I love me some Toronto so far. It’s a great town with lots of diversity. I don’t just mean diversity in people, it’s also diverse in its urban fabric (houses, buildings, etc), amenities (just about anything you could ever need is generally really close to your abode), food (I’ve seen nearly every level and type of food on offer here) and, above all, the people seem really, really nice.

Yesterday, I was in the drug store to buy a bottle of water. A long line had formed, and a woman who was checking out noticed an error in the price she was charged. The man in front of me shifted his weight in a visible display of annoyance, but remained silent. A colleague opened the next checkout stand, and the people who were waiting behind me and the weight-shifter all stood still, gesturing toward the new line.

“You’re next,” a teenage girl said to the annoyed guy. He didn’t say anything, but took his place in the new line and started his transaction.

I was now next in the queue, but I figured I’d just wait in my current line since the woman in front of me was now paying, so when the teenage girl motioned for me to go to the new line, I said, “no, please” and gestured toward the new line.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Of course. Go ahead.”

And just like that, the lines divided fairly in half. People filed into line, each being sensitive to their “place” before the schism.

In Vienna, and a lot of other European places, that second line would have resulted in a mob scene. The last person in line would have taken the first position in the new line and even if anybody would have uttered an “Ich bin die naechste!”, nobody would have paid any attention. At best, the speaker would get a shrug from the cashier.

I’m all for cultural difference, I’m a fan of the world, I like to learn about people. Sometimes, traveling teaches you what you value and what you find superfluous. Cultural sensitivity dictates that one does nat make comparisons not that one way of doing things is not necessarily better than the other. However, I’m sure enjoying the superior customer service, friendliness and good manners of Toronto right now.