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Nostalgic Break
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Phillip Hong
July 30, 2011 |
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A man climbed on board a Viva bus near York University. He pulled out a ticket circa 2004 and
tried to pay his fare with it. Never mind the part where you can't pay a bus fare on this vehicle;
the driver probably didn't even know what this squared chit from a bygone era really was.
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For those not used to this confusing transit system, his ticket predated the Viva system by a year
and a half!
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I don't plan to write about public transportation at all here; this is an article about years gone
by. Some of it I gleefully forget, while other occasions are regretfully lost to the sands of time.
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Mike and I proceeded down from the subway station, having lunch in a rather dated looking
Chinese-style establishment. The last time I dined in that part of the city, the tablecloths looked
brighter, I was still under the age of majority, and we both sported faces that rivaled the face of
Mars.
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"Duckman!" Mike sneered. "Do you remember that cartoon? They don't make quality
(children's) animation like that anymore!" He then proceeded to berate the degradation of the
genre, woefully remarking that the cable channel we used to watch as children years ago had
become a wasteland of unwatchable.
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I hadn't seen him riot so passionately in eons.
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The streets of Toronto are lined with reminders of days gone by, befitting a Lady Antebellum tune:
"Picture perfect memories, scattered all around the floor". Forgive me for utilizing pop music.
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Like the lobby at Empress Walk - the site of many photos - and the venue for years of piano lessons
in the adjacent office building.
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Or Yorkdale, which my best friend Leanne and I had frequented while she was in college. It was on
her way home, and it was close enough to mine. My friendship with my version of "sweet Jane St.
Clair" was reinforced with the memories we had with this formerly dingy looking shopping mall.
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Yonge-Dundas Square and the Eaton Centre - a focal point of tourists and locals alike - a site of
meeting many a friend for various reasons.
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Mike and I pointed out how lost in time these memories can be these days. The innocence of our
younger years has been superseded by the stresses of adulthood, and it seems that these memories
might fade into the future.
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Which reminds me of a certain trip that Leanne and I took downtown, debit cards and optimistic
hearts in reach: there was a fur coat in Queen West that would've drained her savings account
in one go...
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Phillip Hong, a resident within suburban Toronto, is a constant tourist. Check
out the interesting experiences of his journeys on The Travelling
Briefcase.
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