@pman, having to be reminded that the place is just full of imbeciles is rather depressing, don't you know?
I know, MT, I know. Believe me, I share your pain, which is why I’m here to help you with your journey. Sure, depression is a natural reaction to the fact a Council with a suburban clown majority runs a budget of $11 billion and
consistently and always makes the wrong decision on transit. But as Dr. Kubler-Ross taught us, depression isn’t your only play here. Let’s recap:
First, there’s denial. You know, when you’re out of the country and people ask you where you live, and you smugly say Toronto knowing some international consultancy rated us fairly highly for quality of life, and they remark on Toronto’s beautiful mountains. Because in your heart you just know we’re special.
Next, the anger. As you’re attempting to transfer from Line 1 to Line 2 and the catastrophic overcrowding even on non-breakdown days makes you enraged at the morons who have run this City’s infrastructure since the 1970’s, and you vow to post something really cutting on UT.
Rounding the bend comes bargaining, though I’m at a loss to understand how it applies here. So let’s move on...But not on the Queen Car because that doesn’t really move!
OK, stay with me because we’ve arrived at depression - the purgatory of knowing you’ve invested so much of your life in Toronto you can’t really get out, and with the sure knowledge that
nothing will ever get better here. Sounds like you’re stuck here, bro.
But wait, it gets better! Last scene of all that ends this strange, eventful history is acceptance. Your depression will pass, MT. Once you accept that colossally fucked up and hopeless is the way Toronto was meant to be, you’ll give up expecting better and devote as much of your free time as you can to not being there. For example, I’m writing this from Sydney, where I spend most of the winter, and being here really helps. I accept Toronto as it is, and while I wish Toronto all the best, I don’t believe it’s capable of improvement. Actually it will just get worse as population growth and exactly wrong infrastructure choices combine to make your commute even more hellish. But, breathe deeply and accept. Or if you’re young enough, just leave town and make a life somewhere else, because there are much, much better places in this world.
That’s all the time we have for now.