Hello, Awkward.

I have this odd habit in regards to the bus; most days, I walk the route. This is because I am impatient; if, for example, I am finished with classes but the bus doesn't arrive for 15 minutes, I have no intention of standing in the bus shelter with 800 rowdy teenagers blowing smoke in my face, so I start the walk home. Each time I pass a bus stop, I check the time and see if I can continue walking or if I should stop and wait for the bus to arrive. Most days I get about halfway home before the bus catches up with me.

Today it was raining, which means the bus shelter was even more painfully crowded than usual. So I started my walk. I got three stops down and noticed a blue car stopped in front of the bus shelter, which seemed weird, but I didn't think much about it and started hustling that way because I was cutting it pretty close on time. (I don't mind walking the whole way home, but the hill at the end sucks and I try to avoid it.)

I walked past the car and the driver rolled the window down; I think he said something to me, but that made me nervous, so I feigned ignorance (headphones! lala) and kept walking.

The car pulled forward. And this time I heard my name. Turns out it was Stéphane, my colleague. He'd seen me walking and had stopped to give me a ride to my bus stop.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that he was currently parked in front of my bus stop, so I got in the car and had to think fast on how to get out of the situation. Finally I told him that the stop was at the end of that road (which is kind of true, in that there is a stop at the end of that road). When we got to the intersection, he asked if I lived far, and I don't, so he ended up taking me almost the whole way home. (Hill avoided!)

It was such a gallant gesture that I couldn't bring myself to say a) it was unnecessary because I was walking voluntarily and b) it was futile because as soon as he was out of sight, I went right back out the door so I could go buy groceries. Oops!