Observations While Crutching in Toronto

I’ve only been on crutches for about 24 hours and already I’m encouraged by the way that the people of Toronto have reacted. You guys have been awesome.

When I first got the sticks from Norman I hopped on the streetcar to head to the office and it didn’t take long at all to see that people were going to be pretty awesome. I took a seat near to the back doors of the streetcar and waited patiently for my stop. As we approached my stop I got up and accidentally bumped into a young woman who was standing near my seat. I apologized as I had done the bumping, but she then apologized and did her very best to move so that I could get to the doors and wait.

After I got off of my public transit chariot I made my way down the sidewalk and lost the rubber foot to one of my crutches (which I was now secured with duct tape) along the way. Another nice young lady picked it up and handed it to me so that I could put it in my pocket and move along. I smiled more because of strangers before 9:15 than some people choose to do all day.

The kids at work were more than accommodating throughout the day, which is exactly what I expected. I know they’re cool. There were fewer jokes than I was ready for, but they were funny when they came.

The way home was a pain in my ass because my armpits had started to hurt from leaning too hard on the top of the crutches. I hobbled down King to the streetcar stop and waited at the corner. When the 504 came I limped to the door and the driver was super cool about me getting my fare out of my pocket and letting me get stable before he jerked forward. It was a busy car and while nobody jumped out of a seat for me there was no fight for the first open seat that became available at the front of the car. And again, when it was time to get off everyone was great about moving and making it easy for me.

Side note: People are pretty great when you give them a chance and they take it.

This morning I made the same trip into work again and was just as impressed. The 504 driver saw me crutching my way to the corner and the stop and waited for me to get there and board. Even cooler – it was a green light in morning rush hour! I was able to take a seat and get comfortable for the ride. Because I don’t want to be a huge pain in the ass to other people I got up to move to the doors well early of my stop and again people were cool about making space. It helped that the car wasn’t completely packed, but I’d like to think that they would have made the effort either way.

Side note: TTC employees and passengers aren’t all the jerks that people’s Tweets and the local media make them out to be.
The walk to the office was complicated by construction blocking the sidewalk, but another awesome woman who was walking in front of me pointed out a spot where the puddles weren’t very deep or wide and let me know that it was probably the best place to step out. And as my luck would have it she came to my office building and stood waiting for me so that she could hold the door. How cool is that?

That brings us to now – me rocking the PC with the crutches at my desk. They’re not convenient or fun or cool. But I’m not worried about using them because aside from knowing that they’ll help my foot heal I trust that the good people of Toronto are on my side!

Thanks everyone, you really are awesome.

Author profile

Joshua Murray

creator of content, daddy blogger, writer, coffee drinker, fan of the Batman. proud mo bro. prouder dad.