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never get off the goddamn streetcar

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Today I knew I was in for trouble when I didn't see a streetcar pass the end of my street in the Beaches. It means that things aren't running well. Sure enough, when I got to my stop there were many more people waiting than usual. And when the car eventually came, it was standing room only: again, never a good sign.

By the time the thing got to Broadview and Queen, the crowding was bad enough that I got off to switch to the King Street car.

This was a mistake.

The first King car that came didn't even stop, because it was too crowded. So I took the next Queen car, and carried on west to Sherbourne. But again, the thing was too crowded to even stand comfortably, so I decided to walk down to King and see if the line was running smoothly again. My thinking was that there had been some kind of impedance on Broadview, and that downtown would be smooth sailing.

And it worked, at first. I got to King just as a trio of streetcars were passing, and boarded the third. But it was unusually slow going, and it soon turned out that there was a problem ahead. Just east of Church, the driver told us, "Due to condo construction ahead, it will take me half an hour to get to Yonge from here, and it will take you three minutes to walk." Everyone piled out and we walked.

I made the one kilometer journey the rest of the way to the office on foot. The first streetcar to pass me did so in front of my building.

This dysfunctional city has to get its act together!