Jerry

Do you ever think that sometimes you over look people in your life? Those that do not have a direct connection to you? Or those that you deem to be less worthy in some way? Well - that's what I feel like when I think about Jerry.

Who is Jerry? :-) If you ever drive on Hastings Street. Jerry is the old man that stands on the corner (well - more on the meridian) of Hastings Street and the Cassiar tunnel. He's been a part of my daily commute for the last 5 years. I see him everyday, rain or shine, on the way home from work (North Van). Now that says a lot as it was over 6 years ago that I first saw him. I never really paid much attention to him until this year. Yes - I'd have the same kind of curiosity as any other on-looker. He was a pan handler and usually I try to avoid that type (you know...don't make eye contact...pretend to play with the radio buttons as he walked by, etc). Over time I developed more courage and started waving to him as he walked by. He never came over to ask for money - which reinforced my waving behaviour. The "good" thing about him is that he picks up the garbage on the street and usually waves at the vehicles that drive on and off Second Narrows bridge. When I stopped working in North Vancouver, I didn't see him very much (only once in awhile when I'd have to travel on Hastings in the middle of the afternoon or something like that). But this year I drove more (being bad and not using my bus pass). For Valentine's Day I had made little cookie gift bags for everyone at work. On the way home I stopped as per usual at the light. I saw Jerry doing his usually parade up the meridian and thought to myself: "he's such a nice bum". So I rolled down my window and offered him a bag of cookies and wished him Happy Valentine's Day. He was really happy and expressed his gratitude. The light was still red so we chit chatted a bit. I asked him for his name - as I felt it was rude to be refering to him as the bum on the Cassiar Tunnel. It's a good thing that I don't harbour any inhibitions and can ask strangers all kinds of things. He asked me what nationality I was and I said Vietnamese - so he mustered up a mangled "cam on" (thank you) in Vietnamese; I grinned and chuckled. It was very sweet that he could come up with the phrase, I was touched, and so began our relationship (I'm not saying we're best buddies now but we do talk more often then before). I told him that there were a few times that I didn't see him on my way home from work. I was genuinely concerned as he's old and I've seen my share of cars that have flown over the meridian. Who knows - he might become a casualty of a car accident. He sports a reflective vest on cloudy/rainy days - I think someone gave it to him. Jerry said he has cancer and that he was sick for a period of time so he couldn't come out to say "hi" to everyone. I think in some ways Jerry has very little family or friends so he enjoys the attention he gets from the drivers. Those weeks that he wasn't there - an intruder came. I call him an intruder because he was a punk-ass-kid-pan-handler-with-a-North-Face-backpack (I can't even afford a backpack like that!!) who was pretty aggressive (ie. knocking on my window and holding out his empy MacDonald's cup for "donations"). I really dislike those types as I figure they are all fakes. I've seen the documentaries - where a midclass kid would make tons of money pan handling!

Last week I was passing Jerry by and gave him my big chocolate chip cookie (still in its original packaging) and he happily stuffed it into his backpack. I smiled, waved and wished him a good weekend. Jerry - the not-so-well-known Cassiar Tunnel icon. Now you guys know him. ;-)