Victoria, BC
April 15, 2006
"Rrrroll Up the Rim to Win" and Other Musings
It is now April 15 and since my return from Argentina I have traveled by car about 4,500 km to Montreal and then via Detroit to Chicago, along Interstate 90 to Seattle via the Badlands of South Dakota, Yellowstone National Park, Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia where I will be living, with Barbara, for the next three months.
I arrived back in Ottawa on the morning of March 21 and the very next day I was back in the classroom as a |"professor supleant" at St. Matthews High School. Since our accommodations in Ottawa are rented out till the end of July, I stayed with friends-- Wilf and Lise, till my departure on April 3 for Victoria.
I still miss Argentina and it is still very much in my thoughts, however there were certain indicators, which brought home the fact that I was back in Canada.
Firstly among them was the simple act of crossing a street. In Canada, with the exception of Montreal, this is a relatively safe act for the reason that drivers are very courteous towards pedestrians. There is a simple rule of courtesy, which says that the pedestrian has the right of way at an intersection and above all at crosswalks.
If you have read my reports you have probably noticed (how could you have not) that I was pretty enthusiastic in my assessment of Argentina. It wasn't something that was put on; it was exactly how I felt about the country with my only fault being perhaps a general personality trait of being too optimistic and accepting of new things and situations with an open mind.
Crossing the streets in Argentina did not fall into the above category. I was astounded at how pedestrians in Argentina are treated with distain and disregard. Cars, or rather driver's of cars, act as if the pedestrian is not there and the assumption is that the pedestrian will get out of the way. I long ago in Argentina concluded that there is no point in fighting the system by getting angry at driver's conduct but instead the easiest route of non-resistance was to comply and to cross streets with caution at your own peril and to stay out of the way of drivers. Even at crosswalks, and the only one's I remember were in Bariloche , there was no inclination to let pedestrians have the right of way. Now, having said all that, there were of course a few instances where drivers did indeed stop unexpectedly to allow pedestrian right of way. I always made a point of thanking them with a wave of the hand.
Secondly among the reasons that I knew definitely that I was back in Canada was the preponderance of Tim Hortons Coffee/ Donut/ Bagel/ Sandwich Shops. In Ontario they seem to be everywhere and I was somewhat shocked that here in Victoria, British Columbia after having been here for over a week I have only seen one, yes-I repeat-one Tim Hortons. To us from Ontario that seems unthinkable.
(Excuse the detail, but for any non-Canadians this really is part of Canadiana that you should know)
Tim Hortons is a Canadian, or partly Canadian, success story perhaps unparalleled in the business history of this country. Started by former Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player Tim Horton as a single donut shop in 1964 in the Hamilton area, it has grown into a Canadian institution. Unfortunately Tim Horton himself was not around to savor the success since he was tragically killed at the age of 44 in the crash of his sports car in 1974. The franchise however is guided in the able hands of one -Ron Joyce - who becomes the sole owner after the death of Tim Horton.
Since then the franchise has grown in leaps and bounds and was eventually bought out in 1993 by the Wendy's Hamburger Restaurant Corporation based in the U.S. and led by another self-made business icon - the late Dave Thomas. For whatever reason, most Canadians still think of Tim Hortons as a Canadian institution despite the fact that it is fully owned by an American corporation. In the most recent part of the story however, there was a partial return of Tim Hortons into Canadian hands by means of a wildly successful public stock offering floated on March 24, 2006 at the Toronto Stock Exchange in which Wendy's divested itself of 15% of Tim Hortons. I say successful as the price of the stock rose 40% in the first hours of trading.
(Source: some of the dates and numbers came from an article in the Ottawa Sun -March 25, 2006-04-21)
The third reason why I knew that I was back in Canada is also connected to Tim Hortons and that has to do with their annual immensely successful promotion of "Rrrroll up the Rim to Win". That phrase among Canadians probably has more brand recognition than McDonald's "I'm loving it"or Kentucky Fried Chickens "finger licking good". It causes Canadians to act in strange ways and I had to laugh at myself in how it affected my behaviour and the result must be a marketing experts dream --come-- true.
As is my ritual after a day at school, I head for the nearest Tim Hortons for my usual medium coffee and multi-grain bagel with light cream cheese, The experience is always pleasant but it is especially enhanced at this time of year by the "Rrroll up the Rim to Win Contest". This means that after you finish your coffee in a paper cup you clasp the cup between your hands and with your two thumbs carefully and gently roll up the part of the rim of the cup where there is a large arrow in order to read what it says underneath. Most of the time it will say "Try Again", but it could also say something about one of 100 Plasma TVs, one of 500 cash prizes of $1,000, one of 10,000 Broil King Barbecues or one of 30 Toyota Rav4 SUVs not to mention free coffees or donuts or bagels etc. Apparently the odds of winning a prize are one in ten and I can vouch for that, since in the first week after my return from Argentina I won a free coffee in three tries out of four at the same Tim Hortons outlet.. Of course that is no big deal but at least is gives some reinforcement for the contest.
As I said earlier the contest makes Canadians act in strange ways like buying coffee only for the reason of winning a prize, or the possible launching a lawsuit over a cup that was thrown away and picked up by 10 year old girl who needed the help of a 12 year old friend to unroll the rim. It turned out to be a cup with a Toyota Rav4 as the winning price. The parent of the 12 year old felt they were entitled to the Toyota Rav4 much to the chagrin of the parents of the 10 year old. In this case Tim Horton's decided it was "finders keepers" and the parents of the 10 year old were awarded the SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle).
In my own case I added to the list of strange behaviour by having a coffee after work and after finishing, pre-occupied in thought, I left Tim Hortons, got in my car and drove for about a kilometer. All of a sudden, it struck me that I left without rolling the rim. At this point an internal discussion was started in my brain. Something like: "I can't go back and check if the cup is still there, that would be idiotic" to "what if someone else picks up the cup and wins a grand prize of a Toyota Rav4". This internal debate went on for a couple of moments and the next thing I knew I was making a U-turn on four-lane St. Joseph:s Boulevard and within moments I was back checking if my empty cup was still on the table. To my relief the cup was still there, and then the moment of truth-I rolled the rim-and it was---a free coffee!! At that moment I knew I had arrived at a truly Canadian moment and that I was back in Canada.
Fourthly I knew I was back in Canada because I no longer had the desire to eat steak every day. Argentinean steak is touted as being the best in the world due to the grass fed beef that roam the Pampas. It is difficult to walk a block or two in an Argentinean city without passing a parrillada or steak house with the large pieces of beef grilling over an open fire pit in the window in full view of the sidewalk. The presentation is powerful and the taste can be great. I ate often in "comedors" which are self-serve cafeterias with a great selection of foods and all the beef, lamb, chicken, churizo etc. that one can eat for about $ 8 Can... I found in these places the beef was not of course of the top grade and at times it was difficult to get a good piece of beef.
In the "parilladas" I often bought a "bife de chorizo" which I believe is a New York cut with often-excellent results. I often had concerns about the fact that I was eating beef about every second day because I was in Argentina and it tasted good and it seemed like the thing to do. It is funny how the brain works because now that I am back in Canada a beef-once-a-week mentality has taken over again..
I also know I am back in Canada because I am no longer eating supper around 22::00. In Argentina it seemed perfectly normal to eat late and for restaurants to still be soliciting customers around mid-night. All the while of course in the back of my mind is the North American mantra "don't eat late" and preferably "eat the big meal at lunch time and eat light for supper". I managed to suppress that in Argentina, but once back in Canada you have to eat supper around 19:00 because eating late may lead to early death or something like that----.
I now look at Greyhound buses and think "how primitive" compared to the luxurious Marco Polos or Busscars that I rode on in Argentina.
The first Sunday back I took my customary "city walk" through downtown Ottawa while my photos were being downloaded at Japan Camera Center. It was about a 45-minute walk and during that time I was solicited by panhandlers about 12 times for spare change. Ironically, I can honestly say that despite the fact that poverty is common in Argentina it was rare that someone would approach to ask for money. Having now spent some time here in Victoria I realize more and more that the situation of the "homeless street people" is of greater concern than I ever realized.
I knew I was back in Ottawa because the Ottawa River was still covered mostly with ice and only the pussy willows that were for sale at :"the Market" ("barrio" of Ottawa) were a harbinger of spring. The summer in Argentina was not yet winding down as I had experienced temperatures of close to 40 degrees in Misiones just days earlier. However, the summer in general was not a hot one for me because I headed first for Patagonia and then worked my way north. I did not want to go to Iguazu Falls in full tourist season at the height of the summer.
I also knew that I was back in Canada because all the toilets were clean and in working order and the showerheads are located over a bathtub.
In Argentina the toilet water tank is built into the wall and all that one can see is a small 5-10 cm metal rod which must be pushed inward in order for the toilet to flush. A lot of these rods were loose or broken probably due to tourist not knowing that to flush, -- simply push and don't press downward as is done in a North American toilet.
Upon my return I still had the reflex to not throw the toilet paper into the bowl but to put it into a little wastebasket that is beside most toilets in Argentina. I had to laugh at myself the first few times as I was fishing for the wastebasket that was not there. Due to lack of good water flow or the attempt to save water it is a "no-no" to put toilet paper into the toilet bowl.
While I am on the topic of the WC, I might as well go the full distance and mention that in almost every hotel bathroom there is a bidet and it makes me wonder how it is that we here in North America missed out on this useful piece of equipment.
Every hotel bathroom of course also has a shower but in the budget hotels, which I stayed in, the bathrooms were usually quite small (but big enough for a bidet) with the result that the showerhead was located somewhere between the toilet bowl and the bidet so that when one showered the water usually went all over the place. Standard equipment in every bathroom was a squeegee on a broom handle which allowed for directing the water into the little drainage hole which was usually located in the highest part of the bathroom tiled floor. One gets used to this pretty quickly and after a while I enjoyed using the squeegee to clean up the floor.
Another reflex action which stayed with me for about two days was to reach for the bottled water to rinse my teeth after brushing. Throughout my stay in Argentina I only drank bottled water, and that included rinsing my teeth after brushing. I also made sure to never have ice in my drinks since it is made from local water.
My third day in Buenos Aires I could no longer resist the great looking grapes in the market place at a very cheap price, so I gave in and bought some. I washed them at a faucet in the market. and I was so eager to get at these juicy morsels that I made no effort to dry them off. As a result, I felt the consequences for about four days although it is difficult to say definitely that this was the root cause.
It is only fair to add that I did meet other travelers who drank the water from the tap throughout Argentina and who suffered no apparent ill effects.
Ironically while trekking in the Andes near El Chalten, I was amazed to see signs saying that the water from the creeks was drinkable without any type of purification treatment. Having been in the Canadian Rockies several times I am well aware that one is not advised to drink the water from the creeks without treatment at the risk of catching "beaver fever".
The last indicator of being back in Ontario was the "No Smoking" regulations, which exist practically everywhere. They are in fact so zealous that I know in the City of Ottawa there are discussions of prohibiting smoking even outdoors.
Argentina is a far way from that, for smoking is still permitted in most public places particularly restaurants and Internet Cafes. Having been used to the no smoking regulations it is difficult to roll the clock back to be subjected to other people's smoking.
It was particularly bothersome in the Internet Cafes because of the close proximity of people. Although, some Internet Cafes have no smoking zones. Speaking of Internet Cafes, the newest irritant, thanks to technology is the people who use telephony (using the internet as a telephone) and who think that they are the only one's in the premises as they carry on a loud personal conversation. It seems to be even more irritating than cell phone use because one does not expect it in an Internet Café.
And so it is it that I must stop musing on my beloved Argentina for all things come to an end
However, not quite yet:
Next: Lobo's "Best of My Argentina" List
I think one award I have already made in Travel Log No. 23 in which I awarded the "Best Bus Company Award" to the Senger Bus Company...but maybe I am having second thoughts...
it may be a while before I finish this due to ......
... I am now based for three months in Victoria, British Columbia I am eager to start writing about this new and exciting place.
I hope you have enjoyed these travelogs as much as I have enjoyed writing them.
If you have any questions or comments, you can contact me at:
waltsama@yahoo.com
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