By Scott Harber

I woke up, stepped outside the container, and stood onto the train platform. the sky was pink and violet. Amazing. i had never been to Manitoba but it *felt* like Manitoba. “yeah!”

About three years ago, I went on a freight hopping trip across Canada. After hearing tons of crazy stories from friends who had done it before, I made it a high priority to experience this myself. I was well aware that so much COULD go wrong that I would end up having a horrible time and wanting nothing more than to go back home and sleep in my cozy futon. But then again, shitty times when I’m with my good friends are really not that bad. The potential for having an awesome adventure was enough to convince me that it was a risk worth taking. Turned out to be one of the most exhilarating 5 days of my life. I want to thank pat, ben, tobin for inviting me along. These guys had done this trip several times already, so I knew I was in good hands.

anyway. i have MANY stories from this trip but instead of trying to recap the whole journey in one long entry, i wanted to focus on one particular moment that made me smile. I’ll be able to recall some of the fun little details that made this memory so great, and revisit the memory more vividly. (which will probably result in a more interesting read for you anyway).

SO.. about 2-3 days into the trip, we woke up in the container of an intermodal freight car at sunrise, somewhere in Manitoba. To give you an idea how loud it was, imagine placing one ear next to a running lawnmower. Then your other ear is placed next to someone rhythmically banging a used car with a sledgehammer. it was fucking LOUD. despite this, I was able to get exhausted enough for my brain to completely shut off all aural stimuli and get at least a few hours of sleep every night.

Everything is going well so far. we’re all in a good mood. Weather is nice.. although I did have a bit of an annoying situation to deal with.

I was scheduled to work in 3 hours – IN MONTREAL. 1200 miles away.

Let me give you a brief description of my job at the time just for fun. I was a relay operator for deaf people. an unusual, but strangely interesting job. Basically, deaf users would connect to us via our website, and ask us to phone people (relatives, doctors, loved ones, etc.) the deaf user would type a message to me that I would voice to the hearing person on the phone. The hearing person would then reply by talking directly to me, and I would type everything they say back to the user. Every once in a while I would have to relay cyber/phone sex conversations between a couple in a neutral voice tone. kinda like a robot. Yes it was awkward. Ok, I’ll save the anecdotes from this wonderful job for a future blog entry.

Back to my story. i had tried calling my work at least five times since we got to the yard back in ontario but couldn’t seem to get a good signal for the cellphone I had borrowed from tobin. By now you might be thinking “why didn’t you take care of this before leaving?” well, my decision to go on this trip was very spontaneous, i had decided to leave on friday night, joined my friends in ottawa at 4am, and then left really early in the morning on saturday. i should have called them then, but i didn’t. anyway

me: hey Tobin, can i try using your phone again?
(I dial the # and the phone rings. Finally.)
employer: hello?
me: hey this is scott. I’m schedul..
employer: WHAT??
me (yelling over the rumbling sounds of the train): HEY THIS IS SCOTT. I’M SCHEDULED TO COME IN FOR A SHIFT IN THREE HOURS.
employer: ok?
me: i won’t be able to make it. i’m on a rolling freight train in manitoba right now.
employer: …
me: i’m actually going to be gone for at least a week so.. i won’t be able to come in for any of my shifts this week. Uhm.. i’m basically quitting my job right now.

employer: (tone of voice indicates she’s not really sure what to make of this) uh.. ok??? uh.. so you’re quitting right now??
me: yeah. and when i come back from my trip, i was hoping to get my job back. (this sounded like a reasonable request at the time for some reason. ???)
employer: well. we’ll see if we can work something out. give us a call when you’re back in town.
me: really!? OK THANKS! BYE.

(call disconnected)

laughter erupts. high fives here and there. and we continue with our journey.

what made this so memorable wasn’t just the act of quitting my job on the train. it was the whole range of circumstances at the time (and I think tobin’s photo captures this really well), the combination of rolling through the dream-like landscape, bonding with my buddies, barely awake, dirty as hell, experiencing this non-stop adrenaline rush, and best of all – a VERY satisfying sense of freedom.

I’ve gotta say. Getting to know your country on a rolling freight train is fucking awesome.

more stories to come.