u/free-canadian

We love talking about ourselves as “progressive”. LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, diversity, minority rights, abortion rights, welfare, etc. and I support all that, I really do. I believe that no one should be harmed or condemned for who they are.

But the minute you challenge the status quo on anything, you summon an army of elbows up boomers who will say you committed treason.

- Healthcare reform. Wait times in hospitals and family doctors are too long. Can we reform to a European model where the system has BOTH public insurance AND private competition: -> traitor

- Immigration reform. Uncontrolled immigration is suppressing wages and skyrocketing the cost of living. -> racist.

- Unproductive economy. Can we please cut taxes and regulations to make our economy more competitive and productive on the world stage?: -> we are not Americans!

- Law and crime. Can we please have our police officers actually enforce the law and change the law so that we can defend ourselves? -> we’re not Americans!

- Welfare reform. Our population is aging and the endless tax pool is running low. Can we make some reasonable changes so that the spending benefits the tax pool long term, instead of just burning cash? -> you hate poor people!

Being nice or not being American doesn’t pay the bills.

This is what I did in Winnipeg for 3 days.

Monday, July 20

- The Nook
- Manitoba legislature guided tour
- The Royal Canadian Mint
- Nonsuch Brewing Co.
- Stand at Portage and Main while listening to Free in the Harbour by Stan Rogers
- 7-Eleven (1091 Henderson) (rare in Toronto)

Tuesday, July 21
- Red Top Drive Inn
- The Manitoba Museum
- The Canadian Human Rights Museum
- Louis Riel Footbridge (walk)
- Walk around north St. Boniface
- The Yellow Deli
- The Forks
- Fringe Festival: Your Real Girlfriend from Canada (Exchange District)
- Fried Chicken at William and Isabel
- Fringe: Somewhere Up There In The Sky (the U of W)

Wednesday, July 22
- Wanabees diner
- Played Manitoba/WLC scratch cards at the Shell Maryland & Broadway
- Fringe: The Seven Lives of Louis Riel (Portage Place)
- Portage and Main underground mall
- Aviation Museum
- Assiniboine Park (The Leaf, conservatory, English Garden)

The motel was the Curtis Gordon Motor Hotel.

Some things I feel like I missed out on -

- The VLTs and the draft house attached to the motel. Left too early and got back too late for any fun

- CF Polo Park

- The Zoo at the Assiniboine Park

I’m 19 in a rooming house, I don’t have any means or reasons to own my own car. I have a Communauto membership for grocery runs and occasional necessities. Drove from my rental in The Junction to the FedEx Centre on Commissioners St. Last night with some big boxes to ship, and that was a downright apocalyptic experience. Food delivery drivers on Dundas West zipping on the sidewalks before I can even leave the parking lot, people cutting in left and right in dangerous margins and when I honked, the dude straight up stuck out his middle finger. People waiting on the road for the streetcar before it even gets there. Impatient drivers not letting me merge anywhere on Lakeshore West / Gardiner. The TTC has its own issues, but if this is the alternative, I’d gladly sign up for a lifetime monthly pass because this is not safe. Rant over

Work at a corner store downtown. These things bother me more than any heavy case of sodas or thieves.

1. GET OFF THE GODDAMN PHONE. Trust me, your friend can wait 20.6 seconds on hold while you come in and pay for your cigarettes.

2. If you’re still on that phone, you need to move just as fast as everyone else. Quit holding up the line until you tell her the next plot twist for you to finally reach for your wallet.

3. If you’re going to a store, isn’t it common sense to be at least reasonably be ready to pay? Did you really come in here, grab 10 things and ask for a pack of cigs, only to not know where your credit card is in your huge handbag? Or if there is one at all?

4. No, I can’t see a photo of your Bulgarian driver’s license taken in 300 DPI from 2016. The rule is clear. Canadian provincial/territorial IDs, American state IDs, or passports. I can’t “just scan” it, either. My computer can’t read every ID in the world, and that’s a good thing for your privacy. Only Ontario IDs are scannable on the lottery terminal (not my till). Carry a damn passport if you don’t have an acceptable form of ID.

5. Did you really have to say, “with encore…” a full minute after you said a lottery game? If you don’t say it right away or at least reasonably quickly after, I’m just gonna assume it’s just without the extra $1! THERE IS A LINE BEHIND YOU! I can’t wait all day for you to eventually tell me if you want it or not!

6. If you messed up the display, at least try to fix it? Like no, it’s not “my job”. My job is to take care of natural things that happen through the day. I wouldn’t expect you to wipe your footsteps off the floor or re-stock what earlier customers bought out. But if you’re reaching arms deep into the fridge and you knock something over because, you guessed it, talking on the phone, or hanging out with your friends in here, it’s absolutely your job to at least put one thing back in its place.

7. Bringing something to the table and then casually walking back for more. Like, isn’t putting something on the register universal language for “I’m ready to pay”? Like, are we really so entitled to use the front register as your personal shopping basket????

8. “It’s cheaper in the suburbs”. Thanks, genius. If we had Pickering rent, it would be that price too.

9. Asking if we have something for the 11th time. You come every week. How do you still not know if we carry something or not? Or where something is?

10. If we don’t have something, we don’t have it. We aren’t Costco or the LCBO, we can’t carry every single brand of candy or wine in the world. Good news, you’re in DOWNTOWN TORONTO! It definitely exists within a 10 km radius of us! If you’re looking for a rare item, maybe DO expect to do some searching!