Summer in the City Recap

Last month’s Happiness Project resolution - Summer in the City - has been my favourite so far. My goal was to enjoy as many events as possible without having to spend a whole lot of money.

On August 16^th, I headed to the BIG on Bloor Festival with one of my girlfriends. The only highlight of this Buskerfest wannabe type event was the ten minute African drumming class.

On August 23^rd, I attended “An Evening of Song”. It was a beautiful evening of Jonelle Sills singing some Opera classics. Here’s a clip of her singing “He’s Jus’ De Same Today”.

Last Friday, I attended the Scotiabank Buskerfest with a couple of my girlfriends. Here’s a few clips from my night out:

I ended the month by going with my sister to the Korean Harvest Festival. We enjoyed some great Korean food and got to hear some pretty talented singers. We ended our evening by watching several K-POP dance groups. Here are some clips from the event:

I'm looking forward to doing this all over next again year.

What did you enjoy doing this Summer?

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When you get a chance, please visit my friend Tyrone’s blog. His posts are insightful and very thought provoking. See his blog here.

Thanks for reading and keep smiling :)  

Racism will always exist

In the Summer of ’97 or ’98, I was looking for a second part time job. I remember looking through the Scarborough Mirror and saw an ad for an Italian Bakery close to where I lived. They were looking for someone to help with cash and help serve customers. I decided to apply since I had some bakery experience from working at Dominion (now Metro).

I went the following day and had a quick interview with the Manager. She asked me about my experience and told me that she would get back to me.

As I was leaving, something told me to turn around. As I did, I caught her placing my resume on top of a cupboard – high enough for her to forget that it was even there.

My heart sank. 

I wanted to cry. 

Before I left, I looked at the staff she had hired. They were all Italian. 

Why did she bother interviewing me if she knew she wasn't going to hire a black person?

Too bad I didn’t have enough guts back then because I would have taken back my resume and called her a racist to her face.

Up until that point in my life, I had never experienced racism like that.

Toronto is said to be the most multicultural city in the world with over 200 ethnic groups but still racism exists. 

When hiring, employers always talk about wanting to give everyone an “equal opportunity”. HA! Don’t be fooled. They’re only going through the motions. They already know the type of person they’re looking for and probably hired them already.

I don’t care how multicultural this city is, racism will never go away. The world will always be divided. That’s just the way it is and we’ve just got to accept it.

What was your first racism experience?

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When you get a chance, please visit my friend Tyrone’s blog. His posts are insightful and very thought provoking. See his blog here.

Thanks for reading and keep smiling :)

Toronto: Raccoon Capital of the World

You’ll often hear people say that Toronto has two seasons: Winter and Construction season. Let’s add a third…Raccoon season. If you didn’t already know, Toronto has been labelled “the raccoon capital of the world” next to Chicago and New York City. How lovely!

It’s funny how we get upset and complain when these nasty creatures knock down our green bins and eat our garbage. We do everything we can to stop this from happening by adding locks or using bungee cords to secure our green bins.  C’mon folks! Really? Raccoons are smarter than that.

Last Thursday, Mayor John Tory unveiled Toronto’s new and improved green bin. They’re twice the size of our current one with locking lids and latches. If approved by City Council, these monstrous bins will be distributed later this year/early next year.

Guess how much these new bins are going to cost us? Thirty one million dollars! What’s the point when these raccoons are eventually going to figure out how to open them? Don’t underestimate these furry creatures. 

I can think of two solutions to solve our raccoon problem. One, have a zero raccoon policy like Japan. They trap 10,000 raccoons a year and kill them. Or two, put your green bins out in the morning before heading to work as opposed to putting them out at night. The latter would save our city $31 million dollars and save you from cleaning up after them.

What solutions can you think of to solve Toronto's raccoon problem?

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 Thanks for reading and keep smiling :)