Comedies and Tragedies

I saw a dead guy on a sidewalk.

I was returning from an errand, something that I've wanted to do for years and was always looking for an opportunity to do it when I found myself in Toronto. And this weekend brought that opportunity.

We were in the city for a few reasons: our American friends were visiting to meet up, earlier in the week, with some friends they had met in Germany, who were also visiting Toronto. Because Kid 2 lives in this city, and her birthday was coming up in a few days, our friends were hoping that DW and I would be able to make it down as well.

And bring Kid 1 along.

So we booked the Friday off, packed up the car, and headed southwest to Ontario's capital. It was going to be a 48-hour getaway to spend with old friends, meet new friends, celebrate a birthday and Mother's Day, and then home again before dinnertime on Sunday.

Nothing beats time with family and friends.

On Saturday, after breakfast at one of our favourite diners, near Massey Hall, and then a visit through Kensington Market, we returned for a bit of a rest at our hotel, which was near the intersection of Jarvis and Richmond. With some downtime for family and friends to recharge before dinner, I took the opportunity to make a short trip to a place that I've wanted to check out for a couple of years, and it was only about a 10-minute walk away.

My family and I were big fans of the hit TV show, Kim's Convenience, which was set in a small corner store along Queen Street, near Moss Park. The show came to an unexpected and quick end in 2021 but due to its success, the signs for the actual convenience store have been left unchanged, and I wanted to take some photos to preserve the memory of this awesome show for myself.

Plus, Kid 1 had a craving for a chocolate bar.

It rained a little on the walk but that never bothers me. Wet roads are great for photography and clouds can set a great mood. And it didn't really rain enough to hinder my walk without a raincoat or hat.

The walk was pretty uneventful and I found the shop with no problem at all. Inside, the store looks exactly the way it did in the TV show, though it seemed a bit smaller and was a little more cramped than the TV cameras made it appear. Along the wall, behind the counter, were various photos of the cast—Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Jean Yoon, Andrea Bang, Simu Liu, Andrew Phung, and others, including the actual owner of the real store.

A tall, young black man was minding the store on this day. He helped me find the specific chocolate bar that Kid 1 was craving. The bonus was that it was on a BOGO special.

I asked the young man if it was all right if I took photos inside the store. He said it was fine and offered to take pictures for me, with me in the shot. I'm sure that this happened all the time.

I asked him if he had been working in Kim's Convenience during the show's run but he said that he's only been working there for about a year. The owner kept the store signage the same after the show's run because the store was now a tourist attraction.

Pictures acquired, chocolate bars in hand, I made my way back to the hotel, feeling pretty good about taking advantage of my friends' and family's downtime to make the trip I've wanted to do for a while. Despite the light rain and being on my own, it was worth it.

It was then that my afternoon changed from reflecting on comedy to realizing a tragedy.

I'm used to hearing sirens in Toronto. It seems that in this city of millions, there's always some sort of emergency. And because our hotel was close to a firehouse and EMS station, it wasn't surprising to be constantly hearing the lament of a fire truck, ambulance, or police car.

This time, however, the sirens seemed to converge close to the hotel, and as I turned from Queen Street onto Jarvis Street, I saw all three emergency vehicles on the scene by the Petro-Canada gas station. Seeing that some activity was taking place on that sidewalk, I decided it would be best if I crossed over to the other side of Jarvis.

From a block away, I could see a man lying on his back, arms outstretched to either side, on the cold sidewalk. Judging by his worn and dirty clothes, and the equally dirty blanket and few belongings next  to him, I figured the poor man was homeless. Sadly, we had seen so many unfortunate people in a similar state in this neighbourhood, sleeping on street corners, that you had to be careful not to trip over them.

I hoped that the man was okay but by the lack of haste that the paramedics were making, it didn't look good. And by the time I reached the scene on the opposite side of the road, the paramedics were rolling the man onto his side so that they could get a body bag under him.

I've seen dead people before but never in this manner. I've seen family members and friends, lifeless, in hospital beds. I've seen open caskets at funerals.

But to see another human, limp, in such an unforgiving place, it seemed unfairly sad. However this man had found himself in the circumstances that he was in, no one deserves to end their days alone on a city street.

I had come into this city and spent it surrounded with family and friends, while somebody else left the city, alone. I had ventured out on that Saturday afternoon, looking for a place that made me remember a time of warm, make-believe entertainment. What I didn't count on was a cold dose of reality.