filigreeshadow

Rudness in Toronto

2009-04-08T12:14:00.001-04:00

Rudeness in Toronto (tags: rude people, rude Toronto)

What are the characteristics of rudeness in Toronto? What makes a person rude? Here’s my analysis:

1) Releasing of bodily fluids (especially: spitting). Spitting (horking, snotting, snorting, smutting or any such release of fluids/solids from the body) is by far, the most rude action one can do. Let me tell you something about biology and natural physics. Saliva or snot or whatever comes out of one’s body onto the sidewalk, street or green space, is usually some form of fluid. This fluid contains bacteria, viruses and a number of other micro-agents. This fluid is then evaporated over time. When the evaporation occurs, these bacteria and viruses are released into the air. Then, we innocent bystanders, who are walking along side this fluid, breathe this into our lungs. We, as the non-spitters, the ones who are saving the environment and our lungs by not driving in cars, who are walking along minding our own business and continuously possessing our fluids (or being so kind as to use a napkin, which we later compost at home) have the right not to inhale this junk from the street from careless, mindless, idiots who choose to use the street as their tissue or toilet.

2) Cell Phone Users. I hate cell phones. I do not own a cell phone. I am certainly not suggesting that all people not have cell phones. Surely, there are emergency doctors and nurses who visit ill patients at their home who need to use a cell phone. However, the vast majority of cell phone users, at least the ones I get to hear daily, are not nurses or doctors who are caring for their ill patients. In fact, I don’t think I have ever heard a nurse or doctor use a cell phone nor do I think doctors or nurses visit patients in their home (they do in Europe!). No. I hear, daily, all the boring activities, mindless chatter about nothing, plans for tonight’s dinner, judgements of previous conversations or events, in these peoples boring, moronic, lives. I get to her “Did you see what she was wearing?” and “Like, um, like, so, what the fuck, fuckin’ hell, shit man, oh-my-god!” and “I’m on the bus (street car, street etc.) and I’ll be home in 10 minutes, what’s for dinner?” I have the explicit right, or so I should, not to be subjugated to this treatment. I can’t escape. Even if I have an MP3 player turned on really loud (another rude activity) I can still hear these folks because they’re speaking so loudly (it’s a cell phone, not a bullhorn), practically yelling, that we all on the bus (street car, street etc.) know exactly what you think, what you’re doing, who you are talking to and understand that you are 10 minutes away from wherever it is you are going and could have this conversation in person. Cell phones cause brain cancer? Well, surely they cause idiocy.

3) The third, and by no means final, example of the rudest behaviour in Toronto has to be: public transportation etiquette. I have only lived in Toronto for 9 years. I have managed to learn how to behave on the bus, subway, or street car (in my former city, we had bus and a light rail system… so, I’m not a country-fried rube). I know not to block the subway, bus or streetcar doors. Despite the fact that I can read the signs, I know that if my stop isn’t the next one, I can only imagine that when the subway, bus or streetcar stops, someone is going to want to get on or off. I do have this nasty tendency to not think I am the only person in the universe. Therefore, I do not block the door. I used to huff and puff and try to give hints that my stop was next and these folks who are blocking the door should be warned that I am going to get off. It never worked. Hinting and being polite is not rewarded in this city, obviously. So, now I just plough right into them. If they get knocked over, too bad for them. Rudeness begets rudeness in Toronto, unfortunately. Other etiquette rules continuously broken: eating on public transit. The smells emanating from people is bad enough without having to smell, see and hear people cramming disgusting food into their gobs. I once saw a woman eating fried chicken, with no napkin, wiping her hands on her jacket and then proceed to touch the hand rails/poles. Other forms of inappropriate ‘touching’ include: wiping one’s nose and touching a poles/handrails, coughing into one’s hand and then touching a poles/handrails, rubbing ones’ eyes and then touching poles/handrails, or eating various gross ‘foods’ and/or picking one’s teeth and then touching the poles/handrails. Conversely, one touches a pole/handrail and then sticks their fingers into their mouth somehow. One of the only reasons I like winter, which, I absolutely hate winter, is the fact that I can wear gloves from my front door to my office without having to touch anyone else’s disgusting fluid. I still do, however, wash my hands immediately entering my home or office after using public transit, despite the gloves.

Those are my top three observations of rudeness in Toronto. There are many, many more including: smelling those who don’t bathe or brush their teeth; having coffee spilled on me by a careless coffee-drinker; overhearing (impossible not to) ridiculous in-person conversations, especially those of youth, which include more slang words (like, um, fuck, shit, hell, ya’know, like, like, like etc.) than actual real words; those mistreating animals; mistreating nature; mistreating their kids, mistreating each other, oh yes, being whistled or oogled by gross disgusting men on the street... and...littering.

it's been almost 1 year

2008-12-20T21:11:00.007-05:00

I guess I just didn't have much to say in 2008... here are some photos.

January 1 2008

2008-01-01T14:45:00.000-05:00

The Texas Pimp and the Karate Instructor

2008-01-01T14:31:00.001-05:00

11am Monday Dec 17

2007-12-17T14:19:00.000-05:00

11:52am Sunday Dec 16

2007-12-16T11:52:00.000-05:00

11:40am Sunday Dec 16

2007-12-16T11:43:00.000-05:00

8am Sunday Dec 16

2007-12-16T11:40:00.000-05:00

today

2007-08-12T11:33:00.000-04:00

Life, Meaning, Death

2007-06-08T17:32:00.000-04:00

I chose this title because it’s the last three sections of the last chapter of Thomas Nagel’s View From Nowhere. And, because I like it.

I skimmed a story in Harper’s Magazine about the new fangled ‘phenom’ about blogging. Interesting, Microsoft Spellchecker doesn’t recognize phenom, blogging or spellcheck. In another magazine Chatelaine there’s an equally interesting article for idiots about ‘how to blog’. Touching.

Anyway. I guess that was my point exactly.

I went to pull 3 books down from the bookshelf today. I hadn’t read these books in 5-10 years but had fond memories. Except for the aforementioned work, Nagel and The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha were found. And, Thus Spoke Zarathustra… I don’t know what happened to it. I can’t seem to find it. But, there always is the internet right?

We shall begin and end here for a while.

“From outside we do indeed tend to see most of our pursuits as important only relatively. Watching the human drama is a bit like watching a Little League baseball game: the excitement of the participants is perfectly understandable but one can’t really enter into it.” Nagel. p.217-218

“One’s own self conquered is better than all other people conquered; not even a god could change itself into defeat the victory of a man who has vanquished himself” – the Buddha

“He who has reached the consummation, who does not fear, who is without thirst and without sin; he has broken all the thorns of life – this will be his last body.” – the Buddha

“What is the greatest thing ye can experience? It is the hour of great contempt. The hour in which even your happiness becometh loathsome unto you, and so also your reason and virtue.
The hour when ye say: "What good is my happiness! It is poverty and pollution and wretched self-complacency. But my happiness should justify existence itself!" – Nietzsche p. sec. 4.

“Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman- a rope over an abyss.
A dangerous crossing, a dangerous wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.
What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal: what is lovable in man is that he is an over-going and a down-going.
I love those that know not how to live except as down-goers, for
they are the over-goers.
I love the great despisers, because they are the great adorers,
and arrows of longing for the other shore”. – Nietzsche p. sec. 4.

Have a great evening.

it's been a while... i know, this will catch you all up...

2007-06-03T22:18:00.000-04:00

May 19

2007-05-20T12:22:00.001-04:00

May 17

2007-05-17T21:31:00.001-04:00

fucking assholes

2007-05-17T21:22:00.000-04:00

the gym charged me again. i cancelled my membership in March for the last payment scheduled for April 14. They charged me again on May 14. Why are they able to do that? When there was a 'double' bill for personal training (which I brought to their attention in December) it took until April to resolve it. I went to see them to prove that I was overcharged, they insisted that it wasn't their fault. I called Visa. Visa also told me that it wasn't their fault. But, since I am such a nice person they decided they would 'act on my behalf' and launch an investigation. Less than 1 week later the money was credited to my account (200 bucks!) which is nice. So, since I faxed them all the crap and gave my contact information I expected a phone call to explain what had happened and who was actually at fault. No one called. So I called them. TD Visa Dispute please. What I got was some idiot on the other end telling me that "sure enough, it's a credit". Thanks fuckers. I guess.

So I called the gym today and said they over charged and the lady that I normally had been dealing with had gone home. He said he would pass the message along to her. He won't. He never does. He's the owner too. What idiots. Anyway, I will keep calling until they reverse the charge. But, really, I should cancel my Visa. I was thinking about getting rid of my bank as it is. Banks aren't good. Ever.

I never understood why, if I wanted my money or wanted to put money into my account, or do anything else with my money, I should wait in line? What the fuck is that? No. It's my money and my time so... shouldn't you be waiting on me? No, the tellers are morons and rude and slow as hell and I have to be subjegated to public smells and coughs so I can do my banking with my money?

Maybe Scotia's better. I doubt it.

Back to the "year in the life of filigree"

May 16

2007-05-16T21:34:00.000-04:00

May 15

2007-05-16T21:31:00.000-04:00

May 14

2007-05-14T21:20:00.000-04:00

May 13

2007-05-14T21:18:00.000-04:00

May 12

2007-05-14T21:16:00.000-04:00

May 11

2007-05-11T22:21:00.000-04:00

the view from here

May 10

2007-05-10T22:21:00.000-04:00

May 9

2007-05-10T22:20:00.000-04:00

May 8

2007-05-08T22:56:00.001-04:00

May 7

2007-05-08T22:52:00.000-04:00

May 6

2007-05-07T20:42:00.000-04:00