Recap - Sep 13, 2012

HK vs TO

While on the bus today, I noticed the women sitting across the aisle from me was sitting rather sloppily.  When I looked over, I realized she was drinking a can of beer.  Really?  Drinking and getting drunk on public transit at 10AM in the morning?

Odd.

Or maybe not.

One day not too long ago, I stepped into the TTC station after work and noticed a woman that was sitting on one of the benches.  She was making a mess filling her water bottle.  When I looked closer, I realized she was pouring vodka into her water bottle.  What was already in the bottle was not water, but vodka.  She got on the same train that I did and could barely keep her balance.  Halfway to the next stop, she started rummaging through her jacket and backpack looking for something.  And cursing.  She got off at the next stop and continued to search for something.  And cursing all the way.

I guess the person drinking on the bus in the morning wasn't so bad.

On another journey today, the bus passed by a stop where two people were waiting:  a Caucasian man pushing a woman in a wheelchair.  They wanted to get on the bus - an old bus with very narrow doorways.  I was on the upper level on the bus, so I'm not exactly sure what the conversation exchanged was.  But, at first, the man seemed to go to the back, wanting to go through the back doors.  Obviously, that didn't work out.  Eventually, I assume the bus driver told them that it wasn't possible for them to get on, and that they would have to wait for a bus with the accessibility features.

How unfair.

That would never happen in TO.  As much was people complain about poor public transit, I'm willing to believe that anyone in a wheelchair could get on 99% of the buses and subways in the GTA.

When you're a minority, perhaps TO is a better place to be.