There are really so many fantastic things to do, see, and experience in Toronto and all of Canada for that matter and so many of these things are lost on the very people who live in them! I am no exception to this I’m afraid. It is sad really. I’m not sure what the reason for this is but perhaps its that, for example, the CN Tower is right beside us (we can see it outside our window), the Skydome (sorry, ROGERS centre) is just beside the CN Tower, Centre Island is just a short ferry ride across the lake, and countless more events and other attractions that draw people from all over the world; Toronto is a world class leader in tourist attractions and it is well deserved. And Canada? My God what a country! We are home to some of the greatest mountains, lakes, parks, and farmland. My inability to name hardly any of Toronto’s and Canada’s awesomeness makes me a little ashamed to be a Torontonian and only aids my point. Yet I find a little consolation in the fact that I know I am not alone in this. This city is filled with people who don’t even appreciate the place they live in. I also think Toronto is not alone in this; my guess is the world is filled with cities, towns, and places in general that are not fully appreciated by their own people. Who knows why? Perhaps its local marketing targeting only those who don’t live in a particular area or perhaps its the attitudes of the locals who assume they will visit any time they like as they do live so close and then, as a result, never ever do visit. Or perhaps its because it cost over $100 to go up the bloody CN Tower!!
One of my own personal piss-offs of a massive city like Toronto is how impersonal names that are given places and streets can be. Many streets are named as numbers!! More so in the States than here but are you kidding?!?! Has someone become so complacent in their job that they have deferred to a calculator rather than a dictionary when naming streets? Corporations have now gotten involved too. The once aptly-named Skydome is now blandly called the The Rogers Centre! This stuff drives me nuts. There was a proposition a few years ago to help our money strapped subway system by renaming the stations after fortune 500 corporations. I just can’t get on board (pun INtended) with a station called Coke!
So what brought this little rant about? What on earth does this have to do with moving to Shetland??
Well, for one, I’ll will put money down that after we move I will be itching to go up the CN Tower!
One of our first stops is to my Uncle’s. I am really excited because I don’t get to see him much and I have only met his wife and two kids once and very briefly. Michelle and I get to finally see where they live. And where do they live I hear you asking? Biggleswade. BIGGLESWADE!! It sounds like a place in which a Hobbit would live. If there were a town called Biggleswade here, it would be converted to Rogersville in a heartbeat! Ok, perhaps I exaggerate just a little and if anyone thinks even a little that this actually plays into any part of any one of my hundreds of reasons why I want to move to Scotland, I will call you Rogers. And believe me that is as bad a swear word where I come from (my apologies to anyone out there named Roger). To be clear, Biggleswade is in England not Scotland, but the entire UK is filled with cute little places with similarly cute names.
This blog was brought to you by Rogers; sucking the originality out of the world one name at a time.
- Will
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