Click: images that capture the imagination.

A nineteen year old boy was sitting across from me on the subway. He was wearing a pink Izod shirt, complete with alligator, and long Op shorts, decorated with golden palm trees, and suddenly, as the subway hurtled through the tunnel, my subway seat began to swirl until it opened, and turned into a wormhole, and I closed my eyes and screamed, and when I opened them it was 1982 and I was ten years old again, sitting on the bus with the rest of my YMCA day camp, choking on the dust coming in through the windows as we headed from the Santa Cruz Natural Bridges beach to Mount Madonna, and Chris stood at the front of the bus and led us all in a rousing rendition of Do Your Ears Hang Low, and every…single…boy…on the bus was wearing a pink Izod shirt and long Op pants.

I overheard two men at a sushi restaurant.

Steven You still in that hockey league?

Joe No, you know, I was going, and I was taking my son with me, and then a couple of months ago I went and I just lost it on this guy on the other team. And my son – you know, I don’t want him to see me beating the shit out of anybody. I was lucky, it was late, and my son happened to not be there. So I quit, and I haven’t been back since.

Steven I was at the bar the other night and this guy just walks up and for no reason, no reason at all, he punches me. And you know, I’m on the ground, and I wasn’t expecting the first punch and – I said, What was that all about, WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?! And I get up and I just walk away. And he came up and he apologized after, he said, “I’ve been having problems with my wife, and you were there in the corner, and I just lost it. I’m sorry,” and I said, “Next time you feel like that, just go home!”

I’ve whined a lot in the past about how there is no such thing as a good slice of Canadian pizza. Are there kind, peace-loving people? Yes. A refreshing absence of fundamentalist Christians? Yes. Have more than one person chased after me to let me know that my scarf was dragging on the floor getting dirty? Yes. Have more than three people? Yes. Does the pizza still smell like your dog threw up on it? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

However, there is hope in the form of a tiny pizza place buried in a subway station. I stopped there Saturday for some lunch.

Sage I’d like two slices of pizza, please?

The owner, bent over his cash register, asked if I wanted something to drink. I was really thirsty, but I didn’t have enough cash for bottled water, so I said no. The owner looked up from his cash register.

Owner This may seem very strange to you, but seven, eight months ago you come in here and buy a slice of pizza and some water to go and you do not take your water with you when you go.

Sage I don’t think so…

Owner Yes. So take a water over there for free.

Sage Um…okay.

Owner I remember! You come in here and I wait, and wait, and here you are! So I give you your water, finally. Another man come in and get a slice of pepperoni pizza and a Coke, but he never take the Coke. I wait for him to come in, too.

So not only do they make excellent pizza down there in the bowels of the subway station, the owner has an excellent memory for faces and is one of the most honest people I’ve ever met.