrokers. Then I saw a pretty reddish blond haired girl of about sixteen with bright glassy blue eyes and a crazy grin staggering down the street, her motor control completely compromised by whatever she was high on and it just was the sort of thing that punches you in the gut, stabs you in the heart, jabs you in the eye.
And you spend the rest of the day wondering about the well being of that person.
Pretty soon you start wondering about the kind of people who sell drugs to other people but then you think maybe it was glue she was on and it becomes pointless to try and figure it out and the only thing left is to hope there are other people out there who try to help people like her.
And you know what? There are. I was talking to one such person last night. It's her job, she's paid (not well, not poorly) through our tax dollars and works with other people, also paid (not well, not poorly) through our tax dollars, to provide a program (for lack of a better term) to help people with mental health and other issues get it together enough to keep it together for however long it stays together. They can come in high, whatever, and it's the job of these people to try and help them in meeting the sorts of basic needs that people who are messed up can't meet on their own.
I was trying to get a sense of what exactly is provided and then she laughed and said, "Hope"?
Which I guess can be a little or a lot - depending. But it sure is better than nothing, that much I know.
