Starting a new job is viewed as one of the most stressful events a person can experience. The excitement of a new opportunity is often times outweighed by the stressors: what will be expected of me? Will people like me? Can I actually do this job? And that first impression is a huge, so showing up late on Day 1 isn’t the best way to start.
On Tuesday, Feb 23 Transit Operators Ryan Craig and Sandra Hunt pulled their buses into the Royal Oak Exchange at roughly the same time. They both noticed the same thing – a young woman at the stop who was visibly upset.
“This customer was knelt down on the concrete sobbing in tears, and I could clearly see it was something above and beyond a normal issue,” said Ryan Craig.
The young woman, named Cinder, had apparently been given the wrong information on where to wait for the route 32 Cordova Bay, and had missed the bus which was going to take her to the first day of her new job. Cinder and her mom are new to the city having recently moved to Victoria from Ontario to start a new life, so they’re still getting the lay of the land.
As the route 32 runs hourly, she was going to be significantly late. Ryan Craig felt for Cinder, and wanted to help. Neither he nor Hunt had the money to help her pay for a cab, so there were no conventional solutions to be had. That’s when Ryan decided to get his wife involved.
“We live just around the corner from the exchange. We’ve been married 14 years, and I know my wife well enough to know that she would be willing to help. When you know in your heart it’s the right thing to do, you just do it.”
Ryan Craig called his wife Carly, who was more than happy to help! She whipped over in her car a few minutes later and shuttled Cinder to Cordova Bay in time for her big day to start off the right way. Disaster was averted, and Cinder was left with an amazing memory of immense kindness from a BC Transit driver and his thoughtful wife in a new city.
“Ryan really stepped up. He wasn’t doing this for brownie points or anything, he just wanted to help her” said Sandra Hunt. “It was an emotional, beautiful thing that he did and she was so grateful. That’s what I love about this job.”
