23 July 2011

Pet Peeves about Public Transit

Another list :) This time about things that people do that annoy me when taking public transit - bus, train or streetcar. It was inspired by a recent event on the ttc where a bus driver was pepper sprayed over a dispute about a transfer. Some people are nuts.

1) Too cool to hold on: This is when you are in a train, there are plenty of places to hold on to and people don't because standing with their hands in the pockets looking cool is more important than stability and not stepping on people's feet.

2) Impatience/Shoving: Hold your horses. You will get on/off the train. No need to shove or be rude. - If only people realized this...

3) Extreme PDA: It is so not necessary in an enclosed public space where there are only so many things you can look at. My mom said it's just because I'm not in love with anyone and for that she received quite the evil glare. But honestly, get a room.

4) The P.A. System: Not quite a people problem, but the system itself. You can never hear anything that is said and the fuzzy noise usually leads to a discussion among passengers about where the next delay is.

5) Annoying kids: I can handle babies crying and frustrating toddlers, because you really can't control them sometimes. But between the ages of 12 and 16, there is no need to be shouting, swearing incessantly and just being generally rude and obnoxious. But I see it all to often.

6) Drunk People: Once, at about 10pm on the train heading home, there was a group of drunk people heading downtown for a night out. We're about half way there, stopped at a station when one of the guys leaves the car....and starts peeing. Right there on the wall of the platform. The doors were closing, but then his friends started holding the door open, preventing the train from leaving. The driver was angry; passengers were amused/pissed off and I was thinking what stupidity there was in the world.

7) Loud Music: It's bad for your ears and mine because I don't to hear your heavy metal or pop music.

8) Disruptive passengers: One time, during rush hour, I was on a very, very packed bus. Now there's a rule that you must stand behind the white line, for safety reasons. Everyone was behind the white line and the bus driver was closing the doors, about to go when this woman walked on. There was no room for her and the bus driver was saying wait for the next bus. But NOOOOOO. This woman climbs on top of the wheel and sits there. At this point, the whole bus is pissed off, with some people yelling, and most wanting to get home. If there was space for me to leave the bus I would have and walked home, but that was not an option. The driver and mad woman kept arguing and eventually someone somewhere managed to make some space. 15 mins after we were supposed to leave, we finally left.

That was a semi-angry post. Hmmm.

On another note, R.I.P. Amy Winehouse, and my thoughts and prayers go out to those in Norway who have been affected by the attacks of yesterday.

- Turtles

20 July 2011

Expectations

Sometimes it seems like the world expects so much, like there is a certain way everything should be done and a certain time it must be completed. Expectations can be good. They set a goal and create a desire to achieve. But when the pressure is too much and overwhelming, cracks form in the shell that took so long to create. Impossible standards create impossible goals and a constant need to attain perfection.

Perfection - a word that brings joy or fear. Joy, for knowing that something had been done without error or mistake. Fear, for failing to meet the  expectation of perfection, causes disappointment, a feeling that hurts to the core.

Expectations can also be like false hope. If you're sights are set to high, once more that feeling of disappointment arises. Maybe hope is never to be found again.

A cracked, disappointed and hopeless sack of flesh and blood is the reflection in the mirror as the failure to achieve becomes an unfulfilled expectation.

16 July 2011

The Subway

Standing on the platform, I hear the screeching of metal before I see lights growing brighter as the train rolls closer. A gust of wind accompanies the rumbling floor, blowing off hats and scaring people behind the yellow line. Crowds estimate with precision where the doors will open, for routine is a part of life. We part like the red sea, allowing passengers to disembark. We must hurry aboard before a ding-dong signals the sea coming to swallow us up and rush us away.

Amid the tossing and turning of an unstable car, I can hear snippets of conversations: co-workers discussing their day, parents screaming at their children in foreign languages, teenagers sharing the latest gossip while fruitlessly attempting to get a cellphone signal. Black wires serve as my modern necklace, connecting  my ears to my hands. The pumping bass tunes out those awkward sexual history conversations from people who have yet to learn about subway etiquette.

I hold on for dear life as we twist and turn.  My feet are planted solidly on the ground, shifting slightly with every tiny change. After months of a twice daily commute, all the quirks of my travel are known to me like the back of my hand: where to walk and to sit, where to enter and to exit. On the subway I can observe, ignore, converse or be silent. The familiarity yet newness of these trips bring me comfort. 

The low voice of a woman reminds me that my trip is ending and once this metal boat stops rolling, I must disembark once more.

written July 16th 2011

8 July 2011

Library Sales

I was at the library today paying some unreasonably high late fines (they ban your borrowing privileges once you reach a certain limit -_-), and when I was done, I walked over to my favourite section: Books for sale!! (it's labelled with that exact enthusiasm). I don't know if a lot of libraries out there do this, but many libraries in Canada sell books for really cheap. Usually there is something wrong with them that prevents them from staying in circulation but basically it's just a used book. If you have no issue with that, then you're set. I am a really cheap person so I love this sort of stuff (or even better, when my high school library would give books away for free at the end of the year). My library sells all sorts of stuff - mainly in English and Chinese - from gardening to cooking to erotic novels depicts old Japanese society. Today I got 5 books for $4.50, which is awesome!! It's cheaper than at a used book store or clearance at Chapters (another section which I frequent). I am just so excited to read them and I thought I'd share.

 
Today I got: Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (famous Canadian author) 
Diners, Drive-ins and Dives by Guy Fieri 
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne 
Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder by Gyles Brandreth 
On the Road by Jacl Kerouac


And below are some others I have collected from over the years. All a buck or less :)

The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith (a No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel)
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sa (I'm almost done reading it - soo good!)
More by Austin Clarke (another famous Canadian author)
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton (published posthumously) 
Adam and Eve and Pinch Me by Julie Johnston (once more, Canadian)

Some of these books are/will be on my 50 book challenge and I am quite excited to get reading :)

4 July 2011

Happy (Belated) Canada Day!!

I don't know which is worse: that I forgot to write a post on Friday (the 1st) about Canada's national holiday or that I chose to write it on American Independance day (Canadians have a love/hate relationship with the States). I've been very, very busy lately, which is quite uncommon for me, but either way,

HAPPY (belated) CANADA DAY!!!!!

I didn't do anything Canada related at all on Friday. I hung out with my friends, but honestly, I think we all forgot what day it was because no one mentioned it. Yeah! for patriotism. I had some friends who went to Ottawa to party it up there and see Will and Kate, who are on their first Royal Tour, with Canada as their first destination. I am actually kind of jealous because I really wanted to see them but I guess that's what television is for. Maybe next year I'll go all out with a barbeque, face painting, all that jazz. But for now, I'll just with my Canadian pride :)

And for my American pals, Happy Independence Day!

♥ Turtles