As I began my trip to the City of Toronto Archives to begin looking for historical photographs of the construction of the TTC Subway, I paid very close attention as I ‘Rode the Rocket’ north to Bloor Street, then west to, well, it should have been St. George, but I’ll get to that in moment.
It was Halloween, around 3:00pm. High school students were dressed in random costumes, mixed with the odd high-fashion business person, and the odd not-so-high fashion person. I particularly recall a rather unpleasant smell which filled the car, and one gentleman sitting alone in a pair of seats, even though there appeared to be standing room only. I noted two of those business men getting on and remarking “ahh the great smells of the subway.”
There was a group of young girls, dressed in pink tutu’s, black jeans and a lot of dark eye make-up. They were quite loud and giggling, much to the clear annoyance of the business man behind them. I watched them a little in the reflection of the car windows. It’s not polite to stare after all.
There were three adorable older Chinese women, smiling and laughing, desperately running around the car attempting to find a seat beside each other. I particularly recall the bright blue bowlers hat one of them had on. It had a massive pink flower on the side.
It was about this point that I realized, perhaps I had been paying too much attention to the characters around me. I had not bothered to peek at the map posted above the doors. For some odd reason, I was quite set on the idea that, on the Bloor line, there is a stop at University Avenue. There is not. I went all the way to Osgoode before I realized I had miscalculated my directions. I’m still quite new to this idea of public transit, thus I quickly panicked thinking I would need to pay another $2.75 to go back were I came from. I was ready to head home in defeat, but when I reached the top of the stairs, I saw my saviour; a sign reading “Eastbound Trains” and an arrow pointing back downstairs. I smiled to myself, hoping no one would notice I came up one set of stairs, and then went back down another.
I made it to the Archives by 4:00pm. It closed at 4:30. Whoops.
It was Halloween, around 3:00pm. High school students were dressed in random costumes, mixed with the odd high-fashion business person, and the odd not-so-high fashion person. I particularly recall a rather unpleasant smell which filled the car, and one gentleman sitting alone in a pair of seats, even though there appeared to be standing room only. I noted two of those business men getting on and remarking “ahh the great smells of the subway.”
There was a group of young girls, dressed in pink tutu’s, black jeans and a lot of dark eye make-up. They were quite loud and giggling, much to the clear annoyance of the business man behind them. I watched them a little in the reflection of the car windows. It’s not polite to stare after all.
There were three adorable older Chinese women, smiling and laughing, desperately running around the car attempting to find a seat beside each other. I particularly recall the bright blue bowlers hat one of them had on. It had a massive pink flower on the side.
It was about this point that I realized, perhaps I had been paying too much attention to the characters around me. I had not bothered to peek at the map posted above the doors. For some odd reason, I was quite set on the idea that, on the Bloor line, there is a stop at University Avenue. There is not. I went all the way to Osgoode before I realized I had miscalculated my directions. I’m still quite new to this idea of public transit, thus I quickly panicked thinking I would need to pay another $2.75 to go back were I came from. I was ready to head home in defeat, but when I reached the top of the stairs, I saw my saviour; a sign reading “Eastbound Trains” and an arrow pointing back downstairs. I smiled to myself, hoping no one would notice I came up one set of stairs, and then went back down another.
I made it to the Archives by 4:00pm. It closed at 4:30. Whoops.
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