It was an odd sight. A nattily-attired, elderly grey-haired gentleman on Parkside Drive with his thumb out hitchhiking.
I noticed him just as I was turning into High Park on my way to teach my Sunday, 9:00am Nordic walking class.
I drove on for a few seconds, then I slowed down. My curiosity was piqued. Plus I was running early and had time to spare.
I pulled a U-turn and headed back out the park gates. There he was, but now the thumb was down and he was peering back down the street. Looking for the streetcar?
I pulled another U-turn and drew my car up beside him. His friendly and surprised face looked in my passenger window, and with a gracious thank you he slid into my passenger seat.
“Thank you so much for stopping,” he said. “My app says the streetcar should have been here 10 minutes ago, but there’s no sign of it.”
He needed a lift just up to Bloor Street, about a three-minute drive away, he said.
There was time for a little chit chat.
“Did you go to school in Toronto,” he asked.
”No,” I replied, “but I’ve been here for many years.”
He had enjoyed teaching at Loretto Abbey for over a decade, he said.
Suddenly we were at Bloor, and I pulled the car over to the curb. I wished him a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday.
“Many blessings to you, my dear,” he said. ‘”You have done a good deed today. I’m a Catholic priest on my way to perform morning mass. Many many blessings to you.”
