City
A new etiquette guide for Toronto
The Toronto Etiquette Project wants to make the city a politer place — and allow us to retain our trademark Canadian non-confrontational disposition. So how do we police the offenders without being overly brash? Why etiquette cards, of course. The work of Christopher Rouleau — the local designer behind the "Official Gay Card" — the Etiquette Project is composed of a series of cards that target various violations of common courtesy, public health, and basic respect for one's fellow human beings.
Inspired by other etiquette guides, Rouleau's cards might ultimately prove a success because they're so easy to print out and distribute. "I wanted to create a mini-campaign of my own, amalgamating the best parts of [past] endeavours, improving upon their shortcomings, and incorporating my own creative sensibilities," he explains in a blog post about the project. "I also wanted to pay tribute to one of Toronto's iconic landmarks and, one of absolute favourite things about Toronto, the TTC subway stations." If the font on the cards looked familiar, now you know why.
The idea is, of course, that should you spot one of these infractions, you can "discreetly" hand out one of the cards to the perpetrator. I put that word in scare quotes because I suspect it won't take the recipient too long to figure out that they've been served with a citation for bad manners. Should you not want to have a discussion about the matter, it'd be best to be on your way rather quickly.
Still, the point for Rouleau is that the cards will be fun more than anything else. He holds that his project is "smart but not smart-ass; polite, but not preachy." And as far as what he hopes it might accomplish goes, he has two goals. "The objective is to make the people of Toronto more aware of their behaviour, and hopefully to put a smile on people's faces."
Will you consider handing out any etiquette cards in the coming days? Who knows, maybe you'll receive one!
More screenshots of the cards:
Discussion
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This is a good campaign, its surprising we have to tell people this, but lets be honest, a lot of people have shitty parents who didn't teach them lots of this when they were young.
If you really feel like that, SAY SOMETHING. Go up to that person and tell them to their face. Oh, you're much too polite to do that?
Dick.
P.s. Remember to apologize before handing this card over.
PS - lolz at "probably shouldn't preach"
Dear Fellow TORONTONIAN:
Yes, talking to strangers is intimidating, especially if you're confronting them about behaviour you consider anti-social. But please don't:
[] hand out passive-agressive cards
...and then run away.
THANKS! From your friends at the Toronto Grow Balls Project.
This. So much this.
Then there are the cell phone chatterers who make life miserable for everyone else with their inane, one-sided conversations that no one else wants to hear ...
Thanks for keeping the cycle going and teaching them a lesson, hopefully they will smarten up.
I doubt this will become a "thing".
That said, why isn't there one for drivers, racists, homophobes, 905ers, 416ers, etc.
#justsaying
We're all know-it-all's but the hardest thing to do is act on what you think is the right thing to do. This person is being proactive and trying to spread a positive message about respect.
I'll take a wild guess and say that the ones who are offended by this post are the one's who don't say thank you and give eye contact or smile while interacting with others.
An act of gratitude can significantly change someone's day.
Just once try not being a jerk and saying something nice about someone you interact with. Positivity leads to confidence which leads to success.
and if your car needs some body work brake really hard in front of a guy on his cell phone. Free paint job!!!
Actually, is this for real or is it an announcement to get a reaction from people for his art project?
AGREED. As we were brought up to do.
As a born-and-raised resident myself, it annoys me when people from elsewhere won't speak up for themselves and common decency in public, and then gather in bars and kvetch about Torontonians being rude. News for you: there are rude people everywhere. Vocal shaming is how we deal with them here.
P.S. If you stop as soon as you reach the bottom of an escalator, you deserve a passive-agressive card, vocal shaming *and* a wee corrective punch.
That would be covered in not littering and respect for public property. Smart ass:)
Also, they forgot the Driver card, especially for parked cars.
Kind of new comers as I am, I read all your cards content.
May be I need to sharpen the English,I found it difficult to understand several words.I just listed them below:
1) Hog seats/poles I checked dictionary,still not so sure its meaning
2) Barge/hold doors can you give an example?
3) Preach Sounds like something related with religion, right?
By the way, I think sometime in the rush hours, there are strollers on the bus, sometimes two, what a headache?
Thanks in advance for your kind explanation.
A few months ago I asked someone to turn down their headphones in a library after wishing they leave for 15 minutes or so. He wasn't receptive, I luckily found another empty spot to study, but I'll keep trying and everyone should.
I would like signs on public transit that read "If your neighbour can hear what music you're listening to, you won't be able to in the next few years".
hog poles= to be greedy and exclude others from holding onto the poles
barge doors= i think commenters are referring to the fact that people often push their way into the subway cars without first allowing those inside to exit. ultimately this prevents a smooth flow of traffic, and makes EVERYONE wait longer for boarding.
preachy= giving moralizing, self righteous advice.
You're a moron. It says right in the f@cking article these are "Gay Cards". Try reading before commenting next time, douchebag.
Go out and check around the street, see who flick more butts and spit more on the curb?
My favourite part is "Passive agressive bullshit disguised as self-righteous indignant humour". Self-righteous is correct. So self-righteous that if punched in the face even, they sue! Maybe that person didn't know why you were tapping on their shoulder. Toronto is the only place someone tried to rob me. Things happen. People get punched. I kicked the guy in the balls, Maybe the punchee can find a card for the puncher. Your not all rude. But this thread does reveal a lot of self-righteous undertones. And I would like to know, if there's no garbage or ashtrays around, where are you supposed to put the cigarette butt? That's a good question.