speaking of courtesy, hats off to my guy

Had to take a moment to appreciate my partner.

It's Thursday, it's been a long short week, and he went north to pick up our son then all the way down to the other end of the city to pick me up for work.

Thanks hon!

QEW Sunday night of a long weekend

Don't.

Tailgate.

In the slow lane.

'Nuff said.

Thought: On Doors

You're at a door.

About to go through it.

Do you look around to see if there's anyone else you should be holding the door open for?

SUV Mentality - And So It Begins

You know how they say pets and their human companions resemble each other?

Here's my theory: human owners of SUVs do too.

Think about it. What possesses a person, in this age of greenhouse gases, exorbitantly high gas prices and air pollution to purchase a vehicle which takes up more space and consumes more resources on this planet we all share?

IMO, an inflated sense of self-importance. My guess -- these are some of the same people who ran their air conditioning and watered their lawns during the east coast blackout of a few years back.

An example of SUV mentality from this evening.

It's after work, Friday night. I've parked the minivan in the Loblaws parking lot. I'm backing out of my spot, having done my shopping. I'm halfway out of the spot when the blonde in the big black SUV two spots over and behind me decides she is pulling out at the same time. I look at her incredulously. She looks back at me; she clearly doesn't care. So the hell with it. I keep on backing out and so does she. Miraculously, we do the parking lot dance without hitting each other and drive away.

But really. Come on.

If you see a person pulling out of a parking lot, is not STOPPING until the other person pulls out the courteous thing to do?

Making the TTC better

King Streetcar, heading east, just before 9 AM today.

The streetcar is packed - of course - it being rush hour.

Heading east from King, one of the first major stops is at Church. Also home to St. James Cathedral.

"Church Street," says the streetcar driver. "And if you're getting off here, bless you."

Two stops later, we hit Jarvis.

"Jarvis," says the streetcar driver. "Home of George Brown College." He then goes on to make an inspiring quote about studying hard, and points out that this will allow them to get jobs, pay into CPP ... thereby making them his (the driver's) future. He also points out that if they don't study hard and do well, they could end up with a less rosy future -- working for the TTC! :)

Two stops later, we're at Sherbourne and the one after that is Ontario.

"Ontario Street," says the driver. "Creators of the Sunshine Girl and the Sunshine Boy ..."

Making the TTC a better place to be ...

What the ...?

Do you live in Toronto?

Toronto the great – Toronto the clean – Toronto, where people are so polite?

Well ... if you've taken the TTC, stood in line, stepped over a homeless person, biked or driven on our streets lately you've probably figured it out.

Sometimes we’re not so courteous.

I live here, I love here – this city is my home.

But I think it’s time to start a movement to make it a better place to live.

Want to see Toronto become all it can be? Then jump on and join in here at Courtesy Toronto. Let’s remind each other how a little courtesy – like holding open a door for someone, or giving your seat to someone older, or helping a mother with a stroller get onto a bus – makes this city a better place for everyone to live in.