u/MaplePoutineCitizen

This post is mentioned every now and then, and now it's my turn to use the Xbox.

If I come to your business and get takeout, or the entire structure of your business is takeaway — an increasingly common business model that we should actively support to lower overhead costs for new businesses — you will not be getting a tip.

Apparently many people who work in the GTA don't seem to understand that tips fall under "gratuity" and not service charges, meaning that they are completely optional. This means that, as someone who is working at a business, you should never expect gratuity to be part of your earnings.

That you believe that you are owed more than 15% of every purchase is something I strongly file away under "that's a you problem". I'm not sure why you think this is income you are owed, but I think you need to reevaluate your circumstances if this is something you're relying on. Either it's time to talk to your boss about a raise, or maybe it's time to do some introspection and realize that you want more out of life.

You can pout, give me a dirty look, or even choose active aggression, but I'm not going to fold and give you more of my very limited income out of guilt. In fact, I probably won't return to your business and warn others I know that this is what they can expect. Not a very wise tactic for the business in the long-run, is it?

If you have the opportunity, I invite you to take a trip to East Asia and evaluate the business model there. Rather than annoying your customers for a couple of extra bucks, the strategy is to get more customers and sell more. And guess what? It actually works really well and builds loyalty and a steady flow of customers. It occasionally even increases patronage and profit margins, since people will recommend the business to others they know. Wild concept, I know.

TTC over stuffed and ground to a halt, police closing lanes without advance notice and closures not being reported on Google Maps, and crowd control failing spectacularly all because of one game is a spectacular failure on the part of this city to plan for anything meaningful.

All city, police, and transit officials that contributed to this mess need to be removed from office and replaced with someone who can rub their brain cells together to figure out how to manage world class events.

I've always been interested in liminal spaces, but Backrooms supercharged my passion. I know we used to have some liminal space groups here, but most of the ones I know of are inactive.

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Does anyone know of any active groups or meetup events dedicated to this?

Everyone complaining about the Taste of Little Italy being void of Italian culture seems to be missing the fact that this is universal for all festivals nowadays.

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Taste of the Danforth is no longer Greek. The Roncesvalles Polish festival is hardly Polish. These are just two examples.

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If you want to see who's still doing these festivals properly, look at the Korean food festival in North York, the Japan festival in Mississauga, the Festival of South Asia on East Gerrard, and the Ukrainian festival on Bloor. These are festivals that genuinely celebrate the cultures featured there.

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Taste of Little Italy, DoWest Fest, Taste of the Kingsway, Taste of Danforth, and the Roncesvalles festivals suck because they are generic festivals for the sake of a festival with no purpose. It's just people wandering around aimlessly and paying a markup on food from the same handful of vendors because they don't know what else to do on a Friday or Saturday night.

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In an attempt to be inclusive of everyone, you inadvertently exclude everyone. We actually have two venues throughout the year that are meant to celebrate all cultures simultaneously, and they're pretty successful: the international food festival at Nathan Phillips Square, and the CNE.

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To the BIAs that put these festivals together: if you can't clearly name what your festival is about that's an indication that maybe you shouldn't be having the festival at all.

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Ultimately, Taste of Little Italy isn't the worst offender. DoWest is the most evidently pointless event in this city that doesn't do a decent job of achieving its stated purpose: a celebration of music. There's this little thing that musicians bother themselves with called "acoustics", which is why you don't see many music festivals hosted in an open field. This is also why many concerts are hosted in stadiums, because, again, acoustics exist.

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Be better at putting these festivals together or just take the L and pack up shop.

This isn't a rhetorical question. With the handful of festivals that have happened so far during this warmer season, I genuinely don't understand what the point of showing up is.

Long gone are the days where you'd go to these festivals to eat a ton of discounted food, so it's clearly not that. If anyone is eating well there, they're either in a very good financial position or don't know how to manage their money.

Everyone gathering in the hoards listening to the music that sounds like all bass have the most lifeless expressions I've ever seen. It looks like a bunch of people dragged by their friend to a high school dance and are trying to make the most of the experience.

Then there's all the people incessantly taking pictures to the point that the event has been covered in centimeter level precision from start to finish.

Oh, and then there's everyone's stuff getting stolen.

What exactly am I missing about all this? Are people just showing up because it's literally anything other than following routine?

I'm really curious whether anyone has managed to find who they're looking for

It's really difficult seeing the entire train setup and how, in the end, it'll likely end up flying off the tracks.

Despite how much this city is hyping up the World Cup games, the logistics side of things seems to be, at best, a really bad joke.

That the city couldn't actually afford to host this event and how taxpayers will be paying through the nose for this for years to come aside, I already foresee the following taking place:

- Drama surrounding accommodations, particularly Airbnb renters who are going to realize late in the game that you can't kick out your current tenants to host a tenant for under 30 days in a residence that isn't your primary residence, leading to last-minute cancellations

- The TTC somehow operating worse than ever, with system malfunctions, most notably subways being ground to a halt over security issues or medical emergencies

- Apathy towards the homeless leading to altercations in highly populated parts of the city

- Motor bikes posing as a significant safety issue to pedestrians

- Many iconic businesses having gone out of business, with many that remain announcing their closure

- A very generic and anticlimactic nightlife scene

- Overcharging when value for money is already highly questionable in Toronto

- Rampant tipping culture starting at 18%

- Snakes in Fort York where the fan event is being held

- Despite the ridiculous pricetag for facility renovations, the BMO Field is incredibly underwhelming compared to other facilities around the world

What was supposed to be something fun when it was planned all the way back in 2022 will, in my humble opinion, serve as the moment where Toronto is raked through the coals on a world stage. I don't think people here, particularly City Council who believes everything they do is the greatest thing ever, is prepared for the emotional damage that will be served up this summer.

The recent outpouring of support and calls to save Toronto culture in light of the recent announcement that Sneaky Dee's will be closing due to a condo development is, frankly, too little too late.

Many people over the years, especially those on this sub, highlighted how Toronto is increasingly losing its soul to condo developments that ruin the commerical level, as well as not meeting the housing demand for the kinds of units people actually want to live in. Plenty of people will throw up weak justifications to defend these developments, all until their favorite businesses are the ones standing under the guillotine.

If you really want to save your favorite businesses, you need to be thinking proactively and calling on City Council to develop a modicum of courage and intelligence to figure out how to build housing without taking away what actually makes this city a worthwhile place to live in.

I've previously posted about how most of these issues could be solved by the city stipulating that all new developments feature sizable commercial spaces at street level, subject to strict rent control policies that allow for small businesses to afford the lease rather than just franchises, dentists, chiropractors, and lawyers. This would prevent condos being allowed to waste the valuable space with giant lobbies that nobody uses or resulting in the first level across the city being maddeningly homogenous.

Toronto is clearly headed in the same direction as NYC, and if this is the case it's worth highlighting a key feature about that city that makes effective use of space: allowing developments to occur vertically, but preserving culture horizontally. NYC features skyscrapers or mid-rises everywhere, but notice how the first level is packed with commercial space featuring cafes, restaurants, bookstores, clothing stores, bars, lounges, clubs, etc. New York understands that these businesses offer the zest of life that makes the city what it is, while simultaneously acknowledging that the space above these businesses can be utilized effectively.

Toronto's current vision for the future of this city is single-minded. People in charge either want to preserve a one story building in an area that needs more housing density, or they push for housing at any cost. Meanwhile, anyone using more than 2 neurons to think logically understands that we could have our cake and eat it, too.

I'm sorry, but it's probably too late for Sneaky Dee's at this point. The forces at play are far more powerful than the people here who appreciate one of the last vestiges of Toronto's golden age of nightlife. If you want to save the rest of the city, though, take a more proactive approach rather than a reactive one.

While the title might give off edgy nihilist vibes, I actually have a rationale here.

I love (loved?) going out to try new food and have always wanted to get into live music. Food and music are central to the human experience, so this makes sense. But when I look up prices and crunch the numbers, I can't help but to feel that the return on investment isn't there.

Take the Bruno Mars concerts this past week, for example. Personally, I love Bruno Mars as an artist, and I've listened to his music for decades. Naturally, if he's coming in my neck of the woods, I would at least be curious to go to one of his concerts. Having missed the presale, I went on Live Nation to see the resale prices, and the cheapest price for the worst seat on offer was hovering around $350. Now, I love Bruno Mars' music, but not enough to spend $350 for one evening that probably won't alter the course of my life.

I know a lot of my fellow young adults are burning money on ridiculously priced gym memberships, going to multiple concerts a year, buying the latest clothes, and going to fairly in upscale restaurants, all while they complain about being strapped for cash. I don't understand the rationale here, and I question whether they're going into debt to achieve this lifestyle.

For me, I just can't see the value in doing any of this, knowing that the long-term struggle will be immense if I choose to live a lavish lifestyle now with no regard to the future. People, both online and offline, call me "boring". On paper, yes, it's a fairly uninteresting life. Logically, however, I can't see how the alternative is better.

This isn't just about music and food, but applies to the whole range of things people spend money on that are supposed to have value:

- Top of the line vacations

- "Experiences" (whatever this actually means)

- Premium fitness

- Premium meal plans

- The latest fashion trends that come and go in record time

- Makeup and skincare

- Entry fees on clubs

- Overpriced drinks

- Luxury vehicles

- Tickets to Eventbrite or Meetup hobby group events

- Dating events

- Going to Cineplex any other day than Tuesday and ordering snacks any day including Tuesday

Now, some might argue that value is subjective, and I largely agree. However, if you've lived long enough to remember how life was 10 years ago, you'll remember that you could once have a lot of fun without dropping $200 a night, or whatever the equivalent was back then, accounting for inflation and pay increases.

Perhaps all of these things inherently possess some degree of value, but amidst a spiralling cost of living situation they seem pointless. The worry of every dollar spent and what that might mean tomorrow is not enjoyable, no matter how you spin things.

To really get this idea across, let's look at the one thing people repeatedly complain about in this city. No, not the TTC. No, not housing prices. No, not how street festivals have gone downhill. Ok, make *one* of the many things people often complain about: dating.

For anyone attempting to meet others or taking someone out in the getting to know you phase, this goes from something that should otherwise be fun to a constant state of worrying whether the venue is classy enough or that the person you're with doesn't end up ordering a top-shelf item. This internal dialogue inevitably bleeds out into the interaction, which is probably why things feel so nightmarish nowadays. Even if you hit things off, where are you going with your partner afterwards? Back to each other's place where your 2 roommates will hear you breathe through the walls of your shoebox condo made of cardboard?

The more you look at the details of everyday life here, the more you can see the cracks, and the more you notice the cracks the more you'll notice that they're growing.

While I'm genuinely trying not to echo a Mayor Fisk-esque monologue from Daredevil: Born Again, here, I can't help but to feel that Toronto is devolving into a state of comic book level chaos.

People often rag on this sub for being too negative, but a lot of the experiences reported here just seem to be getting more and more common:

- Cost of living is out of control

- Affordable housing is basically non-existent

- The job market is a joke

- The TTC is a world class dysfunctional mess

- Basic etiquette is out the window

- Dog owners have abdicated their intelligence

- Teenagers are outright violent

- Things will get built with little to no city planning in mind

- Bureaucracy grinds everything to a halt

- Roads and sidewalks are an elaborate game of dodging bullets because everyone "NEEDS" their Slurpee delivered at lightning speeds

- City Hall's is mismanaging millions of taxpayer dollars with the public seeing little return

- The Ford government is sticking its nose in everything because Doug's ego is still bruised from not having won the mayoral race

- Homelessness is on the rise and the general public is increasingly dehumanizing people who have nowhere to go

If you have things happening in your life here that bring you joy, I'm happy for you. Regardless, we need to stop pretending like major systemic flaws don't exist here and and actually put some focused effort into solving these issues.

It would bring me immense delight to watch the joint venture between Ontario's self-proclaimed king and this soulless megacorp have to eat their losses and be laughed at for generations to come. The renovated waterfront area actually looks pretty nice, assuming the final design will match the concept art.

In the ashes of this laudable decision, I hope the next Premier and Toronto City Council decide to build something that will service the public at large: an expansive new Science Centre. Not just any Science Centre, but a world-class successor to the previous incarnation. A monument of scientific marvels that will serve generations for centuries to come. One that's equipped with a world-class planetarium to make up for the other disgraceful decision as of late to service a new nothing burger building under the UofT ecosystem.

Yes, Thermea has a 99 year lease on the space, and hopefully they feel desperate enough to offload the space at a bargain to a more worthy institution.

It's cherry tree season! Under normal circumstances this would mean a respectful appreciation of natural beauty and taking a break from hectic life to admire the fleeting aesthetics of spring amidst an increasingly digitized world. Not in Toronto, though! This is when we double down on reprobate behavior and living for social media reaches its peak.

Allow me to be the bearer of bad news to everyone swarming around the trees to get the perfect picture: none of your followers actually care about your pictures. They're not unique by any means, and it just signals that you chase trends rather than bothering to develop a personality. You have the exact same picture as everyone else with a different face. Nobody actually cares that you were there, and you gain no social capital whatsoever.

"Why do salty?" some people here might be wondering? Because I love cherry tree season so much, and my enthusiasm goes to hell every time I try and go see them and encounter the social media circus.

And before someone says "Well that's just part of the experience", no, it actually isn't. The point is to go there and admire the trees with your own eyes. Maybe you have a picnic nearby and soak it all in before all the petals fall for the year.

Between this and the Distillery Winter Village, it feels like a good chunk of the people in this city wouldn't know how to live their lives if it didn't involve posting on social media. The trend chasing here is Black Mirror levels of dystopian.

Also, apparently basic literacy is severely lacking in this city, since no matter how many signs there are saying "***DO NOT TOUCH THE TREES***" there are a lot of people touching the trees. Maybe instead of taking pictures people should brush up on their reading. Just a thought.

For the record, I have never voted for Ford, actively informed everyone I know about the harms his re-election would cause, and convinced others to go out and vote.

Sure, this is a ranting sub, so rant away, but if the goal is to achieve meaningful change in real life behaviors have to shift.

I'm willing to bet good money that a sizeable chunk of people now complaining about Ford and how "we need to do something" didn't vote in the last election.

If you want to learn more about the results and pitiful voter turnout, I invite you to check out the following resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025\_Ontario\_general\_election

https://globalnews.ca/news/11052258/ontario-election-2025-voter-turnout/

If you are one of those "I don't believe in voting" or "my vote doesn't matter" people, you are partially to blame for this disaster we collectively find ourselves in. All of your bluster online and in front of Queen's Park is worth nothing compared to the 15 minutes you could have spent for one week out of 4 years to make your opinion known where it actually matters.

There was advanced polling and mail-in voting, and unless you were physically incapable of doing either there's no excuse.

I'm sorry to inform you that we live in a democracy, and aside for Ford getting convicted of a crime there's little to nothing that can change. We're stuck with him for the remainder of his term, and that's that.

What you can do, however, is make sure you show up in the next election to vote him out of office. Furthermore, you can tell everyone you know about the importance of voting and explaining how Ford's policies are harming your way of life.

I think I just discovered the bottom of the barrel for the crazy society we now live in.

I understand conducting background checks for volunteer positions, as there are major safety considerations often involved. However, going through the same resume, cover letter, and interview process for a position that you aren't earning any money for whatsoever is a level of dystopian insanity that I don't think even George Orwell could bring himself to write.

What are the people who are running things consuming that leads to this level of delusion?