Ok, so the TTC strike came and went quickly, and I awoke this morning to the sound of callers whining and complaining, which always starts my day off with a special edge. I mean, Ed and Tyler listen to AM 640 and actually seem to get a kick out of listening to their barrage of pro-copper, union-busting know-nothings, but it makes me crazy. Like, actually want to THROW things crazy. But this was the CBC, and still I had to listen to a bunch of people complaining because they had to drive their cars (one dude thinks he can invoice the union for his time) instead of take transit. Granted, the strike itself was bullshit – the city shouldn’t have to pay for the fact that internal political structure of the transit union is crumbling, and the one-hour notice at midnight, rather than say, four am, was suicidal for a union who desperately needed public support, but I’d really love it if people who called in to radio shows could actually tell the difference between salient points and blind rage. I can’t, thus I don’t call. It’s a simple equation, really. Not that the transit workers were in the right, mind you. They say they didn’t give us 48 hours notice, as they’d promised earlier, because they were concerned for their own safety, but what about the safety of riders (particularly female ones) who were stranded at midnight when the strike began? Anyway, what really gets my goat (and that goat will be sorely missed) is people’s screwed-up priorities. I mean, a day of no mass transit is important, yes, but what about the loss of one of my favourite businesses? Not that I’ve ever been inside, but I recently drove past the eatery with my favourite name in all of Toronto, and their windows were all papered up. It made me incredibly sad. Did someone walk in one day and finally break the news that the addition of “th” doesn’t instantly a superlative make? That a greenth salad is not a salad greener than the greenest salad? And when the proprietors realized it was true, did they just hang their heads and sadly shutter their shop forever? This, Toronto, is the real tragedy.