Thoughts From Away: Toronto...
As a No Fly Zoner for six years now I can finally step back from my
roots with a less jaundiced eye.
When I originally left my home in the Maritimes I couldn’t wait
to get out. In fact the decision to leave was made almost on a whim and
within a month I was gone.
Some months after arriving in Toronto a friend asked me to write a commentary
for his webzine on the differences between home (Prince Edward Island)
and here. The article was a bit of a screed to be honest and I now know
that there are more similarities than a penchant for referring to both
places by and acronym (PEI - TO, get it?).
However, there are still differences that stand out.
The reason for this article now is that a funny thing happened on the
way to fashion cares. It was like Old Home Week. At breakfast at the Lakeview
Lunch our waitress was from Sidney Mines. Went to get my haircut by my
Caper hairdresser and ran into Lorianne Dover, whom I went to high school
with. At Fashion Cares, at the dinner, one of our tablemates owns property
on PEI and In fact rents out space of Chas Guay’s Back Alley Disks.
Finally, my significant other ran into a former co-worker from the Advocate
in Pictou, Nova Scotia. We hadn’t seen the guy in eight or nine
years.
So here I am revisiting the similarities and differences between here
and there (all the while looking forward to the next three weeks which
I am spending in PEI).
The number one difference is the weather. Every morning on the CBC news
we see nothing but stories on how much weather the Maritimes is getting,
mostly in the winter of course. One friend (also from the Island) said,
"But it's so beautiful and imagine all the snowball fights."
I reminded her that the last time any of us willingly played in the snow
we weren't yet entitled to vote.
The more I thought about it the more I realized that the weather, being
such a transient matter, wasn't a legitimate difference. The summers are
usually great so as to make up for the crappy winters. While up here in
the Big Smoke we have to wheeze our way through humid smoggy summers.
Although, an early spring is nice.
Work is a more legitimate topic to compare and contrast. I like the fact
that you can pretty much walk into any shop in Toronto and find a joe-job
right away. When I first arrived I started looking for work in the "entertainment
industry". I did this solidly for a month or so without any luck.
I was encouraged not to give up, to continue looking. But I was getting
restless, and feeling a little down about not earning any money so I decided
to put off my at-the-time soon-to-be-successful movie career (I'm now
a business reporter in my real life, the movie career twas but a dream)
for a little while and started looking for anything I could find.
The big differences between looking for work at home and up here are the
number of job openings and the speed at which you are hired. I went to
the biggest sales market I could think of, the Eaton’s Centre, and
literally within one hour I was offered positions at three stores for
more than minimum wage and "Could you start now?"
I remember waiting for rejection for weeks at home after applying for
a job. I was certainly never hired on the spot, by complete strangers,
for a half-decent wage. I realize the economics of the situation up here
compared with what goes on Down East is vastly different.
Transit. Most definitely a plus no matter how you look at it. I’m
glad to see that there is now public transit back home. Not owning a car
back home was a major hindrance. I would have loved to take a bus or streetcar
to the University of Prince Edward Island in the dead of winter. We use
the Toronto transit system every week and this city wouldn't be able to
run without it. The city is very large and cabs cost a fortune.
However, I do have some complaints about the TTC. Chief among them is
the fact that some of the streetcar operators are very angry and rude.
That combined with the early morning rush and it can make for a very unpleasant
experience as you're being crushed like an accused witch on a car with
100 other folks and the driver is yelling at people to "clear the
doors or we won't move!" Of course sometimes you can't move and some
poor sap near the door has to get off and wait for the next car, which,
despite assurances to the contrary, doesn't always arrive every 15 minutes
or better. I have walked home on occasion when the waiting time has exceeded
the time it would take me to walk.
Although I must say that being on a crowded car or subway is interesting.
Like how I imagine an orgy might be. Strangers surround you, you're uncomfortable
and sweaty, and you have no idea who that is groping you.
And I won't mention strikes. Well, I'll mention them I just won't talk
about them.
Star Power. I'm not really that shallow (am I?) but I love to people-watch
and up here that could be a full-time job. Not only are there two million
regular citizens to look at but there has got to be at least six or seven
celebrities to keep an eye out for.
I have also seen some performances that I would have otherwise missed.
Yo-Yo Ma, Donny Osmond (believe it), Bjork and Margaret Atwood (yawn...
sorry I nodded off).
Of course at home on PEI, I did see Steven King and Leonard Cohen, so
it's about the same I guess. Did I ever tell you about the time I got
juiced with Michael Moriarty...?
Restaurants. There are 9,600 restaurants in the naked city, I've only
been to 30 of them. There is an inexhaustible selection of eateries and
nightspots. I have eaten at sushi bars, Jamaican jerk houses, Ethiopian
and Eritrean places, an up-scale Peruvian joint, and a Portuguese churrasqueira.
And most these are in my neighborhood. I mean I've barely been over the
Don Valley, and God only knows what's in Mississauga.
But in my absence all sorts of good things have happened back home or
so I’ve heard rumours. African restaurants, Japanese. If so I can’t
wait to check them out.