Repost from October 11, 2012
James Earl Jones was on the LRT this morning. Well not really but it could have been his double. They say everyone has a lookalike somewhere. The diversity of people you bump up against on the train is amazing (and I do mean ‘bump up against’). Yesterday I was sitting in front of a Europeon woman wearing a Hermes scarf, a Michael Kors bags and Burberry reading glasses. She was clearly engrossed in a book titled “The Last Love Letter or the The Last Letter from my Lover”….anyway, I watched her gasp with her eyes as she read one page and could see the distress in her expression which gave way to a smile and a sigh as she turned the page. A man was jumping for the open seat next to me so he could read his ‘real’ book…Insomnia by Steven King. He was clearly riveted. Many others read their Kindles and Kobo’s or playing games on their cellphones or texting. Not too much conversation. Yesterday a young girl got up an offered me her seat. I asked her if she was getting off at the next stop and she just smiled so I accepted the seat and she didn’t get off at the next stop or the next one and I thought “I must look pretty decrepit if she gave me her seat…YIKES!” One FB friend suggested maybe the girl just happened to be the last youth in town that had any respect and another FB friend said is was probably because I was teetering on 5 inches heels…In reality, it could have been either. This morning I managed to arrive 15 minutes earlier than usual (which is the time I have been aiming at for over 2 months now). Funny how the first morning with snow I end up 15 minutes earlier to an almost empty train…hmmm? Where do I want to sit?? As we approach downtown and the doors open at the first stop I hear church bells chiming in the cold darkness and then get off at my stop to accept the Metro and Herald from warmly clad barkers passing out the news. I grab a couple of publications in case I get a lull in the day and turn the corner to face the cold wind of 6:50am in the morning. I do not overlook the mini lights that line the arches of the historical Bay building…such a welcoming sight to start the day. I enter my building and am greeted by the cheerful man that is standing there everyday…he must come in at 5:00am (probably a former Walmart employee). I head for my bank of elevators and smell the coffee wafting from the main floor Starbucks…I’ll be right back down for that, I think to myself. When I arrive at my floor, its darkness. The lights are motion sensitive so the overwhelming darkness tells me that many are not in yet. As I walk to my office the lights go on after each step. I sort through my lunch, papers, books, extra shoes and get myself setup for the day. Then its back to Starbucks for a Tazo Chai. The line up is reasonable today. Another group of people that must arrive at 5:00 am so no one has to have an early morning meltdown when their addictive stimulant is not available. The lobby of our building is totally decked out for fall with pumpkins everywhere and leaf posters and leaves in the windows…it quite awesome actually. I really do feel like I am in New York with the hustle and bustle of early morning office life and the amenities and landmarks one finds in downtown Calgary. I am working in the 2nd tallest building in Calgary with 49 floors – I’m on the 8th. A nice safe distance from the ground and yet still a bit of a view. And I’m still texting my daughter living in London…we started texting on the LRT and on it goes. For her it is early afternoon. And, by the way, I’ve found a new driving route to get to the LRT parking…through a beautiful residential area that keeps me away from the all the traffic backups at the two lights one has to navigate to get into the LRT parking lot. So its ALL good. My new downtown lifestyle and routine. I think I’m gonna like it here.
When you’re alone
And life is making you lonely,
You can always go downtown
When you’ve got worries,
All the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know, downtown
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?
The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go
Downtown, things’ll be great when you’re
Downtown, no finer place for sure,
Downtown, everything’s waiting for you
The Red Plaid Apron 