leaving the centre of the universe

Since people keep asking me what I'll miss about Toronto, and as it's the end of my last day here, I thought I'd list it up. In the spirit of going-homeness, it's followed by a list of things I hate about Toronto.


What I love about Toronto:

1. Racing cars with my bike — and winning!
2. Getting my falafel with free potatoes and diet coke, because the falafel guy likes me (he even taped my glasses the first night I was here!), even at 3 a.m..
3. Being able to search for/post for almost anything on craigslist and find it, regardless of if I actually want or need it.
4. Knowing that if it's not there, it's probably in Chinatown, Kensington, the giant mall, the middle eastern grocery store . . . .
5. The decisiveness that comes from having to choose every meal by continent then by food type then by price then by proximity — you just have to know what the hell you want.
6. Being annoyed when the subway doesn't come every five minutes. **Also: watching people run to catch the train after the doors-closing song.
7. People wearing wife-beaters and robes yelling at each other, usually in Portugese.
8. Figuring out where I am by the slope of the ground and the CN tower.
9. Fruit stands! Also, cheese shops and butchers and bakers and . . . 24-hour grocery stores when the specialty ones are closed!
10. Two free weeklies, two free dailies, and having national coverage that talks about where I live.
11. Knowing it's highly unlikely, no matter where I go, that I'll see someone I know.
12. Leaving.
13. That I know I'll be coming back.

What I hate about Toronto:

1. Cab drivers! Try to run me over, I'll run you over, jerkfaces . . . .
2. Garbage. Toronto used to have a garbage pickup problem; thankfully, now Toronto's garbage is picked up often — every day and every night of the week, in fact. So we get to smell garbage truck 24/7.
3. Poor quality, poorly mixed rye.
4. Hipsters.
5. Ryerson kids.
6. Living in constant fear that my bike will be stolen.
7. People who speak in hushed tones about "Jane and Finch" but have never actually been there.
8. The lack of good coffee shops.
9. The disappointing fruit at all fruit stands on Bloor **but the good one on College, the ones in Kensington and the St. Lawrence Market all make up for this.
10. The general sense of sketchiness (money laundering credit unions, drug dealers walking up and down my street, a horrifically failed attempt at a bank robbery).
11. The fact that people are into it when I say I'm from Winnipeg — probably because most of them have never, and probably will never, leave the GTA. Or because they're from Winnipeg.
12. Leaving.
13. That I know I'll be coming back.

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If you're still reading this you must really like me, so I'll grab your attention for one more little thing: ——

I've been known to be paranoid about leaving early for flights (possibly the result of missing two in the last year, though I was paranoid before and during those events as well — I left seven hours early for the first one and still didn't make it to the airport on time!).

Anyway, now I always book the first available flight and stay up all night to ensure that I don't miss it. Well, the earliest flight tomorrow is 6:30 a.m.. The subway doesn't start until 6, so I figured that meant I had to take the Blue Night, a frightening prospect.

Instead, I'm taking the subway. Tonight. I figure if I leave around 1:30, I have four hours of earliness (before the hour advised, that is) in the event of unforseen catastrophe. I've even pre-internet-checked-in (I'm going to be sitting in an aisle seat near the front, score!).

So, yeah . . . back in the 'peg in a few short hours.

Also: why are our abbreviations the last part of words? Weird.