A Proud Day

My Friday was off to a bad start when I showed up at the train station to find that my normal rush hour train had been cancelled. No explanation, no apologies. There was just a note on the scrolling marquis telling us to catch the next one which was standing-room only and incidentally got me to work almost an hour late.

While I sipped my morning cup of coffee, I checked on the ol’ blog and discovered something that swelled my heart and permanently cheered me for the rest of the day: my first piece of hate mail. It was posted earlier this morning in the comments of my last entry. I’m so proud I’ll share it with you here:

“Mmm... maybe some proper research would have helped? Montreal is an amazing city, full of farmers markets, cheese shops (yes!), great commercial streets, etc. it seems you missed all the great spots...”

OK. It’s not all that hateful really, but it’s my first piece of negative feedback and I’m entitled to gloat. That line about proper research certainly seems a bit rude, don’t you think? (For the record, we had an array of brochures and maps and a fully loaded Blackberry – research was not the issue here). Anyway, I’ve long dreamed of being the type of blogger that can incite displeasure in others. Especially Canadians! Their anger has extra flavor crystals. Today I am happy to announce that I have achieved that goal early on at the tender age of 24.

So, thank you Madam or Monsieur Anonymous of Toronto who googled “Montreal French” this morning and stumbled across my little piece of cathartic heaven. Please enjoy your hidden cheese shops and stronger currency. You got my Friday back on track.