Chronicles on the 510 Spadina Streetcar.

Living just off Spadina Street, the only streetcar I ever take is the 510 Spadina. Being the colourful and busy neighbourhood that this is, taking the street car is always an experience, both good and bad. Being that I tend to take it at ungodly hours of the night, these experiences tend to be more sketchy than comforting. That being said, I'd like to relate an experience I had the other day to you.

I got on the streetcar and sat down towards the front, and there was a disabled man with crutches trying to climb the steep stairs onto to it. For those of you who do not know, the stairs on streetcars have quite an intense incline, and are not designed to be accessible for those with mobility issues. It took him a good few minutes to get onto the streetcar and just when he sat down, he said to himself in a slightly defeated tone, "I've had a hard day". I burst into tears;I felt so overcome with emotion watching his struggle. I was pretty much convulsing with tears half of the ride home and then I finally calmed myself down. And then when I was getting off the streetcar, I told him to have a good day because he deserved it, and he held his hand out to touch mine. We held hands for a good second and there was such a meaningful unspoken exchange between us that I got off the streetcar and began sobbing uncontrollably again, this time for different reasons than the first. I though that it was such a beautiful experience that this man felt safe enough with me to reach out his hand, because I am certain he faces adversity in his daily life. Sometimes life can be so intensley beautiful and painful all at the same time.