The difficult part was getting home after work! I stopped for a bit at a bakery and when I came out, it was pouring, raining cats and dogs! Knowing that the traffic would be congested in this heavy rainfall, I ducked into Value Village at Keele and Wilson in the hope that when I came out a few minutes later, it would be over.
How wrong was I! As I was in the store, I kept looking out of the store windows checking if the rain had easy off. It never did. The rain just kept pouring down as if the floodgate in the sky had opened. That was so unlike the normal drizzle or period of rain we usually experienced in Toronto. Many shoppers int he store waited just as I was. Half hour passed, the down pour continued. An hour passed, it was stilling raining hard. People were waiting outside and inside the stores. Noone dared running out into the rain because you would certainly drenched.
All of a sudden, the entire store went dark. There was a power outage.The management did a good job. They asked the shoppers to put their unpaid mechanize in individual see through bags with their names and phone numbers on them. Customers could come back the next day, try on their clothes and pay for them as all the cashier machines were not working due to the lost of power. No complaints, no grumbling from shoppers even though many had spent a lot of time finding their items and filling their shopping baskets.
I got into my car and attempted to get home. Little did I know that I would be driving in the most devastated rain storm Toronto has ever experienced! As I drove, I discovered that the power outage was not just in the store; it covered a fairly large area in Toronto and in the GTA area.
All the traffic lights were out where I was and some of the roads were closed due to flooding. I tried different routes but to no avail. Every road was filled with cars either barely moving or crawling inch by inch. I decided to wait it out and got back in the parking lot at the Keele and Wilson shopping plaza. Then I realized the extent of this outage - All the buildings around me were in darkness; shops, stores, gas stations and restaurants were closed by now due to the lack of power. I started to panic a little. I could not buy food anywhere close by. What happened if I ran out of gas halfway. No gas station in sight was open. Where would I go if the call of nature arose. I could be stuck here for hours. I watched and counted the number of cars making past the non functioning traffic lights. Still the cars were bumper to bumper. I called my husband to map out my route home since I was not familiar with the west part of the city and did not have a GPS with me.
I waited for two hours in the parking lot.and kept my husband informed. We worked out a possible route on our cell phones. I took the plunge and ventured out of the parking lot into the streets full of vehicles and drivers trying to get home just like myself. Would the drivers be mad, would they give me the finger because I was not quite sure where I was going. Would there be road rage because people were frustrated by the congestion. I was a little worried. How long would it take me to go home. There was no traffic lights. What a mess it would be on the road, I thought and dreaded the thought of driving home.
I drove to the first traffic light at the intersection of Keele and Wilson, trying to make a left turn going south on Keele. The going was slow. There were long lines of cars at all four corners. Ah, what a pleasant surprise, there was someone directing traffic at this major intersection! A civilian dressed in a bright safety vest trying his best to direct the traffic and helping drivers in the rain!
God bless him! What a welcome sight to see a traffic director and what a brave action on his part!
I passed the first busy intersection with little problem, thanks to this brave Torontonian.
I got through a few more traffic lights where no one was directing the traffic. But I was so impressed by my fellow drivers! On the radio, the traffic reporters kept informing the listeners about the traffic situations and urged drivers to govern themselves accordingly and treat any intersections without working traffic lights as a 4 way stop.
Govern all drivers did! Every car stopped; the driver looked, waited patiently, and waited more until it was safe to proceed before doing so. There was no looting of stores, no screaming, no shouting or profanity; nor was there anybody leaning on their honks pressing on them continuously, rolling down the windows and giving their middle fingers to drivers passing by. There were no shouting matches, name calling, nor some angry persons pulling out their guns shooting people randomly, nor was there any violence or turning over of cars due to anger or frustration. Though the time was well past eight thirty in the evening, the traffic had not let up a bit, congested and going at a snail pace while drivers and passengers were tired, hungry and frustrated, everyone on the roads behaved with tremendous courtesy, consideration and civility!
Never in my thirty-seven years living in Toronto, have I felt so proud being a Torontonian!
Thank you, Toronto, for being the best city in the world! To my fellow citizens, drivers and Torontonians, you were amazing, honest, patient, calm and polite! Even though Toronto experienced the worst rain storm in its history - 120 mm of rain in a few hours causing flooding in many areas and creating havoc, we lived through it with calm, grace and dignity. Toronto and all its residents can hold our heads high!
Toronto Rocks!!!
R.T.
Toronto
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