so i bought a bunch of tim horton's gift cards (that's like starbucks but better, for you non-canadians) and walked to the nearby fire station to give some the firefighters. then i walked down the hill to the neighborhood next door, which was hit hard in the flood.
it was awful you guys. clear signs everywhere of how high the water was, and so many people milling around. some volunteers helping, everyone covered in mud, a lot of people resigned and sad and in shock. lawns just bursting with debris. i would say it was like walking through a disaster zone, but it isn't like one, it is one.
i found a pair of police officers near the broken bridge, one directing traffic. i gave gift cards to the officer in the car and thanked them for being so amazing during all this flooding. i asked them if i could buy them dinner, and he said they were alright, but in a hour they could maybe use a hot drink. i said i'd be back in an hour.
i brought them apple cider and cheese buns, and the officer thanked me over and over, and i thanked him over and over (him and all the police and emergency workers) for being generally awesome and working so freaking hard to keep us all safe.
he said they'd probably be here (or at least working, not necessarily in that exact spot) until sometime around midnight. i asked if they'd even had a chance to sleep, and he said, "oh, not really. *gestures to partner directing traffic* he's been up since 4 at least. maybe 3." (this was at 7:20 pm, folks. and they're working until midnight, and this is something like day 4 or 5, depending on how you count it, of this crisis).
in other news, this morning the city asked for 600-1000 volunteers to come to one of the stadiums to be "deployed" to communities in need. 7000 showed up. SEVEN. THOUSAND. and they asked for SIX. HUNDRED. ISH. and they've been turning people away (from that particular gathering) because too many people showed up, but they'll be tons more help and clean up and stuff needed. my city is being ridiculously amazing during this madness, i'm just blown away!