commuting chronicles

some days, i can't bear to go underground and take the subway.  while i know it's the faster and warmer route, i sometimes opt for the streetcar.  lucky for me, i have the option. 

today was one of those days.

the first car to come was packed and i couldn't get on.  i knew this was a bad sign and it occurred to me that taking the subway isn't that bad but i decided to tough it out despite the bitter cold and obvious volumes of people.  the next car to come (about 6 minutes later) was also packed, but i managed to squeeze my way into the back doors.   a couple of stops later i felt a tap on my shoulder.  this frightened me a bit (since i'm not used to anyone tapping me on streetcars) but i turned around and noticed the man behind me was motioning that he wanted to exit soon.  i had nowhere to go, so i thought... maybe i misunderstood him.  i removed one of my headphones (listening to the best of ricky gervais) and said "pardon?"  "i'm getting off here, do you want this spot?  it's a good spot."  he said.  i was delighted.  it was a better spot than where i was standing, and the fact that he went out of his way to offer it to me was a real treat.  those random acts of kindness really do something special for my spirit.

so as the streetcar continued west and people began to thin out i found a seat.  sitting ahead of me was a couple around my age.  the young man was very outspoken and he had several outbursts that i could repeat, but this was my favourite:
"hey, guy, where'd you get that jacket?"
[muffled response i can't quite make out]
"but like, is it special or something?  like what's the point of it?"
"warmth"
"oh, warmth eh? i thought like, i don't know, maybe it was for charity or something, like if you bought one some of the money went to charity or something. i don't know, everybody is wearing them, i see them everywhere.  but i guess warmth is a good enough reason."

the streetcar went out of service at queen and i had to wait a little while for the next one.  it was cold.

anyway when i finally got on the bus to go home, a drunkish, 40ish year old man stampeded onto the bus and exclaimed "is this bus going to mexico?! it's way too cold out there!" no one really acknowledged him, except for a young boy around 5ish? . . . i couldn't hear their whole exchange, but the best part went like this:
"the leafs are gonna win some game, a game tonight, soon, i mean, sometime, soon" (drunk man)
"well i don't even like the leafs" (young boy with his dad)
"you don't like the leafs!?"
"i'm a montreal canadiens fan, and so is my dad"
at this point the whole bus was cracking up.  the exchange went on but i don't remember any more specifics.  it was pretty cute especially considering that the man seemed to smarten up a little and level with the child instead of being a belligerent drunk.

photo credit

so that's the ttc for ya.