By Mark David Blum, Esq.

So you think Toronto is the center of the world. From my perspective, Toronto is one if the most exquisite cities in the world. I have always enjoyed this City because of the life, the ambiance, and the attitude of the residents. If given a choice I would choose Toronto as my second best selection of places to live. This City has a life, an attitude and a lifestyle that see in most major cities but absent in small town America like Syracuse.

First let me say that Mapquest is a pile of garbage. After following directions from Syracuse north on 81 to the QEW west, it was 100 mph all the way in. From all I can tell over the years the QEW and drivers in Canada could care less about police. Driving at top speeed with the pedal to the metal allows for GTA attitude while at the same time getting to the intended destination without spending hours on the highway ducking police. In fact at one point I remember an Ontario P.D. vehicle getting on the road behind me and until I realized that he did not give a shit about speed, I returned to my 85-90mph speed on the highway. Rest assured that at whatever speed I was traveling I was not the fastest vehicle on the road. In fact, the QEW (401) is about the closest thing to an Autobahn as you can find in North America. Canadians and their police forces could care less. The cop seemed to be laughing as he passed me at over 100 mph.

From the now two trips I have made to this City, I have truly fallen in love. The City is open and free and lacks the hangups that you usually find in America. Issues about sex, drugs, music, and lifestyle is as out of place here as would be a Democratic landslide in the upcoming Onondaga County election.

Today we spent the day at the Toronto Zoo and after walking more than five miles, we enjoyed the animals and the crazies that wandered around. The Mrs. enjoyed the Polar Bear Exhibit more than anything because we arrived at feeding time and she got to watch the polar bears perform for the audience, Me, I see all these animals trapped in cages and aching for freedom. I have a personal dislike for zoos because I feel that it is unfair to trap a free spirit and cage it to bring joy to humans who lack the understanding that animals are sentient beings who feel the loss of freedom and liberty.

But the real fun started late this evening when we decided to go bar hopping up and down Yonge Street. After shots of tequila and a Canadian beer, I could not walk straight or think straight and I was grateful. We hit every bar and restaurant bar up and down Yonge Street and as I write this, I am trapped in a Jose Cuervo mindset. In the past 3 hours, I have probably had about 8 shots and several Canadian beers with a real alcohol content. So yea, I am toasted.

As much as you may adore this City, I ran into a handful of Americans, mostly from Buffalo who seemed to care only about the Stanley Cup despite being down 3-1 in the playoffs. That notwithstanding, there is a sense of community here where everybody belongs and nobody is excluded. Here, they laugh at Americans with our attitudes toward sex, drugs, and lifestyle and how anal retentive we are.

Here, there is no such thing as Black, or Asian, or Muslim. People treat each other as human beings. In this City, especially on a Friday night, you wouldn’t know you weren’t in Westwood or M Street or elsewhere where college students mix with street folks.

What stood out to me is how many hundreds of highschool and college age kids hanging out at the malls. Whereas in Syracuse, they freak out at the presence of the young, here in Toronto, the young are welcome and encouraged to hang out at Malls and other public locations. Considering how miserable life is without a place to “be”, Toronto seems to welcome the world regardless of their age or purpose for being.

Syracuse could learn a good lesson from all of this. In Syracuse, we chase kids from the Malls, we complain when they skateboard, and in the end, we old folks do all we can to prevent kids from having a life outside of their schools. The attitude is that kids are a threat and a nuisance and should be driven from public life. Here, the entire society accepts people for who they are and adjusts itself to the fact that young adults of today are the adults of tomorrow. The lessons you teach about your society is the lesson they take with them into adulthood.

Tomorrow when we pack up and leave and head back into the U.S., besides the bullshit I expect American customs to dish out, it is an entire new world when you return to the United States. Suddenly, Blacks are a separate class of folks, Muslims and other ideologues are not treated as normal folks as they are in Canada. In the end, it will be time to return to the land of the Unfree, the land of the Racist, and the land where People are classified and treated as differently than the normal white folks found all over.

Ultimately, Americans are the laughing stock of the world. Nobody seems to understand our attitudes and anal retentive perceptions toward sex, drugs, and freedom. Funny that the United States considers itself as the land of the free when in reality the nation seems to be a joke insofar as its repressive attitudes toward our fellow humans.

Toronto is a beautiful City and has a lot to offer. Yonge Street has everything Hollywood Boulevard has without the crime or violence. In this City, people are welcome everywhere no matter their background or heritage.

So tomorrow as we head back into the U.S. we will have to adjust our attitude back again toward intolerance and abuse so as to fit in. It is just too bad that Americans cannot learn from their neighbors at the North. What a wonderful world it would be if the United States and its citizens could learn to be as tolerant and accepting as those who live north of the border. That, and ignoring the stupidity of speed limits.

While I certainly prefer my status of American, I have no doubt that there is much we can learn from our neightbor to the North. Namely, Americans can learn tolerance, acceptance, and how to deal with those of different lifestyles and attitudes as ours.

America could be a better nation for the lessons to be learned from the North.

Otherwise, we could just remain the laughing stock of the entire world.