View from the Hood
The corner was our Rock of Gibraltar, our Stonehenge
Our Taj Mahal, our monument,
Our testimonial to freedom, to peace and to love
Down on the corner...
Everyime I look out my crib, I hear Common.
Observations:
- Lots of people just standing around listlessly. I think of the streets as a means of getting from point A to point B, but I look out the window and I always see 2-3 guys just bumming around on the corner. And it’s not always the same 2-3 guys either. Actually, there seems to be a lot of listless bumming around in this city - I see a lot of people bumming around in the mall, bumming around outside the mall, bumming around outside the library, people just loitering everywhere, just standing around, not exactly going anywhere. Seems to be popular in Stamford.
- But when people actually do get moving, everyone in this city here – irrespective of class, colour, or creed - jaywalks. All too often I’ve witnessed everyone from old white guys in suits to Hispanic women pushing strollers with toddlers in tow jaywalk through the red light while I stand there like a dopey, mind-the-law-to-the-tee acquiescent Canadian obediently waiting for the light to change.
- People here love their luxury SUVs – Beemers, Benzes, Lexus, you name it, you’ll see it – usually on their way out during the afternoon rush.
- Stamford’s not a bad-looking city, and it’s growing on me. It’s kind of a fun city to navigate because everything downtown is compact and laid out so at random, possibly following old colonial horsepaths – unlike the utilitarian Toronto grid - and you never quite know what to expect next or what’s around the corner. There’s also a good deal of history and they’ve preserved some nice 1930s style Art-Deco architecture downtown, and there is some of that small-city charm.
- The American accent is very discernable if you listen for it, particularly in the way they pronounce the short “o” sound. Whereas Canadians would say “not”, Americans say "naht"; dollar is "dahler"; job is "jahb"; model is "mahdel". Americans speak in a noticeably more nasal pitch, and it’s particularly pronounced in the Northeast. It’s not like the crisp, clean almost regal intonation of the Canadian accent. I think I'm starting to pick it up.
- People here say “all set” a lot. Say someone has completed a task for you – they’ll say “all set” or “you’re all set”, meaning everything’s done. I hear it everywhere down here, but it’s an expression that’s seldom used in Canada. Maybe the Canadian equivalent would be “That’s all.
- My office building is very white male-dominated – like 80% male and white, unlike the surrounding neighbourhood (neighborhood). I don’t know whether this is because this building is mostly host to actuarial and accounting firms (numbers types), but I actually observe these demographics to be true of much of the surrounding offices as well. I also wonder whether this is representative of the northeastern US or the US in general, (maybe American women are more conservative and hence stay home with the kids?) but it’s quite a difference from my experience working in Toronto, where there’s a more equitable male-female distribution, not to mention an ethnic mix that’s more reflective of the general population.
- Still, I think I am arguably less racially conscious here than in Canada and it’s because subconsciously I perceive all the people as foreigners here and I have no sense of fealty to this land; be it white, black or Hispanic, they’re all American to me first.
- They’re not big on recycling here. I think I’ve seen maybe three blue boxes in my office, no recycling receptacles in my residence, and none on the city streets – just garbage cans. I think the most telling sign of the pervasive disregard for the environment was when, upon leaving after a lunch meeting in the boardroom, I noted there were Styrofoam plates thrown out in the blue bin. And this in Connecticut – a fiercely liberal blue state! Toronto is an eco-paradise by comparison – Ralph Nader would cream his pants. I’m tempted to ask my colleagues where the recycling bin for papers is only to see how well they suppress their laughter.
- Nobody says "eh" down here! I’m starting to miss it, eh?
Our Taj Mahal, our monument,
Our testimonial to freedom, to peace and to love
Down on the corner...
Everyime I look out my crib, I hear Common.
Observations:
- Lots of people just standing around listlessly. I think of the streets as a means of getting from point A to point B, but I look out the window and I always see 2-3 guys just bumming around on the corner. And it’s not always the same 2-3 guys either. Actually, there seems to be a lot of listless bumming around in this city - I see a lot of people bumming around in the mall, bumming around outside the mall, bumming around outside the library, people just loitering everywhere, just standing around, not exactly going anywhere. Seems to be popular in Stamford.
- But when people actually do get moving, everyone in this city here – irrespective of class, colour, or creed - jaywalks. All too often I’ve witnessed everyone from old white guys in suits to Hispanic women pushing strollers with toddlers in tow jaywalk through the red light while I stand there like a dopey, mind-the-law-to-the-tee acquiescent Canadian obediently waiting for the light to change.
- People here love their luxury SUVs – Beemers, Benzes, Lexus, you name it, you’ll see it – usually on their way out during the afternoon rush.
- Stamford’s not a bad-looking city, and it’s growing on me. It’s kind of a fun city to navigate because everything downtown is compact and laid out so at random, possibly following old colonial horsepaths – unlike the utilitarian Toronto grid - and you never quite know what to expect next or what’s around the corner. There’s also a good deal of history and they’ve preserved some nice 1930s style Art-Deco architecture downtown, and there is some of that small-city charm.
- The American accent is very discernable if you listen for it, particularly in the way they pronounce the short “o” sound. Whereas Canadians would say “not”, Americans say "naht"; dollar is "dahler"; job is "jahb"; model is "mahdel". Americans speak in a noticeably more nasal pitch, and it’s particularly pronounced in the Northeast. It’s not like the crisp, clean almost regal intonation of the Canadian accent. I think I'm starting to pick it up.
- People here say “all set” a lot. Say someone has completed a task for you – they’ll say “all set” or “you’re all set”, meaning everything’s done. I hear it everywhere down here, but it’s an expression that’s seldom used in Canada. Maybe the Canadian equivalent would be “That’s all.
- My office building is very white male-dominated – like 80% male and white, unlike the surrounding neighbourhood (neighborhood). I don’t know whether this is because this building is mostly host to actuarial and accounting firms (numbers types), but I actually observe these demographics to be true of much of the surrounding offices as well. I also wonder whether this is representative of the northeastern US or the US in general, (maybe American women are more conservative and hence stay home with the kids?) but it’s quite a difference from my experience working in Toronto, where there’s a more equitable male-female distribution, not to mention an ethnic mix that’s more reflective of the general population.
- Still, I think I am arguably less racially conscious here than in Canada and it’s because subconsciously I perceive all the people as foreigners here and I have no sense of fealty to this land; be it white, black or Hispanic, they’re all American to me first.
- They’re not big on recycling here. I think I’ve seen maybe three blue boxes in my office, no recycling receptacles in my residence, and none on the city streets – just garbage cans. I think the most telling sign of the pervasive disregard for the environment was when, upon leaving after a lunch meeting in the boardroom, I noted there were Styrofoam plates thrown out in the blue bin. And this in Connecticut – a fiercely liberal blue state! Toronto is an eco-paradise by comparison – Ralph Nader would cream his pants. I’m tempted to ask my colleagues where the recycling bin for papers is only to see how well they suppress their laughter.
- Nobody says "eh" down here! I’m starting to miss it, eh?
posted by Sen | 9/04/2006 01:32:00 AM
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1 comments
1 Comments:
-
James
Yeah, Canadians are actually big on recycling. When I was in Seoul I would walk around with an empty pop can for like 15 minutes without finding any recycling - or even a garbage. There are lots of things we take for granted here.
9/08/2006 09:30:00 AMPost a Comment
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