From TTC commute to wedding bells — how a bus driver and rider fell in love

Don't you hate it when a bus driver blazes right by you while you're waiting at your stop? Don't get too mad; that driver might end up being your future spouse.

That's exactly how the love story of Peter Idzik and Alex Day begins.

It was an early fall morning in 2015 when Idzik, a Toronto bus driver, missed Day's stop by more than 30 metres — making her walk to the bus.

But she wasn't angry; he says she just got on and smiled.

The next day, Idzik missed her stop again.

And again, the day after that.

"I couldn't believe I did it three days in a row," he said. "I thought for sure she was going to punch me in the face."

But still Day got on, smiled and sat down. That's when Idzik says he knew she had an amazing heart. They started talking and the "rest is history." The couple is set to get married this summer and is spending Valentine's Day in Paris.

Day, 26, doesn't blame Idzik, 30, for missing her; she says it was dark and that the stop is in the middle of the road.

She'd been taking that bus — 112 West Mall route in Etobicoke — for about a year and had other bus drivers blow past her. But Idzik was the only one who stopped, which, she laughs, was "a good selling point."

"I could tell when I got on the bus how bad he felt," she recalls. "His head was literally on the steering wheel."

• Subway riders come together to help man late for job interview
• Strangers on a train: GO riders unite to help Syrian family get to their destination

It took three weeks for Idzik to ask for Day's number, and just under a year for him to propose during a romantic helicopter ride above the city.

Both Day and Idzik say they're often asked about how they met, and they always chuckle before telling the story.

'You wouldn't believe it'

The first person Day told Idzik about was her mom — with whom she would usually spend her bus ride texting.

"Every morning, for the first three days, I was like, 'Mom, you wouldn't believe it. This guy, he missed me on the side of the road!'" Eventually the conversation changed, with Day asking her mom for advice.

The pair believes fate definitely had a hand in their meeting.

Idzik says he had a choice of about 100 routes to sign up for, but he chose the 112 West Mall. Day says she could have grabbed an earlier or later bus those three days, when Idzik wouldn't have been driving.

If she had taken the later buses "it would have been brighter outside … so maybe I wouldn't have been missed," she says, to which they both laugh.

How did you meet your significant other? Share your love story with CBC Toronto in the comments section below.