Local toddler waves to over 240 GRT buses
Joey Whiteside is a big transit fan.
For the past two months, the 16-month-old has been waving to GRT buses passing by her front step after evening walks with her parents.
Every single time Joey has waved to the buses, the operators have waved back. Her father Dave says the activity is the highlight of their nightly routine.
“She developed a real love of buses a few months ago, and she has been waving and shouting ‘bus!’ at every bus that passes ever since,” said Dave. “We live near a busy intersection where a number of routes intersect, so she probably sees and waves to about six buses a night.”
Dave believes Joey has waved to at least 240 buses since her transit appreciation began. None of the operators on those buses have failed to wave back.
As a parent, Dave deeply appreciates the positive responses from all the operators they’ve seen. “Genuinely, every single operator has given her a wave back and it makes her night every time,” he said.
“There is truly nothing better than someone taking the time to make your kid smile,” added Dave. “It makes my daughter’s day every time, and that makes my day every time too. But the impact is even larger — I also see the smiles on the faces of operators, and I also see the smiles on the faces of everyone who gets to watch that interaction.”
Dave believes the waving is an example of positive community spirit in the Region of Waterloo, driven by GRT’s operators.
“Now, I’ll admit that I have an incredibly cute daughter and I can appreciate that she plays a big part in this,” said Dave. “The culture at GRT plays a big part in this too. Joey might start the wave, but it’s the GRT operators who respond to it and that response matters so much in these interactions. It’s not a mistake we get a wave back every time, and so much credit is owed to the operators who have the care to not miss those little opportunities.”
After sharing his daughter’s experience on social media, Dave has been encouraged by the enthusiastic and positive result.
“I’m a big believer that social media needs a regular dose of positivity to balance out the negatives that we always see,” said Dave. “Seeing the response has been a nice reminder that sharing stories about what makes our community great can really be impactful and we shouldn’t shy away from sharing them when we can.”