Gull lake is just east of Swift Current. It is about 450
kilometres from Calgary. While it was still not the marathon drive I was
looking for - it was a nice ride and as always, I was grateful.
My driver had been in Calgary over-night dropping his
girlfriend off at the airport. She was going to the Philippines to visit her
family. To the best of my knowledge, any of the relationships my drivers have
talked about in the past 13 or so years have always been with non-immigrants
(that sounds awkward and I apologize). That is, my drivers had relationships
with people who generally came from the same class, race and culture as they
did. I suppose it is a sign of how the
world is changing. Whereas twenty years ago it might have seemed to be unusual
for a guy from BC to meet someone from half the world away and develop a long
term relationship via technology, or a farm boy from central Canada to have a
relationship with someone from the Philippines - it no longer is. I found it
rather extraordinary and absolutely delightful that somewhere in southern Saskatchewan that this is true.
There are times when, as I read the papers, I groan in despair over the absurdities
of people fighting and all too often killing, about race, religion or culture.
But then I meet these drivers who in their own way are refuting all of those
silly claims about one group being better than the other. That quite frankly is
as good as any other reason to hitchhike.
It was a quiet drive. We talked about a thousand things as
we went along. My driver, who was still not over 32, had had an interesting
life. He came from a very religious family and had spent three years in China
as a Christian missionary. It seemed a strange thing to do - he had had to
raise the money himself, both the cost to get there and to be supported for the
three years. He clearly was not wanted there, he did not speak the language and
I could not figure out what is role was when he was there. I didn't push him
too hard . He had clearly gone to China because of a personal conviction. It
was not my place to question how he demonstrated his faith. I would have liked
to have a more in-depth conversation about China and the people there - but I
did not get the sense that he really knew it that well. I think he spent much
of the three years being both uncomfortable and concerned about his safety.
He was quiet man - given to slow sentences with spaces in between
as he careful considered his words. He talked about how hard it was develop a
relationship, the in and outs of working as a mechanic in a small town, growing
up in southern Saskatchewan. It
was not the most stimulating conversation that I ever had, but it was
comfortable and relaxing. It was also a remarkable drive in that not once did
the driver ask about my faith. He was clearly a deeply religious man. A number of
times during our five or so hours together, he mentioned that he and his
girlfriend had prayed together over a particular problem or issue. He also talked
about the moral dilemmas of working for people who made decisions based on
people versus money. But he never preached to me and I don't think he would
have preached at anyone else. It has been my experience that drivers who have a
deep faith feel somewhat obligated to, at the very least, test the waters about
my faith. In fact generally they have been so aggressive about trying to
convert me that I have been glad to get out of the vehicles. But not this guy.
He was clearly comfortable talking about his faith - he just felt no need to
convert me. I liked him for that.
At Medicine Hat we
pulled off for a bit to go shopping at the mall. His girlfriend had told him he
needed to get an iron. Like so many people I know, my driver had never ironed a
single shirt. So we talked about ironing a bit, then he went off to look for an
iron and I walked around the mall. It could have been a mall in Victoria,
Calgary, Thunder Bay or Sudbury. They all have the same food courts, the same
shoe stores, the same clothing stores. I swear if one was parachuted blindfolded
into a mall, one would not know in which city it was located. Except for the
jewerly store. My newest theory of nothing is that while all of the shopping
malls of Canada are interchangeable - in every mall there is at least one
jewerly store that is unique to that geographic area- one store that is not
part of a chain.
Regardless in spite
of discovering this new theory, it was an incredibly boring 45 minutes as I hung
around the entrance to the mall. We had agreed on when and where to meet, but I
am always afraid that I may have misunderstood my driver's instructions or that
they will forget me. I therefore spend most of the time within ten feet of the
entrance. We however, did meet up where we were supposed to, about the time we
were supposed to, he grabbed a couple of burgers from the A & W stand and
we were off again.
While I was
completely dry - even my shoes, I felt dirty. My hair and beard had sand in it
from the winds around Cache Creek, my hair had curls and kinks in it from
getting wet and then having a hat jammed down on it, my beard had permanently separated
into two halves and I was reasonable sure that if I didn't smell - I would
fairly soon. I was also sure that there were things in my pack that were, at
the very least damp. They too, in the reasonably near future, would start to
grow mold if I didn't do something about it. It was only 6:00PM when my driver
said that he was turning south and where did I want to be let out. I said if
there was a cheap motel, somewhere near the highway - that would be great. He said there was - drove me the 200 yards to
the parking lot - I saw the purple painted cement block structure and said this
looks perfect and got out.
I could have stood
on the highway and tried for a ride....but I was determined that this night I
was going to get to sleep in a motel bed.
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