The Toronto Transit Commission, aka the TTC, aka Toronto’s Public transport has this very cool program called “Art in Architecture”.  Many of the subway stations have public art included in their design and I love checking them out at every stop on my way to work (from my seat by the window of course). The stop next to my office is called Leslie and the picture above shows “The Ampersand”. A piece of art designed and developed by Canadian Artist Micah Lexier. In 1997 they collected handwriting samples from 3,400 people across Toronto including students, residents in nearby neighborhoods, TTC passengers, employees, and school children. The station is covered in 17,000 tiles, which are a reproduction of these handwritten samples. Each one has an ampersand stamped in the middle.

I don’t know if it was a coincidence or if it was meant to be. That morning I got unto the streetcar with my headphones on listening to some good old Argentinian folklore music. At the next stop a young woman gets on, followed by a young man in a suit. She’s got her work clothes on, a big purse, heels to balance on, her phone and headphones on and a Starbucks cup in the spare hand. Since there is nowhere to sit something’s gotta go in the purse so she can hold on to a handle. As she tries to figure out how to put her things away she looks up and politely asks the young man in the suit to hold her coffee. He smiles at her and gladly helps her out. He didn’t look like he was being trapped into helping, or like he didn’t really want to help but had to in order to avoid looking like a jerk, he seemed to genuinely want to help and the whole scenario made me smile. So I creepily paused my music and listened to what was going on for the next 4 stops. It was great; he asked how her morning was going and where she worked. She didn’t blow him off or give him a short answer. In fact, they had a very lovely conversion about the business they were in, whether they’d be able to take time off over the summer, what they’d like to do now that the weather was nice to enjoy their free time. They smiled, had a few laughs, and I have no idea what happened next because I had to get off to go on the subway. But, it made my morning so happy to see two complete strangers take the time to interact with each other! And yes, I get it some people hate small talk nonsense, but let me tell you what, one little act of kindness from a small request for help, starting out as small talk, turned into a lovely conversation that not only maybe made a difference in their day, but a difference in mine. And I was just a simple bystander. Anyway, as I was saying… what happened next was kind of crazy to me… I literally experienced what I was about to randomly read for the first time on that plaque (explaining the picture above) at train station that I’d been walking through every weekday morning for the past two months.

“The imagery was made by a wide spectrum of individuals and leaves for posterity their individual, yet anonymous marks. Personalities are expressed through handwriting and one can’t help but speculate as the writer’s gender, age, or even occupation. This artwork acknowledges the duality of being both an individual and part of a community.”

As I walked away from the train stop to work I thought about what I had read and seen that morning and realized that one of things I love about Toronto is the since of community. The conclusion I got from it all is that it is important to recognize people’s individuality within a society, but it is equally as important to recognize that no man is an island and that we are all part of a community, that our individual actions impact others regardless of our intentions and that interacting with one another and respecting each other is fundamental.

I grew up in a culture that is highly community based. The best way I can explain the sense of community in Paraguay is people’s willingness to help. I always say, when we’ve got visitors coming in and need to borrow a mattress you don’t have 1 friend here or there offering you a spare mattress you usually have five people offering a mattress and another five offering you a whole spare room in their house! Luckily for me Notre Dame had a strong sense of community as well. Most people there were willing to help and not out of courtesy or self interest, but also out of genuine kindness. I remember when I was moving stuff in and out of storage each summer I had friends offering to drive us places, lend us their cars, help us build lofts, for nothing in return. My friends’ parents inviting me to come home over breaks because flying all the way to South America for a few days was just unreasonable. Then there were classmates willing to take the time to help you out and study if you were struggling with a particular topic. But once I graduated and got thrown into the big world I had major culture shock. Not only because I moved South (just kidding) but also because the US is ranked as one of the most individualistic countries in cross-cultural studies. And that’s not a bad thing; the whole point of cross-cultural is understanding why and how different countries and cultures within them function. I am pretty certain that the individualistic nature is what results in the ambition that drives the US to be such a successful and powerful country. It’s great and there are many people who thrive in that environment. Me personally, I’m competitive and ambitious, but I love love love community.

So, before I side track into a whole analysis of US culture and what I learned in Copenhagen DK which is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum (research Hofstede & Globes cultural dimensions studies if interested in this topic or we can chat about it some other time), I just want to get back to the point of this story. The point is that morning I experienced an act of kindness, two random individuals, connecting and helping each other, being part of the community. It made me realize that I haven’t been grateful enough of the higher sense of community there is in this city. 

Canada as a country is still pretty high up on the “individualistic” ranking (score of 80 vs. US 91), but Toronto has people from so many parts of the world that it feels like some of their “community sense” has seeped in. Maybe it’s not and maybe I’m imagining it. Maybe it’s true that Canadians are so nice and that’s why I feel a bit closer to my comfortable “community” oriented lifestyle. All I can say is I’m so thankful to be part of a community that acknowledges individuals for who they are but also recognizes the importance of participating in the community. It feels functional, it feels good, and it makes me happy.

Well this got longer than expected. Cheers!!