‘The unexpected encounter that made me grateful for my life’

As a parking enforcement officer for the City of Vancouver, Canada, I never know who or what I’m going to encounter on any specific day. A recent encounter while at work reminded me that you never know when gratefulness will appear.

The weather forecast was for cloudy with sunny periods but hey, this is Vancouver in the winter season so, sure enough, it was overcast and drizzling. A grey, dreary day that had the potential of becoming a miserable day. If it was going to be miserable, I was dreading encounters with the public because the previous two weeks had been absolutely nuts! I’d seriously considered calling it quits and retiring. As the country song says, “God is great, beer is good and people are CRAZY!”

On the brighter side of things, I hadn’t yet encountered anybody who wanted to tear my head off because I wrote them a parking ticket. Not a single commercial driver wanted to tear their ticket in half (and me as well) because it’s so hard to do business in this city when parking spaces are taken away to create bike lanes where they’re not necessarily wanted. I hadn’t run into any of the multitude of self-entitled citizens who feel they are above the law of the land and have the accompanying attitude to prove it. I also hadn’t run into any third-party passersby who heard only the last half of the discussion between me and another citizen then decided to jump into the fray while recording the entire ‘incident’ from the point of intrusion on their mobile phone, in order to save the citizen I was politely speaking with, from being harassed and humiliated by the likes of me. The full moon phenomenon is real, folks!

Instead, as I was in the process of writing a ticket for a vehicle at an expired meter, I encountered the owner returning to said vehicle. One look and it didn’t take a genius to see that Jane* was genuinely having a terrible day… In fact, a really, really bad day.

Her eyes watered up and her lower lip trembled as she approached me. She was close to losing it and a ticket on top of whatever had turned her day upside down just didn’t seem right, so I terminated the ticket. It was quite obvious that she needed to vent. I looked up and down the street and was surprised to see there was only the two of us there. I gently suggested that sometimes, it’s easier to unload to a stranger. Unload, she did.

Jane’s 27-year-old niece had just been taken off life support after a drug overdose. The young woman’s father had arrived from out of town the night before. Jane had picked him up at the airport and headed straight to the hospital. Wanting some good to come out of this tragedy they had decided it would be a great idea to donate her organs.

However, the girl’s long-term, live-in boyfriend, allegedly a drug dealer, was having nothing to do with that. He felt the doctors were like ghouls lining up at the entrance to his girlfriend’s room wringing their hands waiting to rip her open at the first opportunity. He didn’t mince his words regarding how he felt about Jane and his girlfriend’s father having the audacity to bring up the idea of harvesting his girlfriend’s organs.

He apparently didn’t understand organ donation and transplant protocols and decided that he would rather bury his girlfriend in one piece. A very heated discussion had ensued with the father saying it was his right to decide what to do with his daughter’s remains while the boyfriend countered that it was his right as her boyfriend.

Ultimately, and very unfortunately, the hospital determined that the boyfriend had the legal right to decide what to do with her body instead of the girl’s father. Both Jane and the father were devastated. Despite pleas from the two of them as well as explanations from the surgical transplant team regarding the procedures, the boyfriend decided to pull life support. Now, others desperately in need of transplants, will not be benefiting from Jane’s niece’s unnecessary death.

Jane was so frustrated by the situation that she hadn’t even taken nor had she afforded herself the time to cry for her niece.

And I thought I had bad days on the job!

I gently asked if she needed a hug. She held on so tight and for so long, I thought she was going to burst out crying. However, she eventually gathered herself together thanking me for being so understanding.

We talked a little longer and slowly she began to relax and at one point managed a smile while thanking me again for my kindness. I told her it was my honour and that I wished that we’d me under different circumstances.

She then reached into her car and handed me a gold coloured button saying it was nice to have somebody understand and show some genuine interest and concern for another person. There was one word on the button… ‘Love’. I choked right up.

It took a moment and some deep breathing before I could thank her. I told Jane I’d keep it with me until, I too, encountered a situation where I could pass it on to somebody deserving the recognition. She smiled, took my hand in hers and told me I was truly a good person.

That day started out like any other wet, wintery day in Vancouver. Yet, hrough somebody else’s heartache, the sun came out and shone for a bright moment when two complete strangers were able to make a very human connection over a tragic event that should have never occurred.

As I walked away smiling, I realised that I actually have one of the best jobs in the world. The universe gives us these opportunities every day, we just have to recognise them.

*Not her real name.

What unexpected things have brought you gratitude?

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