The Shallow End

In a recent blog post I mentioned it had been 5.5 years since I'd left Ontario and moved back to Alberta.  Much has changed in my life in that time, but I suppose I could say that for everyone and everywhere.

One of the uglier trends I've noticed in this city in the last few years is the rising level of impatience & the lack of manners.  For many years, Calgary was a place where car drivers would stop to let pedestrians cross the road.  It was a place where people were generally polite & friendly to each other in traffic, on the street & in social settings.  One would get on an elevator and normal behaviour would be to say hello to the other person.  The same could be said if you were out walking your dog.

Now that behaviour isn't completely gone, but it seems it's become more uncommon since the economic meltdown in late 2008.  A walk downtown in the morning and it's likely you will nearly get hit by a car.  If you don't experience that, you will experience the regular sound of car horns as impatient people release their frustration on their horn.  The nature of my work makes me a very mobile person but, like many, I do end up walking downtown in Calgary at times.

What I do notice is how much it feels like Toronto now.  People move quickly.  A ride on transit, especially the C Train, and the aggressive nature of people comes out...especially when trying to get a seat.  If you happen to be one of those people that walk slowly and you don't move to the side of the sidewalk, you'll experience the "huff" of people frustrated that you aren't going fast enough.   I spent several years working in the core of downtown Toronto & I find the vibe very much the same.  Noted is that this level of impatience didn't seem to exist prior to the recession.  One might try to blame it on a poor job market, but Calgary's job market is quite robust right now. 

Are we the "New Toronto".  Saying so would boil the blood of long time Albertans, but the fact is..in some ways, yes we have adopted traits of corporate Toronto.  Why have we become this way?  I'll explore my theories in a blog in the future.