And Once Again, Jay Ferguson of Sloan

This time I spotted the omnipresent Sloan-man walking up Yonge Street by the Hard Rock Café.

It was a Thursday afternoon. Having failed in my mission to buy plastic toonie rolls and empty spray bottles on behalf of Massey Hall, I was heading back towards work feeling defeated. I was gearing up to pass the Hard Rock, where I was in grave jeopardy of being spotted by Someone Sucky Who Works There.

My mood immediately lifted when I saw Jay Ferguson. He wore a scarf, a handsome jacket, skinny jeans and Cons. He seemed to be in a rush, as he was walking briskly with his hands in his pockets. Perhaps he was cold, dear little guy.


DEAR LITTLE GUY

My star-sighting confirmed that my connections to this city are rock solid, yet phenomenally creepy. I don’t like the idea that Toronto is just a small town masquerading as a dangerous metropolis because I often feel liberated by my cloak of anonymity. But that anonymity is ruined when, in a city of millions, I could GUARANTEE to see at least 3 people I know every day. And I’m not THAT popular.

I also saw Max that afternoon. He’s a new friend who's in Canada from France on an internship. I also pretended not to notice Marty, a man who used to work at this deco-style coffee shop that went belly up merely six months after I began frequenting it.

Friday afternoon I ran into: 1) Sarah, my best friend who was in town from London. She randomly stopped by Massey Hall to say hi to my current/her former boss, Jeff. Leaving work, I spotted 2) Ado, an old high school pal. She used to be stoned ALL the time, but now seems to have found premature wrinkles and a responsible job with the school board. And on the subway, I sat across from 3) a sexy fellow I had sat across from the day before.

As much as I’m accustomed to fearing strangers, all I want to do is observe them and find meaning in the non-coincidences of bumping into people I sort of already know…like Jay Ferguson. What are the heavens telling me? CanCon is cool?

Next time you’re out and about in your city, take the 3-person challenge. Ten bucks says you’ll spot at least that many by midnight. How many you actually want to talk to, versus the number you’ll cross the street to avoid, however, is all up to you…not the heavens.
Enjoy!