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Breakfast out - a big part of Victoria's culture


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#41 G-Man

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Posted 05 June 2012 - 09:23 PM

^ I moved away in the early 90s, and no one ever did this. Came back 13 years later, and everyone was thanking the driver.


Weird. I moved here in 1995 and it was commonplace. I thought it was very strange coming from Vancouver. So perhaps an offshoot of the Commonwealth Games?

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#42 Bingo

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Posted 05 June 2012 - 09:36 PM

We always thanked the driver of # 23 Tattersall Beckwith that took us to town on Saturday Morning......and brought us home after the movie.

That was 50 years ago.


Was that the Odeon Movie Club?

#43 Baro

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Posted 05 June 2012 - 10:17 PM

I've lived here all my life and I don't remember people doing this as a kid. My dad's a driver (about to retire) I should ask him if he knows when that all started. I love it, I notice all the exchange students do it as well so they learn quick!

Many drives will also say thanks, or bye, or have a nice day. It's those little interactions that help keep a society worth living in I think.
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#44 Langford Rat

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Posted 05 June 2012 - 11:34 PM

I didn't realize that thanking a driver wasn't normal. I'll admit I haven't ridden a bus since you had to pull the dinger to get him to stop if no one was waiting at the next stop. That was worth a "thanks"......then out the back door.

#45 Mike K.

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 06:07 AM

I remember it way back to 1989 when I first started hopping on a bus as a little kid. I looked forward to thanking the driver after every trip :) Of course back then almost every driver was courteous and responded politely when you thanked him or her. As the years went on drivers became less courteous and some no longer acknowledge passengers who get on, let alone those who get off (with a thank you thrown in or not).

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#46 Baro

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 06:49 AM

I didn't realize that thanking a driver wasn't normal. I'll admit I haven't ridden a bus since you had to pull the dinger to get him to stop if no one was waiting at the next stop. That was worth a "thanks"......then out the back door.


You still have to request a stop if you want to stop.
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#47 Mike K.

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 08:10 AM

I think what Langford Rat meant was if he was getting off and there was nobody getting on, he thanked the driver for stopping.

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#48 mc9

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 05:38 PM

The 100 mile diet and healthy eating is really big here. I know I always feel ashamed about wanting to bring pizza pops in for lunch at work, while everyone else is eating quinoa.

Also the free-cycle culture might be fairly unique. I have never seen so many free piles, which are very happily used.

#49 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 05:56 PM

As the years went on drivers became less courteous and some no longer acknowledge passengers who get on, let alone those who get off (with a thank you thrown in or not).


I really don't find that's the norm though. I still find most drivers very courteous and friendly upon entry. I only bus maybe once a month, and usually not for long trips, but I still marvel every time abut how nice our buses are, and generally how civilized the passengers are (granted I don't take the #50 into town at 7pm on Friday nights).
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#50 G-Man

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 07:36 PM

They are great in my opinion and I am usually on the #6.

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#51 Baro

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 09:12 PM

#6 is known as probably the most... interesting of all the routes.
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#52 Holden West

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 09:35 PM

An American friend tries to impress you by giving you some homemade Nanaimo bars but made some American-style substitutions like pecan pie filling and an Oreo cookie crust. As a true Victorian, do you:

A) Thank her profusely and share the delicious recipe with friends
B) Thank her profusely and politely eat them later.
C) Thank her profusely and bury the abominations deep in the backyard.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
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#53 dasmo

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 09:49 PM

Nanaimo bars are the islands culinary gift to this world...:thumbsup:

#54 Holden West

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 09:59 PM

^Which explains our intolerance for meddling with it. Another item that would ignite a bloody war: whose grandmother makes the best butter tarts?

And I'm certain there are elderly Victorian ladies that have pledged undying loyalty to Bluebird cabs because they employed drivers that were "from around here", even if that's clearly not the case today.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#55 Holden West

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Posted 06 June 2012 - 10:03 PM

This is an old one from 1966 that's been posted before but it bears reposting in this thread:


"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#56 aastra

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Posted 07 June 2012 - 09:50 AM

Weird. I moved here in 1995 and it was commonplace. I thought it was very strange coming from Vancouver.

Very weird, because I'd say it's just as common in Vancouver as it is in Victoria. No difference at all.

Which only confirms yet again that most of these "local culture" things aren't real. People see whatever they want to see.

It used to be one of my pastimes, making note of the observations/declarations that people make about places/situations and how the declarations/observations are often contradictory. That's why I was really into those tripadvisor.com reviews for quite a while there. Also, the PCL bus and the ferries are gold mines for overhearing all sorts of curious stuff.

Example: I've heard just as many people remark about the warm and friendly nature of Victorians as I've heard remark about the cold and unfriendly nature of Victorians. As if any such generalization could ever be valid, even if you were personally acquainted with every single person in Victoria and also every single person in several other cities (for the purposes of the comparison). And I've heard the same absurd discussions about how friendly/unfriendly the locals are in just about every other place that I've ever been to.

That said, here's one of my local cultural observations: Victorians are very reluctant to call the police as compared to folks in other cities. An H-bomb could go off and people are like, "Should I call the police? Better not to get involved. Someone else will call them it if it's really something serious." There's also the whole "It could be worse... It could be happening in Vancouver" attitude, too. A criminal act in Victoria isn't quite as bad as the exact same criminal act in another place. We've talked about that before on here.

#57 G-Man

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Posted 07 June 2012 - 12:49 PM

^ Fair enough. I had just never seen it when I used to ride the bus regularly but I really stuck to the 601 and the 604 with a few jaunts on the 10.

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#58 Baro

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Posted 07 June 2012 - 02:16 PM

If people don't call the police as much why do there seem to be sirens and police zipping around non-stop?? Is this another false impression? I've been other places, didn't notice half as many sirens. The police here will turn on their siren, blast through a red light, stop in the middle of the road blocking traffic, all to be "back up" at the scene of a cooperative person getting a speeding ticket.

It would take something pretty serious for me to call the police about though. I feel I'm just as likely to get my face bashed in or brought up on some trumped up charges than I am to see any justice/solution to a crime. I also don't want to subject other people to that. So if there's some teen smashing bottles down the street, or a party a bit out of control, or a suspicious homeless person, I have to weigh "Is the crime they're committing worth a potentially horrific encounter with one of these oddly prevalent "bad apples" in the police department? Their potential death or beating in police custody? Treatment in our backwards medieval prison system?"
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#59 aastra

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Posted 07 June 2012 - 02:21 PM

Fair enough. I had just never seen it...

I just want to emphasize that I'm not saying you're full of crap (not in this particular instance, anyway). It can be true that you didn't see it very often and it can also be true that I've seen it countless times.

I take issue not with the veracity of your experience but rather with any cultural generalizations that you might be inclined to make based on your experience. Any one person's experience is limited, when you get right down to it. What's mundane to one person can be extraordinary to another person. Even if they both live in the same city or on the same street or even in the same building.

#60 Baro

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Posted 07 June 2012 - 02:26 PM

Yeah it's amazing how different people's perceptions can be. I was talking to someone who moved here and lived in Oak bay for 4 years while going to university. We had almost entirely opposite views on everything in the city.

He thought oak bay was a pretty honest working-class district and strongly disagreed with any implication it was full of rich old people desperately pretending to be english.

He thought Victoria had a really good club scene and general nightlife.

He thought the general political vibe in the city was fairly conservative and business focused and was totally confused at allegations of the granola variety.

Thought people were very private and grumpy here.
"beats greezy have baked donut-dough"

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