A Lot About Nothing

Well, Toronto public transit commuters… I hope you have your bikes and in-line skates ready, because all workers from the Toronto Transit Commission are on strike (since 12:01am this morning). I feel sorry for all the people who went down to the entertainment district to enjoy a nice Friday night, only to leave the clubs and realizing that they were basically stranded (the Yonge bus line is a popular route since it runs 24 hours from downtown). I could imagine taxis had a lot of service last night. According to the article reported by CityNews:

Nearly two-thirds of the 9,000 TTC workers eligible to vote rejected the deal, which would have given them a three per cent wage hike over the next three years, as well as other benefits and improvements Mayor David Miller termed “fair.”

Personally, I’m getting really tired of relying on a service that is so unpredictable. It seems like every year there’s a strike possibility. It’s a good thing that today wasn’t a work day for me, otherwise I’d have to shell out $40 to get to work. I did have a volunteer shift at HotDocs today (which I had to cancel obviously), plus needed to meet up with my friend after the Raptors game, but it looks like those plans are out of the window. Speaking of the Raptors games, I fathom that a lot of people are going to be scrambling for transportation to get to the Air Canada Centre for game 4 of the playoffs, as well as to BMO field to see the Toronto FC soccer club.

Note that there was promises of a 48 hour notice for any impending strike… but last night’s came as a surprise for many people. Bob Kinnear, ATU Local 113 President gave this reason:

We have assessed the situation and decided that we will not expose our members to the dangers of assaults from angry and irrational members of the public. The reports from our members of increases in threats and abuse from passengers last weekend, after we gave our original 48-hours’ notice, has left us no choice but to withdraw our services immediately. We have a legal responsibility to protect the safety of our members and so does the TTC.

Check out this link for more details and TTC media releases about the contract. CP24.com has a good list of 10 alternatives for people who relied on the TTC, but can’t now because of the strike. Right now, I’m favouring #6 (although I do need to head to the nearest Canadian Tire, and that’s about a 40 minute walk away). As what most people in Toronto already know: TTC = Take The Car. I just wish I owned on right about now…

I was on my way home from work on Friday night, waiting at the bus station, wondering why my bus was 10 minutes late.  There were over a dozen passengers waiting for the same bus, and as it finally came around the corner we all ushered in and were surprised to see a sweet-looking, brown, Persian cat sitting near the front doors on top of the platform that’s over the front-right wheel.

Everyone was wondering what this cat was doing on the bus.  As the driver pulled out of the station, she got on her intercom and started to tell us the story as to why she was late:  apparently this poor cat was crossing the road and the driver had seen it get clipped by a passing car.  Instead of leaving the injured cat out in the cold, she brought the cat into the bus, sat it down on the platform, called the SPCA. and continued on to the station.  The SPCA was going to meet her and pick up the cat on route.

After the driver had told everyone on the bus the story, everyone was understanding and stated that that was a good reason to be late.  The cat seemed like it had a broken leg (I saw it try to get up and walk but it kept on falling down ).  One of the other passengers on the bus got up to pick the cat up off the floor where it fell and make sure it was back on the platform sitting and steady as the bus was moving (she even admitted that she was allergic to cats). Such a beautiful cat, though.  It didn’t have a collar, but appeared to be well-taken care of.  Perhaps, the cat just got out of it’s owners home without them knowing and was trying to get back.  I hope that it’s leg is on the mend and that it’s back in a warm, loving home.

Kudos to the TTC driver with the good heart.

The Toronto Transit System can be a setting for some unusual, interesting and shocking events sometime. I was sitting at the front of the bus today and see this old, blind man sitting in one of the courtesy seats (he was wearing dark sunglasses and had a white cane with him). This young girl, probably around 17, walks on to the bus and sits down next to him, her friend sitting opposite the aisle.

Now I wouldn’t think anything of it, but after a while the older, blind man starts leaning in close to the girl. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but the girl obviously seemed like she was doing her best to be polite, yet abrupt. Then he puts his hand on her shoulder, as if it steady himself to get up for his stop… yet, he just sits there for a while trying to talk to her while patting her shoulder. The girl appeared to try to wriggle out of the unwanted attention, but all the seats were full and she was right behind the driver’s section.

About a minute later, he finally does get up, steadily holding onto her shoulder, and I witness the most disgusting displays that I’ve ever seen on TTC–he fully attempted to cop a feel of her breast! The bus pole was on the other side of him for crying out loud, so he could’ve used that to steady himself! Thank goodness she finally brushed his hand away and moved to the side before he got any lower. The “blind” man got off the bus pretty quickly, and didn’t really use the cane much, so I’m assuming he had at least some vision (according to the CNIB 90% of the people they assist actually have some vision).

I’m sitting there looking at the girl, who had this shocked and disgusted look on her face as she starts talking to her friend across the aisle in her language. She then glances at the woman sitting next to her friend as if to say “did you see what he did to me?”, and starts shaking her head saying, “so disgusting…” She soon got off the bus a couple of stops later.

Now I don’t know about you, but I think most blind people know where a woman’s breasts are on their body, in relation to their shoulder. I don’t care if he was old, or 99% blind, touching another person in that way without their consent is just plain wrong. What’s more wrong is taking advantage of your disabilities in a way like that. I hope a seagull flew into his balls on the way home…