Toronto polite? I think not!

In July 2006's issue of Reader's Digest, the most polite cities in the world were ranked based on a courtesy test. The results were as follows:

1. New York

2. Zurich

3. Toronto

4. Berlin

5. Sao Paulo

18. London
19. Paris
26. Hong Kong

Yay, we're in the top three. But what gives? Why are we not at #1, which typically is expected of us. I'll give you the reason. Public transportation. The damn Toronto transit is one of the worst in the world when it comes to courtesy. As if transit layout and consistency is bad enough, the least they can do is fix their manners.

Today alone, I was yelled at for negligent transfers, mocked for asking a question, and was told "tough luck" when asked to use debit instead of cash. And these were all staff members.

You wonder why the suburbs are refusing to take public transportation downtown and our highway problems are getting worse. After all those strikes, ticket hikes, upgrades and loans the government gives to the TTC, you figured there might be SOME improvement. Oh yeah, and this guy was just recently nominated TTC's Chairman this year:

yeah, I also did a double take. This guy is only 30. I might be shallow (or bitter), but no way would I trust a "kid" with my tax dollars.