Ottawa is the kind of town

Hello Everyone, 

A few observations about my beloved, boring hometown. 

Ottawa is the kind of town where I had to blow the snow out of the coin slot in a parking meter so I could pay two dollars for 47 minutes of downtown parking next to City Hall, and make the walk over in -23 degree weather (-40 C with the windchill!).

But once there I got to see a lesbian couple nervously adjust each other’s wedding outfits while their family sat waiting for the Justice of the Peace to come perform their ceremony. It was touching.

It’s also the kind of town where you pay $11 (plus HST) to get a reprint of the parking pass (that was already very much not free) that says you can park on the street for more than three hours without getting a ticket, all while bored civil servants chat in English and French, simultaneously, behind the counter.

But it’s also the kind of place where I didn’t have to wait in line to get this service, I didn’t have to pay a bribe, and I can be sure that the laws will be followed.

It’s the kind of town that turns bike paths into ski paths in the winter, and where I’m not the only psycho out for a ski in unspeakably frigid weather on a Sunday. Where a giant snow-clearing grader and a cyclist will be stopped, side by side, at a stop sign in the dead of winter, with no other traffic around. Rules are rules, after all.

It's the kind of town where the "sexy firemen" in the Gay Pride parade are middle aged guys in (buttoned up) regulation blue work shirts and (sensibly sized) work pants. But they also carried a sign in support of the LGBT community. 

Toronto had Mel Lastman and Rob Ford as mayors. Montreal had Dennis Coderre and Valerie Plante as mayors. We've had Jim Watson. Three times. The wildest part of his week is if someone sneaks a scoop of regular coffee in with the decaf. But we've also never elected Rob Ford, so point in our favour. 

It's not the kind of things that goes on billboards, but "boring, safe and functional" might as well be our motto. I can live with that.

Wes

Photos

How roommates are dealing with the cold.