The Garden City Refugee

On the Road – Bus Stop Kickboxers, Sunflowers, Roadside Riffraff and More

November 12, 2026

Highlights and lowlights from yesterday’s bus trek to and from Hamilton and Burlington:

1. Getting out of the passenger’s side door of an SUV after getting a ride to Fairview Mall was a Little Miss Prissy with dyed blond hair who was tapping away on her whiz-bang smartphone and listening to some tunes on her fancy Bluetooth headphones while waiting for the GO bus. And yet I couldn’t help but notice that the black runners she was wearing came straight from a discount store. I don’t even think Walmart sells junk that bad. OK, maybe they do. But they were about the cheapest shoes money could buy.

2. While a couple of dozen passengers, including me, waited for the GO bus, which was running 10 minutes late, some dude a block away was practicing his kickboxing routines with several trees along the boulevard.

3. After boarding the packed single-decker bus, I took a seat next to a guy who had his backpack on the aisle seat. Once again, I didn’t ask his permission to sit there, but he did move it before my butt hit it.

4. As a couple of black guys were disembarking at Grimsby, the driver said, “Don’t learn too much today. Save some for another day.”

5. Walking into the Confederation GO station was an Asian guy wearing a black dipshit mask. Yes, they’re still around.

6. But sadly, the number of kind men out there is rapidly declining . . .

7. Sunflowers on full display on the Barton bus. All part of their “Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program” that, according to their website, is a globally recognized initiative that provides people with non-visible disabilities a way to discreetly signal that they may need extra time, support or understanding while using public transit or other services. The voluntary program allows participants to wear a Sunflower-branded lanyard or wristband to communicate their needs without having to explain their disability. Non-visible disabilities can include, but are not limited to, conditions such as autism, anxiety, chronic pain, dementia, hearing or vision loss, epilepsy, learning difficulties, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions.

I shudder to think of the level of institutional bureaucracy that came up with that crap.

8. The ride on the Stroller Express, otherwise known as the Barton bus, featured two walkers and one stroller. A relatively light day by Barton standards.

9. If you’re still on the booster train, you definitely qualify for the Sunflower Program . . .

10. Once a vibrant and thriving mall, Jackson Square has become a ghost town. The biggest tenant has become “Leasing Opportunity.” Will the last one leaving please turn out the lights?

11. More evidence as to how the concept of personal responsibility is going by way of the dodo bird . . .

12. Assorted riffraff in front of the Salvation Army:

 

13. Situational crime . . .

14. Can’t say I disagree . . .

15. While in line at Durand Coffee, a guy left his bag and open IBM ThinkPad on a seat, then went back up to the counter and waited for his order. When he got back, the bag and laptop were still there, untouched. You’ve heard this before, but this is not the Old Country.

16. Seated nearby were three old guys, one of whom was a guy with a gray beard and a pair of walking sticks and wearing a red jacket. “They’re getting a lot of rain,” he said of his son who lives on Vancouver Island. “Too much, too fast.”

Then, the guy in the beige sweater talked about a friend of his who has some type of cancer he’s never heard about before. Sounds familiar. But I digress. Red Jacket Guy didn’t ask for details. Instead, he bemoaned how the price of oysters has gone up. “A dollar at least,” he said.

The guy in the blue sweater started talking about football. “The Grey Cup is on this weekend,” he said. “I pay attention to American football. I enjoy it. But every time I see a collision, I cringe.” “It’s the collision,” said Beige Sweater Guy. “But it’s also the knees.”

“I remember one high school football game I went to,” said Red Jacket Guy. “My son, he wasn’t very big, 145 pounds, but he was fast. No one could catch him. But another kid lost four teeth. A dentist was there. He collected them in a paper cup and wired them back in.”

“I went to a game at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor,” said Blue Sweater Guy.

“Must have been impressive,” replied Beige Sweater Guy.

“If I had played, I would have been killed,” said Blue Sweater Guy. “I was skinny and tall.”

17. Free flowers . . .

18. Somehow, I don’t think anyone’s actually ever been fined. Call it a hunch.

19. Words of wisdom on a bench near Hamilton City Hall . . .

20. More of Hamilton’s finest outside Jackson Square:

21. While waiting for a Burlington Transit bus on King Street, a woman pushing a stroller walked by. She was wearing a pink sweater with “WINNIPEG” on it. As I’ve said before, that place does keep following me around.

22. Two DWAMs™ on the Burlington bus. Note that the old guy’s dipshit mask was pulled down well below his nose. But though he was breathing through a dipshit mask that probably has more bacteria than the inside of his toilet, he was “protecting” himself.

 

23. Spray-painted on the sign at the Fairview Street at Maple Avenue stop was “JENN IS A RATT.”

24. Inside the Burlington Seniors Center Burlington Center mall was an older woman pushing a walker and wearing an N95 dipshit mask.

25. Seated in the food court was a young woman sketching something.

26. Also in the food court was an ad promoting pet photos with Santa. Seeing that, I knew I wasn’t in Hamilton anymore because the pets there would be on the dinner plate instead.

27. I’m sure the announcements that were made at 11:00 in honor of Remembrance Day were touching, but I could only hear about one out of every ten words thanks to the broken-down sound system they must have salvaged from the wreckage of the old Winnipeg Arena.

28. Most everyone in the mall stopped to observe a moment of silence. Except for a couple of Middle Easterners jabbering away with the clerk at one of the many mobile phone kiosks about a new plan.

29. How welcoming and inclusive of them . . .

30. Call them about “permenant” soffit lighting . . .

31. For the midday ride back to St. Catharines, they sent a double-decker bus, which was less than half full. But for the morning commuters, they sent only a single-decker bus, which was jam-packed. Sometimes you’ve really got to wonder about the people at Metrolinx.

32. Upon arrival back at Fairview Mall, the bus pulled in just ahead of the Burlington-bound bus. And when the driver opened the door, rather than waiting for departing passengers to get off, a bunch of people came rushing in, asking if it was the Burlington bus and ignoring the big “NIAGARA FALLS” signs out front and along the side.