Ride Share Adventures

I discovered "ride sharing" this week.  It was quite exciting.  Because I'm a student (aka, cheap/poor), I did not want to pay the $60ish dollars that it takes to get the bus from Montreal to Ottawa and back.  But I really wanted to go to Ottawa. 

My friend told me about ride shares.  She said, "Google it, and you can find someone who's also going to Ottawa and get a ride with them."  I thought that seemed kind of strange, but I googled, and sure enough there were a couple of ads on Kijiji about rides to Ottawa.  It's kind of like hitchhiking except you use the internet instead of your thumb and you pay gas money. 

I thought, well okay, I'll call the guy and I'll know, by the sound of his voice, if he's creepy or not.  I dialed his number, my "creep" detector on high intensity.  He said normal people things, and didn't slurp or gargle or make monster noises.  So that was a good sign. 

I was a bit nervous in meeting up.  I was also hoping that he was a hot student.  You know, best case scenario.  It turned out that he was an older man.  He was quiet, but he seemed nice.  There was also another girl getting a ride, so that made me feel more relaxed.

The only hitch in the whole deal came when I went to put my stuff in the back of his minivan.  It turned out that it wasn't just me and the other girl getting a ride - two dead sheep and half of a cow we coming along as well. 

"Um, so, er, what's with the dead animals?" I asked.

He was transporting them to a butcher.  Well okay, that seemed ... normal.  Sure, why not? 

The ride turned out to be perfectly fine.  Actually, the man is getting his PHD and researching drugs for ovarian cancer.   On the ride back I went with a bunch of students, and that was pretty fun.  All in all, I'd say that ride sharing is a pretty sweet deal.  I saved $30.  Maybe I'll treat myself to a new shirt.