Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The joys of living in Scarborough


I came across this on Facebook (Yes I am a Facebook junkie!). It made me laugh. I'm from Scarborough. I grew up here and couldn't wait to move away as soon as I could. Which I did. I moved away to London for a couple of years when I got my first job out of college. For me as a kid, it wasn't about the crime (there was none), it was more about being so far away from everything when you had to take a bus to get there. But then I got a job in the TO, moved back, got married and guess where I choose to live? You guessed it, in Scarborough. Today I'm proud to say I live in Scarborough!

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM SCARBOROUGH WHEN...

You're familiar with neighbourhood names like: Agincourt, Malvern, West Hill, Warden Woods, Cedarbrae, Tuxedo Court, Bay Mills, and Wexford.

You perk up every time SCARBOROUGH is mentioned on the news but it's usually related to some crime story (i.e. murder, robbery, drive-by-shooting/stabbing etc.)

You know what the "SRT" is.

You often refer to SCARBOROUGH as SCARBERIA; SCARLEM; SCOMPTON; SCARCITY. (and if you wanna be crude...new ones include: SCARLANKA, SCARBLACKISTAN, SCARBADOS)

No one speaks English on the bus.

You consider anything north of Steeles Avenue as "BUSH".

You consider anything east of the Rouge River as "BUSH".

You're probably been covered in the Scarborough Mirror for something.

You love to mention other parts of Toronto (i.e. Jane-Finch, Regent Park, Flemingdon Park, Parkdale, Rexdale, Weston, St. Jamestown, etc.) and talk about how they have a higher crime rate than SCARBOROUGH.

You are familiar with these streets: Victoria Park Avenue, Markham Road, Kingston Road, McCowan Road, Warden Avenue, Morningside Ave, Kennedy Road, Pharmacy Ave.

There is an Ontario Housing complex in your neighborhood.

There is a Chinese restaurant or a Roti shop in your neighbourhood.

Scarborough Town Centre was "the place" to hang-out when you were a teenager.

You hate it when NON-Scarborough people refer to it as the ghetto.

You know the Scarborough Bluffs are there, but hardly bother to go see it.

Famous people from Scarborough include, Mike Myers and the Barenaked Ladies.

North York pisses you off.

Mississauga pisses you off.

Your bike has been stolen at least once.

Your car has been stolen at least once, or you know someone who's car has been stolen.

You refer to Agincourt as "Asian-court"

There are more Guyanese people here than in Georgetown, Guyana.

You are able to distinguish the ethnicity of a driver just by looking at his/her car (i.e. If you see a car with Hello Kitty or other stuffed animals in it, then you know its probably someone of Hong Kong descent OR if you see a car with tinted windows, gold or chrome fender trims, and a crown air-freshener, then you know its probably someone from the Caribbean) and you sure as hell know that when you see a "sooped" up 1993 Honda civic hatchback there is either an Italian or a Greek or a Tamil drivin!

You HATE Mel Lastman because you think he ignores Scarborough, BUT you still voted for him.

Even though you only live about 15 KM from Downtown Toronto, it still takes you an hour or more by TTC and at least a half hour by car to get there. Not to mention rush hour.

People involuntarily back away when you say you're from SCARBOROUGH.

The TTC buses run EXTRA SLOW here.

You're proud that Scarborough is more diverse than most small countries.

JOHNNY'S is your favourite burger

You miss when your building was still full of Newfies.

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