A Burnaby crossing guard was overwhelmed by an act of kindness from a stranger this morning.
Local resident Kelly Engleson has been working as a school district crossing guard for eight years at Douglas Road Elementary, and for the past two years, she's been helping kids cross safely at Douglas Road and Sprott Street.
On Tuesday morning, a woman approached her who was sobbing so much she could hardly breathe. Engleson asked if the woman needed help, but she said she was fine. She just wanted to give something to Engleson; a thank-you card with a Tim Horton's gift card inside.
The card read: "To the passionate crossing guard, thank you for keeping the children and their parents safe while travelling to school. I notice your passion for protection and your caring manner, which is evident in the way you let the drivers know that children are crossing the road. Enjoy a cup of coffee on me! Keep up the great work.
Signed, a stranger passing this intersection regularly on the way to work, Karleen."
Engleson was caught off guard by the gesture.
"She just felt overwhelmed and needed to tell me what a great job I did," Engleson said, with a hearty laugh.
Engleson gets numerous accolades from the public, but she was surprised at how overcome the woman was with emotion.
"She was just so overwhelmed that I would step in front of a car to save somebody, or maybe she saw me do that, because I do do that," she said. "You do what you think you have to do to protect the kids. It's such a rewarding job, I absolutely love what I do."
Over the past couple of years, Engleson said she's started to do her job a bit differently because people in a hurry get frustrated when stopped.
"I mouth 'thank you' and I wave thank you to everybody, every single car that I stop, I have done the same (thing) for two years. And you see the anger go to a little smile today, and tomorrow it's a nice smile. The next day they're waving at you, and before you know it, ... I'm getting honked and waved at by people, and I have no idea who they are," she said, laughing.
Engleson said she'd like to thank all the drivers who look out for her each day.
"I do try very hard to keep all the pedestrians safe at my corner and times like this make it all worthwhile," she said.
