Toronto:The Friendly-Unfriendly City

I would like to preface this by saying: "Yes, I talk to strangers. But I am very careful about it."

Every once in a while, I am truly amazed at how much I like it here. I can never be truly in love with a city where humans sleeping over sewage vents in the winter to keep warm is almost a fact of life. I know lots of people do what they can to help, and that is part of what I am amazed about. Toronto has a heart, and I bump into it every once in a while and am suprised. I have proof.

Exhibit A:
I was waiting for my bus on my way home from school one night, and was in a particularily good mood and listening to one of my favourite songs over and over and over and over again. Apparently, I looked like I was in a good mood too, because these two thirteen year old boys came up to me and told me so.

Random Kid 1: "You look really happy. What are you so happy about?"
Me: "I had a good day I suppose"
Random Kid 2: "Don't talk to him. We're having a contest to see how many people we can get to tell us their name."
Random Kid 1: "So yeah, what is your name? I'm currently winning."
Me: "Well, what are your names?"
Random Kid 1: "I'm Sam, and this is Andrew"
Andrew: "Yeah, I'm Andrew."
Me: "Well, you guys probably shouldn't be telling random people your names. I'm not telling you mine." at this point they started walking away, crestfallen so I backtracked and gave them a new option. "You guys can guess."

What followed was one of the most hilarious banters I have ever been a part of. The names they came up with ranged from Dakota to Georgina, and they were budding little comedians. Finally, one of them actually guessed my name right, they celebrated,the bus pulled up, and they ran to talk with the bus driver next. What was really wonderful about the whole thing was that everyone that they talked to transformed into a happy, smiling creature - instead of the expressionless drones that they usually are. I wish I could thank them.

Exhibit B:
Once, on one of the last warm days of October, I glanced across the street from where I was standing, and sitting in a lawn chair, on their roof was a man watching the world from his perch, with his dog as his sole companion. At the risk of sounding creepy, I'll admit that I watched him for some time, and it was incredibly peaceful even though the rest of the world around him was spinning rush-hour fast.

I rest my case.