A Prairie Girl’s Perspective on the Big City

Wandering around Toronto I have made a few observations (in jest, of course!) :

1. There are two kinds of people here : Those who have a car and those who don’t.

a. If you have a car you spend hours driving to work and back. You are most likely overweight. You cannot believe that anyone functions in Toronto without a car. I’ve already been told by these people « You need to have a car in Toronto! »

b. If you do not have a car, you walk everywhere and take public transit. You are most likely thin. You cannot believe that anyone would want to have a car in Toronto. I’ve already been told by these people « You don’t need a car in Toronto! ».

If you don’t have a car, you have a cart. Yes, I said a CART. The infamous wheeley cart is seen all over downtown Toronto as people without cars walk to the grocery store to stock up their cupboards. If you were seen with such a cart on the prairies, people would think you were collecting bottles or were over the age of 65!



2. Everyone that rides the subway has an iPod and walks around with white earbuds dangling from their necks. If you take the subway and DON’T don your token white earbuds, they might think you’re an imposter (so far they haven’t figured me out – I wear my earbuds faithfully!)

3. Women here carry large shoulder bags; the ones that seem ricidulously large for any practical purpose back home. Here they are necessary cause you don’t have the back seat of a car to hold all your junk. I even saw a guy with a purse today. . . not a European « man-bag »; a real purse – off-white and glittery! He looked pretty with it. Wanna fit in? Get a bag! ☺

4. Toronto is a secular city. The subway is bustling and busy all week and on Saturdays. Then comes Sunday. I have discovered that this city sleeps on Sunday mornings. They are recovering from their business life or party life and are obviously not going to church! The subway is dead (really weird) and doesn’t regain its usual bustle again until after 1pm. Today when I came home from church, the only Sunday bustle that was beginning was for the « Festival of Queer Literary Arts » going on down the street from Jennelle’s place. The roads were blocked off and everything!

5. Torontonians like their steak as much as Saskatchewanians, but apparently they need a mansion to eat it. Around the corner is the Keg Mansion. No joke! Who knew? ☺





6. People wear their sunglasses on the subway. Hello, people! Are you hiding or something? This is the SUBway. . . underground. . .dark. Why are you wearing sunglasses?! My favourite was the lady I saw with her sunglasses on her head outside and then put her glasses ON as she boarded the train. Haha! (*Dad, I think these people need transition lenses. You should really look into it. . . you could make millions here! )

I will leave you with some scenic shots I took during a beautiful harbour tour on Lake Ontario last week. . .









Well, until the next glittery purse or yellow unitard sighting. . . The prairie girl in the big city is signing off. . .