Crazy friendly

So I've just moved to Canada for my studies and though I was prepared for a very different culture and lifestyle, I was still shocked at how friendly the people here are. I've been here for about a week  and during that time I've ridden a lot of buses, that's where I experienced how polite and friendly Canadians are.

Being a total newcomer to the local transportation and the routes they take, my mom and I had to constantly ask the bus drivers for directions. Apart from the first bus we were on, all the drivers would readily tell us when to get off and some even chatted with us along the way.

Another bizarre thing for me was that passengers (not all, but enough) getting off would say 'thank you'. I know that its manners and I shouldn't be surprised but really, how many places do you know where people actually say thank you to bus drivers? Even this one dude who was talking on the phone and you know swearing the way some teens do, shouted 'Stop please', after the bus driver missed the stop, and said 'thank you!' after.

Another thing that I am not used to is how handicap friendly everything is and how people are so accustomed to handicapped people. I sat near the front of the bus multiple times and noticed that a lot of people in the front got up at one stop. I had thought they had gotten off, but they had just moved to the back because either a senior citizen, a handicapped person or a person with strollers was getting on. The front is reserved for priority seating and can be flipped up to make more space for those who need it (picture).
Furthermore, the first time I saw the chairs pushed up was the same time I noticed everyone moving back. This woman came on board, pushed the row of empty seats up and went to sit on the other side of the bus. Then when I was wondering what in the world these people were doing, a person in a wheelchair comes in and takes the spot that was vacated and it all makes sense. Shockingly. Really, this renews my faith in humanity.

But that's not the most shocking thing. The most shocking thing was that the bus drivers themselves said good day or thanks to the passengers getting off. The first time this happened I was wondering who the driver was talking to and what he was saying. After a few stops I figured out that he was saying "good day" to the passengers getting off, even when the passengers didn't say thank you.

Seriously it kind of reminds me of the film The Invention of Lying, where everyone is so honest at the beginning of the film (not sure if it's the same throughout, did not watch the rest of the movie).

Oh and their LRT stations. There are absolutely no security measures, in the sense that you could literally just walk in and get on the train. There are no turnstiles, no barriers, nothing. And they supposedly do random checks and if you hadn't followed the proper procedures (E.G. a validated ticket) you'd be fined $250. Maybe that's enough of a deterrent for people to refrain from cheating the system, but that's a hell of a lot of trust the government has in its citizens.


Though it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm pretty sure I'm going to love living and studying here. It really is a beautiful country (even through its coldness) and the people are just as beautiful.