# Coors Light ad - Colder than most people from Toronto



## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Ahhhh they're going to pull the ads just because a few Torontonians visiting BC got offended? Sheesh. It's a joke. This is just as bad as the guy on CTV News the other day from Toronto who came to Vancouver when the Canada Line opened and wondered why Vancouver got a subway to the airport before Toronto did... "Like who the hell goes to Vancouver anyway?"

TheSpec.com - CanadaWorld - Colder than a Torontonian?s heart
Coors Light apologize to Torontonians visiting BC - Headlines - News - News1130 - ALL NEWS RADIO


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## Rps (May 2, 2009)

Well, I live in the GTA and I am personally offended that those ads are in B.C. .......... we should have had them first!


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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

MazterCBlazter said:


> People from Toronto are the worst in Canada, if not the world. The rudest possible liars and cheaters full of themselves.


Well thanks, MCB, I'm glad to know that's what you think of me.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Sonal said:


> Well thanks, MCB, I'm glad to know that's what you think of me.


Don't take it personally, he thinks the same of Vancouverites.


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## MacGYVER (Apr 15, 2005)

This ad is not far from the truth. I'm not going to be as harsh as MazterCBlazter, but after just moving here, Torontonians really don't welcome you to their city like everywhere else in this country.

Coming and living from outside of Toronto most of my life, I have not been trapped in the Toronto "bubble" or "Centre of the Universe" like almost everyone who lives in Toronto. I hear it all the time, every single day from citizens of this city who brag about their city and trash everyone else who comes from outside of Toronto. At the place that I work, people are constantly trashing my home city and yet THEY HAVE never been to my home city in their entire life. How rude is that? Ignorant as well. If I am out shopping or getting my hair cut in this city of Toronto, the topic always rises where you're from, most people don't know anything West of this city as it seems. It's like I am in a foreign country visiting for the first time.

If you walk down the streets on a quiet Sunday morning, you say good morning to some soul on the street, perhaps walking their dog? or maybe going to church? They won't respond back, they keep their head down and walk right passed you. I have to say one thing, the homeless, or pretend homeless, actually have more manners then Torontonians, why? They actually will say hello most of the times, something so simple and yet so hard for people who live in the city of Toronto. Just yesterday, I was inside a Starbucks right downtown, I was the next person in line. In walk 3 guys in suits who were talking earlier outside, walked right passed me and decided to order. Including the 3 Starbucks associates and myself along with the others behind me, we just sort of looked at them and wondered what makes them more special then the rest of us? I decided to let their ignorance selves order their stuff while I in return waited and ended up talking with a very nice young person who made me my order.

I have been here now a few months, not very warming to say the least if you live downtown Toronto. People here are hardcore, cold and they always seem so full of themselves. Not something I would be proud to be: ignorant, rude and not polite. Of course, there are some people who have heard of where I am from, and have actually been there hahahaha.... and of course are polite. But, for the most part, Toronto has not welcomed me, nor has it made me feel warm and fuzzy to be here. Heck, when I lived out in Vancouver, that city welcomed me with open arms, the people were the opposite of those living in Toronto. If you travel a lot like I do, Toronto usually comes up at some point no matter if you're travelling within Canada or around the world. Surprised? not really........

When I saw the ad this morning, I laughed, because I come from outside of Toronto, now living here due to my job, and I can relate to the ad, even if it is a joke . I feel sorry for those who live in the "bubble" or "Centre of the Universe" and are offended, as it is clear that you have not been outside of the GTA long enough to notice. 

I'm hoping that the people in Toronto will change my thoughts in the future of this city. It does have a lot to offer, but the attitudes of the people that live here, need to change quickly. A simple hello, or how are you today, in a business or out on the street, will go along way.


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## Manatus (May 11, 2009)

I think a lot of it is a "huge city" thing where community as a whole breaks down, people become focused on beating the rush, getting ahead, you get the situation where spending a minute to be polite to someone means that your competitor is now a minute ahead of you, there's no point being friendly to people because there are so many people that you'll probably never see them again and therefore there's no point being nice. I've lived in London, Toronto and Singapore and all of them are pretty similar in that regard, especially when compared to smaller communities (hence I don't live in any of them anymore). Personally I have not been to Vancouver but I would really like to.

Regarding the complaints, I wish people as a whole were less freakin' whiny. Even if you can't take a joke, at least keep it to yourself rather than spending your own time to let everyone else know how offended you are. One tiny grain of sand on the world beach, etc.


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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

MazterCBlazter said:


> Not at all, the attitude of people in Vancouver is far better. Toronto is even worse than the worst parts of Surrey which you love so much...


Um, what part of Surrey do I love so much? I could make Surrey jokes all day.


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## Rps (May 2, 2009)

dona83 said:


> Um, what part of Surrey do I love so much? I could make Surrey jokes all day.


 I guess that would then be a fringe with a Surrey on top!


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## Dr.G. (Aug 4, 2001)

Having been born and raised in New York City back when the population was over 8 million, I always thought of Toronto as an interesting city, not too big, not too small, and full of diversity.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

I've visited TO hundreds of times over four decades and always found the people I know there to be friendly and approachable.

It's the ones I don't know that ignore me totally when I am there.


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## Max (Sep 26, 2002)

Dr.G. said:


> Having been born and raised in New York City back when the population was over 8 million, I always thought of Toronto as an interesting city, not too big, not too small, and full of diversity.


LOL!

Clearly, my good Dr. G, you are one sadly deluded man.

But hey - thanks for putting in a good word. You too, Sinc.

The beer ad is just that - a beer ad. They use lowest common denominator, mass market ideas to push product. I expect lurid, off-colour ads from the big beer brands. Coors made a mistake in pulling the ad - although, as the CBC noted tonight here in Canada's Worst City, perhaps they succeeded rather well. Be interesting to see if their beer sales spike in those parts of Canada not stricken with Torontitus.

I have to say that thread makes me feel glum, if only because so much of it is riddled with the very thing we despicable Torontonians are supposed to be famous for - frigid judgement, intolerance, arrogance, massively lazy-headed generalizations about other places you could sail a dirigible through... well, you get the general idea.

I wanted to resist the siren call of this thread, if only because I kept reflecting on the utter futility of putting in a good word about Canada's answer to New York (another city which elicits a curiously aggressive love/hate affair by the citizens of the country of which it is a huge part). But I was galled nonetheless, and so here I am. And I have to say that I am also both amused and dismayed... you'd think I'd have grown a much thicker hide by now.

I love this town. I hate this town. But I have to say I love it far, far more than I hate it. I don't expect people to understand that... but there, now I've said it.

Finally, a word to MasterCBlazter: I would have thought that anyone who presents himself as the powerful, masterfully confident Captain Canada in his avatar would have been effortlessly able to tame any dragons hailing from my home town. Instead, the only vibe that's clearly emanating from you is one of a terrible, seething anger. I think your damning slam of this entire burg, and the millions who inhabit it, speaks volumes about your own capability for tolerance, patience and wisdom. I have noted your snide little sig for weeks now and have merely felt that it reflected certain personal issues you have, for reasons unknown to me, been unable to shake off. But really, enough is enough. Shame on you.


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## Dr.G. (Aug 4, 2001)

"Clearly, my good Dr. G, you are one sadly deluded man." I disagree, Max, and agree with Sinc, in part, in that I don't know many people there, but have found strangers to be nice. I have been to TO, on and off, since 1970, and like the city.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Anyone who actually lives in TO and can write with a clear conscience that the average person on the street or in a bar is an outgoing friendly sort is delusional.

C'mon, been there done that and it is far removed from the friendly confines of rural Canada.

IE: Hi, new in town? Need any help? Can I buy you a beer?"


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## bsenka (Jan 27, 2009)

The funniest part of that ad is the fact that offended Torontonians are forcing it to be removed pretty proves its point.

I've yet to meet a Tortontonian (in or out of Toronto) for who was an even remotely nice person. Even people who move there quickly develop a personality that only expletives can describe.


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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

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## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)




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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

I thought the ad was cute, playing up a well-established "difference of opinion" between Toronto and Vancouver. Both cities, IMHO, see themselves as much more important than they actually are -- but Vancouver has been in my experience very friendly, but I think that's very much a "West Coast" thing, not city-specific.

Let's put it another way -- the derogatory tag "centre of the universe" (reflecting what Torontonians think of their town) didn't come from Coors. They didn't invent this, they're just playing it up for attention. The "apology and removal" was a built-in part of the strategy -- the ad has already served its purpose.

Not that I think it will be effective in terms of sales -- I believe Canadians to have much better taste in beers than Americans, so Coors won't do especially well here IMO.

I've not been to Toronto, but I've of course met a number of Torontonians, and I do find some their attitudes curious and sometimes arrogant (or perhaps "overcompensating" is the right term), but I look forward to visiting there someday and seeing the city and its people for myself. If I could live happily in NYC -- and I have -- I think I can deal with a little bit of "Toronto Cold."


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## Dr.G. (Aug 4, 2001)

"If I could live happily in NYC -- and I have -- I think I can deal with a little bit of "Toronto Cold." " New York, NY ................... so nice they named it twice.


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

I think this ad should become mandatory in all regions of Canada, especially on Labour Day, when the Ti-Cats take the field to crush the Argos...


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## G-Mo (Sep 26, 2007)

chas_m said:


> Not that I think it will be effective in terms of sales -- I believe Canadians to have much better taste in beers than Americans, so Coors won't do especially well here IMO.


Coors Light is the second best selling beer in Canada.


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

SINC said:


> Anyone who actually lives in TO and can write with a clear conscience that the average person on the street or in a bar is an outgoing friendly sort is delusional.
> 
> C'mon, been there done that and it is far removed from the friendly confines of rural Canada.
> 
> IE: Hi, new in town? Need any help? Can I buy you a beer?"


To me, that's the difference between just about any small town and just about any large city.


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

bsenka said:


> I've yet to meet a Tortontonian (in or out of Toronto) for who was an even remotely nice person. Even people who move there quickly develop a personality that only expletives can describe.


There are a number of Torontoians on ehMac... have you found that all of them only have personalities that expletives can describe?


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

Max said:


> LOL!
> 
> Clearly, my good Dr. G, you are one sadly deluded man.
> 
> ...


Thank you Max, for expressing this much more eloquently than I would have. 

Except that I don't have a love-hate relationship with Toronto--I simply love Toronto. 

I was born here, brought up here, and while I have travelled fairly extensively, this will always be my hometown. Over the years, I have moved further and further into the city, and am pretty much in the oldest part of the city now... I love that my neighbourhood was once Muddy York and then became Toronto for as long as there's been Toronto.... 175 years now.

No, I don't expect everyone to love Toronto, much like I don't think anyone expects me to love where they live. I can take a bit of good-natured ribbing... back when I was in University (in KW) I was stopped by someone who asked me if I was from Toronto. I said yes, how did you know. He said because everyone from Toronto walks with a f***-off-and-die attitude.... I started observing some of my friends, and I realized he was right, everyone from Toronto DOES walk with a f***-off-and-die attitude.... I think it's funny; I use that story as an ice-breaker when I travel in Canada or meet people who are new to the city.

This, though, is some of the defensive shell you gain when you live in a large city like this--I would imagine that you'd see the same thing in New York City. But it's just a shell. Once you get past the shell, Torontonians are like people anywhere.

The Coors light ad, to me, is not so much offensive as it is mildly irritating... one of these "Oh, here we go again." 

But I am somewhat offended, but definitely very saddened, by the people on this thread who would vilify and express such hatred for every single person from Toronto.


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## medic03 (Aug 2, 2005)

When I saw the add I too had one of those 'roll the eye' moments but then had a little chuckle. I think it would have been good natured for Coors to put up a similar add directed at Vancouver in Toronto.


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

I heard they have another one in Phoenix that says "Colder than a NHL franchise in Hamilton."

Molson has really stuck their foot in their mouths on this one, with technology this day and age, targeted marketing really isn't targeted anymore. Especially when you single out a city/demographic, it is guaranteed to make it back to them. I'd be interested in hearing if sales in these areas start slumping, they are already losing customers to Bud Light Lime, but this should put them further in the hole.


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## Max (Sep 26, 2002)

Sonal, lest you think I am completely schizo: I wanted to add that I 'hate' TO insofar as I might naturally be inclined to hate any large city - chiefly for the bad that inevitably comes with the good - the crowds, the noise, the air, the bureaucracy... that sort of thing.

Agreed too, that once you poke through the crusty defensive veneer, there are many fine qualities of any big city inhabitant. Alas, one must be willing to make the effort - so much easier to walk away in a huff, retreat back to the safety of home and then proclaim to one and all that a city's inhabitants are despicable.

Chas_m: you mentioned that Torontonians often seem to exhibit a tendency for overcompensation. I agree! It is nicely matched by non-Torontonians' need to overcompensate for the failings, perceived or otherwise, of their own origins - be it city, town or rural hamlet.

It would be tragic, were it not so absurdly comical.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

I don't get how some here can be so critical of Torontonians en masse.

Sonal is correct that small towns versus big cities have a different culture, but I can tell you that when I transferred to a small southwestern Ontario town of 12,000 back in 1970, it was the coldest and most unfriendly place I had ever been. The natives were suspicious of outsiders and it took me a couple of years to become mainstream in that community. Toronto holds no edge in that department.

Max's observations are dead on as well. I have the greatest respect for many ehMac members from Toronto and have found them all to be decent, friendly types towards me in dealings both on, and outside of, this board.

While my many trips to Toronto resulted in many silent elevator rides, even when I attempted small talk, to paint every resident with the same brush is wrong indeed.

Sometimes we need to walk a mile in their shoes to have a full understanding of perceived behaviours.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

It's just a joke. We can poke fun at each other all day and at the end of it all we'll meet at the nearest pub and have a brewski and watch a game of hockey. I was in Toronto 3 years ago and it was nice, a bit boring, but the people there were nice if just a tad bit ignorant (Repeat: "Why does Vancouver get a train to the airport before Toronto does? Who the hell goes to Vancouver anyway?!") . I liked the Steam Whistle brewery, it has to be one of the best lesser known beers in Canada (a shame we can't get it in BC, but Alberta has it). 



MazterCBlazter said:


> I was taking care of some business there the other day. Ugh. Just driving through the place in a straight line all kinds of mayhem. Definitely the Trailer Park Boys Nation.
> 
> The people with me were astounded at the sights as we drove though. They are starting to get the point that it might not be the best place to move into.


Then million dollar question of the day... would you date a girl from Surrey or Toronto?


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

G-Mo said:


> Coors Light is the second best selling beer in Canada.


Well, there's another myth shattered. 

My perception from "research" here in Victoria is that local brews do quite well in the pubs here (and Guinness). But I always forget the home drinkers when thinking about beer, as I rarely drink beer at home.

OTOH, the "American" beers here may have higher alcohol content than their US counterparts -- I remember a trip my bro-in-law took to Montreal to bring back some Canadian Budweiser specifically to prove this.


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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

medic03 said:


> When I saw the add I too had one of those 'roll the eye' moments but then had a little chuckle. I think it would have been good natured for Coors to put up a similar add directed at Vancouver in Toronto.


except there wouldn't be a metaphor to draw between beer and how 'ironic' vancouverites may or may not think they are.

EDIT: ...or is there?


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

I live in a small town and it is quite routine to say "Hi" or "Good Morning" when passing others on the street. Last trip to Calgary I did that to a pretty young thing and thought she might die of a heart attack.

I imagine any one doing that in TO would be Tased 4 or 5 times, then locked up as an habitual sex offender.beejacon


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

eMacMan said:


> I live in a small town and it is quite routine to say "Hi" or "Good Morning" when passing others on the street. Last trip to Calgary I did that to a pretty young thing and thought she might die of a heart attack.
> 
> I imagine any one doing that in TO would be Tased 4 or 5 times, then locked up as an habitual sex offender.beejacon


I live downtown in a crowded neighbourhood that gets a lot of tourist traffic... if I said "Hi" or "Good Morning" to everyone I passed, I'd lose my voice from over-use. 

Still, I have to say, that's one thing that startled me when I lived in Waterloo for school. All these people saying "Hi." Kept thinking to myself 'What are they after?'

That said, strangers do say hello to each other in Toronto (yes, it happens now and then) but you have to catch their eye and read their mood a bit first... chances are, they'll walk past you by then. 

If I'm walking down the street in a rush to get somewhere and thinking about a dozen things I need to do, I don't want to say hello, I just want to blend anonymously in the crowd and get where I am going.


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## Max (Sep 26, 2002)

+1, Sonal. Not enough time in the world to say hello to all the people - even if you wanted to! - when you get into real street crowd situations.

That said, I have much the same experience as yourself. From time to time I'll say hello to strangers downtown, depending on my reading of them, and of course, depending on my own mood. But on my own street I'm on at least a first name basis with the almost half the houses on the street. Sometime ago I had the profound realization that all large cities are in actuality a clutch of small villages strung together and interconnected, like cells in a hive. Stay in one particular neighbourhood long enough and you realize the history of a place and begin to get an inkling of what it has meant to generation upon generation of people who have walked the same streets, down through the years.

And yeah, anonymity has its uses, too.


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## Whiskey (Dec 18, 2006)

I like the ads. If you can't laugh a little at yourself, your sense of humour needs to be re-evaluated. I lived for years in Toronto. Loved it. I now live an hour and a half east of Toronto. Love it.
I agree with Max's take on the city being small villages strung together.
Also there is no place on earth (that's right, on earth) that has the diversity of food available to it's citizens like Toronto has. Not even New York.


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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

Absolutely, it's a city of small villages... and the best part is that they are continually changing. I remember when Riverdale was an area you didn't want to walk alone in at night. And now, it's yuppie-ville. 

I also love how I can keep discovering new little pockets of the city that I've never known anything about before, or that I once knew and are now totally different.


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## Max (Sep 26, 2002)

Whiskey said:


> I like the ads. If you can't laugh a little at yourself, your sense of humour needs to be re-evaluated. I lived for years in Toronto. Loved it. I now live an hour and a half east of Toronto. Love it.
> I agree with Max's take on the city being small villages strung together.
> Also there is no place on earth (that's right, on earth) that has the diversity of food available to it's citizens like Toronto has. Not even New York.


Yo, Whiskey. Welcome to Ehmac. I have good friends out your way... it's a nice part of the world. And man, are you ever spot on about the food. Thank goodness for diversity!


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

Whiskey's comment (welcome btw!) reminded me of one of the reasons why I look forward to visiting Toronto someday ... because it would appear that every restaurant there has had a "Restaurant Makeover" over the last few years!


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

:greedy:


chas_m said:


> Whiskey's comment (welcome btw!) reminded me of one of the reasons why I look forward to visiting Toronto someday ... because it would appear that every restaurant there has had a "Restaurant Makeover" over the last few years!


some ridiculous amount go under after that show too. Hehe. It's like the kiss of death


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Instead of whining, Toronto could've retaliated

Colder than an NBA franchise in Vancouver. Ohhhhh.
Colder than a gondola in Whistler.

Or how about:

Colder than the Edmonton Oilers after 2006.
(Colder than the Toronto Maple Leafs after 195something )
Colder than Fort McMurray
Colder than Anne of Green Gables
Colder than the oversized snowman with the red hat.
Colder than diamond mines.
Colder than an NFL franchise in Buffalo.


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## medic03 (Aug 2, 2005)

:clap::clap::clap:

dona83 that is the spirit - I think that would have been the funnier approach


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

dona83 said:


> Instead of (*a few people in Toronto*) whining, Toronto could've retaliated




There are deplorable people in every. single. city. in this grand country.


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

Yeah, but dona83... that would require Torontonians to have awareness of people and places outside of Toronto. We might be forced to confront the idea that we are NOT the centre of the universe. Can't have that.


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## Max (Sep 26, 2002)

I don't understand. I thought that the COTU was everything. How can there be anything _outside_ of everything?


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

Max said:


> I don't understand. I thought that the COTU was everything. How can there be anything _outside_ of everything?


Well, there's cottage country, Max... after that, I'm not sure.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Oh, kinda like how in Pleasantville, when you get to the end of Main St., you're at the beginning again?


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

dona83 said:


> Oh, kinda like how in Pleasantville, when you get to the end of Main St., you're at the beginning again?


Except that you never go to the end of Main Street. (Or in Toronto terms, north of Bloor.) 

Mind you, I work north of Bloor, so I venture into the hinterlands quite regularly. Not only that, but I was born in Scarborough and grew up north of the 401. This makes me quite intrepid.


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## Dr.G. (Aug 4, 2001)

"Except that you never go to the end of Main Street. (Or in Toronto terms, north of Bloor.)" Sounds like Broadway in New York City, which starts downtown in Manhattan and ends up somewhere in Albany, New York.


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## DS (Oct 7, 2004)

Cold? I'm on a Eurotrip right now and just left Paris. _Paris_ is cold.


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