By Tamas Soos
Damn, now I can’t remember. What are those big, green things called again?
Oh yes, lawns. Mississauga has plenty of them. In fact, I have my own lawn in front of my house. And behind my house, too. They’re in front of the malls, schools, libraries, police stations and City Hall.
Mississauga is the antithesis of Toronto and of the neighbourhoods around Ryerson. Instead of a concrete jungle where pedestrians fearlessly jaywalk across Yonge Street, Mississauga keeps the roads for the cars.
If you’re on the road without a car, we’ll run you over. “Walk on the sidewalk” is our motto – or at least it ought to be. Yeah, we drive a lot in Mississauga, but you have to understand: Everything is far away from everything else.
That’s the price we Mississauganers pay for a bit of green space. And it’s a hell of a bargain if you ask me! Granted, living in Mississauga does have its drawbacks. Commuting to school everyday is bothersome.
But I’m an optimist. Commuting guarantees me a minimum of 30 extra minutes of sleep on the GoTrain each morning. Coupled with my sleep at night, I’m fresh and ready for the day ahead.
As much as I envy my classmates who get to wake up 10 minutes before class, I savour being able to leave Toronto at the end of the day and head to a clean city, free of litter and dirt. Toronto, world class or not, is one filthy city.
Toronto is like the noisy neighbour who keeps you awake at night. Mississauga is the soccer mom, driving to a sea of green, away from all the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan area. And you know what? Mississauga is a community!
We all share a common bond in Mississauga. We can all boast that we voted for the same mayor and, moreover, that we like our choice. Hurricane Hazel: That’s who Mississauganers voted for.
She has won by a landslide each election since 1997; she got 91.64 per cent in the 2003 mayoral election, to be precise.
Hazel’s one mistake: She wandered off the sidewalk a bit too much, and, hell-yeah, a pick-up truck hit her for it.
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