People are weighing in online about the unspoken rules and laws of Canada’s largest city and providing revealing insights into Torontonian etiquette.
Toronto is a sprawling and increasingly busy metropolis, teeming with people from all walks of life who are constantly crossing paths, sharing sidewalks and bundling onto streetcars. But it seems not everyone is aware of the city’s unsaid social contract, its specific set of rules that all Torontonians supposedly know by heart.
Allowing people to get off the streetcar, subway and buses before entering and not blocking the doors came up repeatedly on the r/askTO thread on Reddit, as did letting people out of the elevator before boarding.
But, not everyone adheres to the rules.
“It annoys me so much everytime I enter the subway, there’s always someone who suddenly stops at the doorway when there are empty seats or when there’s still space inside. Turns out they stand there for 10+ stations. I want to yell at those kinds of people so badly,” one Reddit user said.
Proper escalator behaviour was also a topic of discussion, but the general consensus was that in all of North America the rule is to keep to the right and pass on the left. Nonetheless, many people expressed their frustration over peoples’ disregard for this straightforward directive.
“It’s such a simple, logical and consistent method to avoid sidewalk chaos, and yet people still insist on walking into me,” one user wrote.
“People are all over the sidewalk because they’re too busy dodging all the scooters and bikes on the sidewalk. It’s about survival now,” another person responded.
There was also discussion over owners no longer picking up after their dogs, a rule that usually applies in Toronto and beyond.
“Apparently picking up after your dog isn’t a thing anymore,” one user wrote.
Many expressed their discontent over a general disregard for keeping transitional spaces like sidewalks, mall walkways, and the bottom of staircases clear, saying that people should pull off to the side if they need to stop instead of expecting others to walk around them.
TORONTONIAN INTERPRETATIONS & PRONUNCIATIONS
Lighthearted chit-chat over the fate of the Toronto Maple Leafs also got its fair share of attention.
“At the start of the hockey season, you say this is our year. When the leafs get eliminated in the first round, you say next year is our year,” one user wrote jokingly.
“The true name of the Rogers Centre is Skydome,” another person wrote in reference to its 2005 name change, many locals still refer to it by its old name.
The subject of speed limits also came up.
“A 50 limit means the limit is 60, 60 means 80, 80 means 100, 100 means there is no speed limit, so long as you don’t pass a cop who is also doing 120, or are clearly flying by everyone else who is also speeding. Speed with care and you’ll never get stopped.”
Lastly, it wouldn’t be a Toronto thread without the age-old question of its pronunciation. “It’s not To-Ron-Toe, it’s Tuh-Ronno,” one user wrote, the only rule everyone seems to keep.
