Not Your Average Morning Commute

Yesterday morning I left my apartment at 7:15am and walked my usual four blocks to Jasper Avenue, the main downtown street, to my bus stop. As I approached the intersection I noticed some flashing police and ambulance lights. I was concerned and assumed it was a car accident since the roads have been a little slippery lately. I began to cross Jasper and noticed that there was yellow police tape all around my bus stop in front of Boston Pizza and there were about 4 police cars, one ambulance and a city bus all parked on the side. I wasn't really sure what to do; I was curious and didn't know if my bus would stop behind all the vehicles. I stopped about 30 metres from the police tape thinking that perhaps there was room for my bus to stop there. I was trying really hard not to be in the way or too nosy. As I waited for my bus I glanced over to where the police were and I saw a television crew, 4 or 5 people that looked like witnesses to what had happened, and various police - and then I saw the body covered with a white sheet. The victims feet were visible at the end of the sheet and there was a dark-coloured baseball hat about a foot away from the feet. I was unnerved to say the least. I still wasn't sure what to do as far as where to catch my bus, but then another police cruiser pulled up in front of me so I decided that I had to go to another stop. I crossed the street in order to walk around the crime scene and then crossed it again to get to the next stop. I called work to let them know that I might be late, but I managed to make it to the next stop on time.

My ride to work was spent thinking about how I had seen the body of a person perhaps before his/her family even knew. If I had been there just a few minutes earlier, could I have witnessed it? Was it drug or gang related? Could it have been me lying there for commuters to gawk at? All these questions plagued me and I felt uneasy all morning, wondering what had happened.

At lunch time I finally was able to find out what had happened. A couple of young men were arguing on the bus and the driver stopped and pushed the panic button. The two men got off, continuing their disagreement and the younger man was stabbed. The man with the knife fled, but was caught by police four blocks north of the incident. It happened just shortly after 7am and I arrived at the scene at 7:25. If I had been on the earlier shift this week I would have been there. When something like this happens it really makes you think of your mortality and how fragile life is.