I knew by creating this blog I might end up polarizing people. This was not my intention. I guess what I'm trying to do is show that a city that is so close to the one that I call home can be so wildly different in some ways, but also the same. We're all assholes, in different ways. I say this with love.
The way I see it, I can make fun of EVERYONE, myself included.
I live in two different worlds. My life in Hamilton, where I take the Barton Bus, and hang out at bus stops on King Street where the homeless kids sit with Tim Horton's cups and cigarettes hanging out of their mouths. This Hamilton life also includes me working five days a week at a job in my chosen field.
Then there's my life in Burlington, where I am surrounded by people who make way more money than me, who don't understand why I don't just buy a car. "Like, why don't you just buy a car!"
These world views are so contrasting and I'm caught in the middle of it all - trying to stay dignified, yet humble. These past two days I have experienced both sides of the coin.
JACKSON SQUARE, Hamilton, Ontario - Friday, February 6th, 2015
Yesterday, I took the Barton Bus - where nothing too weird happened (or I'm just getting used to it) - and got off at Jackson Square.
Once upon a time, when Hamilton was thriving, Jackson Square was the place to shop. It was a downtown shopping centre with a wide variety of stores. Today, it is plagued with the reputation for attracting the strangest people in the city. They just idly hang out there because there is no where else to go. This place more than one dollar store - if you get what I'm saying.
I had to go there because I was meeting my friend Ashley, who works in one of the offices upstairs. Because she didn't finish until 5:30 PM, I had roughly half an hour to kill.
My first stop was a Hamilton favourite - Tim Horton's. Hamiltonians thrive on Tim Horton's. It's in their blood. It's littered on their streets. I ordered a small regular decaf with a muffin and sat by the glass window that looked out into the mall corridors. From this vantage point, I saw every type of person imaginable. The homeless man begging with a toque in his hand, the woman on the shooter with an eye patch, the guy on the skateboard wearing a top hat.
Behind me a woman was arguing that someone butted ahead in line, "that's not right!" she screamed. The bearded man behind me said "fuck" between every word, and it was difficult to determine whether or not he was a hipster or homeless.
It was like watching an accident - it's horrifying, yet you can't look away. That's what being in Jackson Square is like. I was grateful for the people watching, but also wanted to run the hell out of there.
COSIMO'S SALON, Burlington, Ontario - Saturday, February 7th, 2015
Things I learned from listening to the guy in front of me getting his hair cut:
1) He was looking for a new shoe shiner, as he's been driving to Etobicoke to get his shoes shined, and that's just too far.
2) His dry cleaners ruin his shirts when pressing them, so he needs a new dry cleaners too.
3) There's a place across the street that makes custom mattresses and pillows, and he needs to have a pillow made because of his back problems.
4) He is really bitter about his ex-girlfriend.
If these aren't First World Problems, I don't what is!
My hair stylist and I gave each other a look when listening to this guy talk. Basically silently saying to each other, "is this guy for real?"
So here I am, in the middle. I don't care if my shoes are shiny, but as least I have shoes! I am perfectly satisfied with my store bought pillow, because I have a bed to sleep in at night.
I'm an asshole because I use people I don't know as punchlines in my blog about nothing. But they just need to stop being so damned entertaining, and I'll stop. But do you really want me to stop?
I didn't think so.
Happy weekend everyone!
