I haven't traveled the world but I have been to several international cities and I would say Toronto ranks clearly in the top 10 if not top 5 worldwide. It doesn't mean everything is perfect, far from it but overall this is a great city.

 Driving in this city is sometimes a nightmare and very stressful no matter what part you drive in on a regular basis. I recall a visit I made to my sister in Michigan last summer and was pleasantly surprised when I was pulling out of a mall with bumper to bumper traffic. As I pulled up to the curb on the main road, traffic was very heavy but as soon as I did, a driver waved  me to go ahead and merge into the line. Would that ever happen in Toronto? Sometimes I have to wait maybe 5-6 minutes before I can force my way into the stream of cars. It was refreshing and the courteous drivers made me be more courteous and enjoyed the visit. We all need an experience like that in this fast paced city and I believe all people are good but we get caught up in the rush at "all costs syndrome" and we rush and act discourteous because everyone else is doing it to us. But if we are all courteous to others it comes back ten fold.
I think the drivers that really annoy me most are the ones on a two lane road when they are coming up the inside lane and 100 meters ahead there is construction or a delivery truck parked in the curb lane. Everyone is lined up in a single file because the inside lane is impassible but people pull along the right side and skip right to the front and then put on their signal and try to merge in forcefully. Not very polite since they knew before they got there that they would be jumping the line. I've always said the guy that races by you at an intersection to get ahead of you, let him go because he will be the first one to the next red light.
I see kindness in this city all the time and I see jerks too but I think the good people out weight the bad and that is encouraging. Slow down and be courteous because it's contagious and you will feel better about yourself and you never get home quicker. But then that never stops us from complaining so just slow down and relax it makes the drive home more fun. Someone said to me many years ago they were from the east coast visiting one summer, "I love Toronto because I can get everything I need", we take too many thing for granted like it's expected and we do have it all here in Toronto. I've lived my whole life in Toronto and wouldn't change it for anything and yet we have room for improvement but it starts with all of us instead of the "me" attitude.

It's also very strange that a lot of USA TV series mention Toronto in their story lines and I don't think that is by coincidence, and I'm talking some major popular series. I can remember when you had to go to Buffalo for a beer on Sundays because to get a beer here in Toronto you had to have a meal, but times change and now the people from Buffalo visit us on the weekends and let's show them we care, not only to them but our fellow citizens. You just might be 2 minutes late getting home but you will feel much better.

Daniel .......

Facebook friend requests.

Well, not true friend requests. These are the unsolicitated requests from people you don't know. Don't even have a "mutual friend". Don't even live in the same country. In some cases, you don't even speak the same language.

As I understand it, Facebook is a social networking community, where you can connect with people that you know, or knew long ago and lost touch with. It can also be useful to connect with people who share common interests, hobbies, passions, etc...(this is where those Fan Pages come in handy). I think it's great that