Virtual No More

Ring, ring.

“Hello.”

“Shelly?”

“Hi Jerry!”

“Uh Shelly, I’m just calling to tell you that we can’t make it.”

“You can’t?!?”

I then heard that unmistakable giggle and I knew he was teasing me, yet again. Jerry and Brenda were staying with Brenda’s family in St. Catharines, relatively close to my home in Mississauga, so we had made plans before their trip from Calgary to Missouri and then to St. Catharines that we would finally meet when they were in Ontario.

It was hard to believe that the day was finally here. I was excited. I have maintained a cyber relationship with Jerry for about four years. We first met on a message board that is now defunct. I was new to the message board concept and was surprised at how well you could forge friendships with people by reading their posts and responding etc.

Jerry was always good for a laugh. We added each other to our messengers to keep in contact and throughout the past four years we have chatted as well as talked on the phone. I was not nervous about finally seeing Jerry in the flesh because I felt as though I knew him very well after all the communication between us.

Brenda and Jerry took the bus from St. Catharines and would arrive downtown just past 11:00. I said I would be there when the bus arrived but true to my nature, I was late getting away from the apartment.

Destiny made me late; I would realize that later. It was 11:52am when I pulled into the parking lot on Gerrard across from the Delta Chelsea Hotel.

“What time do you park to? You park to 6:00?”

I wasn’t sure why the Indian parking attendant was asking me this. I glanced down at the sign that posted the rates and times.

He suddenly waved his hand in front of the sign.

“Don’t look there. Listen to me. What time you want to park?”

“Uhmm, I’m not sure.” I was stammering, not sure how to answer.

“It’s early. You park now. You get your car by 6:00pm. You go drive around for eight minutes, come back here because I’m nice guy, you park till 9:00pm.”

It was finally sinking in what he was trying to tell me. I quickly stole a glance at the sign with the rates and times and could see that if I parked before noon, it was a charge of $10.00 but I had to have my car out by 6:00pm. If you park at noon or later, the charge is $10.00 until 9:00pm.

This was most likely my best bet because I wasn’t sure of our plans for the day. I knew we were also meeting up with Pete (another cyber friend) and his family from Belleville, but they wouldn’t be arriving until later on in the afternoon.

“Ok, so I’ll drive around and come back in eight minutes.”

“That’s good choice ma’am. You come back here to park, cause I’m nice guy. I save you money. I don’t have to tell you this; I do because I’m nice guy.”

“Yes, I’ll come back. See you soon.”

I backed out of the parking lot and decided to go pick up Jerry and Brenda who were waiting at the Eaton’s Centre and then drive back to the parking lot. That should waste at least eight minutes.

I was able to secure a piece of the curb behind a Rav 4 that had their hazard lights on. Perfect. I wasn’t so worried about getting a ticket or being asked to move since I wasn’t the only one stopping here.

I couldn’t see Jerry and Brenda but thank god for cell phones. I was able to direct them right to my car. After explaining the parking dilemma I did a U-turn and got us on our way back to the parking lot.

Jerry looked exactly like his photo. I would have recognized him immediately.

It was almost surreal to have them sitting in my car, in Ontario, talking and laughing like it’s a commonplace occurrence.

We decided to go have lunch first and then we sort of hung around waiting for Pete and family to arrive. Unfortunately, when they got there, they were anxious to eat because they were hungry. We found another restaurant and visited while they ate.

Our weather has been basically cold and rainy for the past few weeks but Saturday was hot, sunny and humid. I swear that Jerry brought the Missouri weather here with him. I was happy that it wasn’t raining but I am not a lover of hot, sticky weather. I tried not to complain too much. If I did, they were all so polite that no one yelled at me to shut up.

After our second lunch, we walked up Yonge street and looked in Sam the Record Man’s, HMV and a poster store. Pete is a Beatle’s fanatic and he was hoping to find a new poster for his music room. He wanted the poster of the four lads standing in front of a door which is apparently the album cover of “Hey Jude”.

We were unlucky with our search, but we did get an opportunity to stand for long periods of time outside the shop in the hot, humid, weather while Peter and family hunted through the hundreds of posters inside.

I became a little nervous when I noticed that the pedestrians on the street were slowly evolving from tourists to gang members as the sun started to sink.

“I think we should call it a day and get going now.”

Everyone seemed ok with my suggestion. It had been a wonderful visit but the heat and humidity was starting to make us all feel weary.

I had suggested to Jerry and Brenda that they forget about their return bus ticket and allow me to drive them home so that I would be able to show them where I lived and we could extend our visit a little longer. They agreed after a brief familial debate.

My mom and Melissa enjoyed the opportunity to meet them and luckily for me, my sister showed up for a visit and agreed to come along for the ride so that I would have company on the way home.

It was exactly a one hour drive from my place, so after leaving here at 10:30pm, I dropped them off and was back at home by 12:30pm.

Acquisitions from HMV and Sam’s during the visit:

Ron Sexsmith - Time Being (Love this album!)
Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now (to replace my cd that I lost)
James Hunter - People Gonna Talk (I am in love. What a great album.)
Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins - Rabbit Furcoat (EXCELLENT!! They were playing this in Sam’s and I absolutely loved it. I just couldn’t leave without a copy for myself.)