A Magic Tee Shirt by James Crowley

The early morning sun climbs slowly over the high-rise buildings of the bustling city and the streets are already overrun with traffic. Rush hour is well underway but I feel invisible walking downtown in the big city of Toronto. People are walking past me as if I do not exist. Zombie like they walk, no smiles, no eye contact, nothing. And it is not just me; everybody is invisible to each other. It seems I could walk naked and no one would notice, except perhaps the police.

I almost feel like doing that, walking naked down the street just to see if I would get some acknowledgement, that in fact I am visible. But I am a little shy and I don’t want to risk arrest, but I do wonder why we act that way toward each other. I come from a culture in Ireland where almost everyone walks around visible. People talk to and even smile at each other, perfect strangers and all!

My wife and I travel to Nova Scotia for a week’s vacation and we have a great time. We discover that people walking the streets of Halifax are indeed visible to each other they smile and talk to each other for gosh sakes! We travel to Peggys Cove where we work up a healthy appetite exploring the lighthouse and climbing over the large rocks scattered about the shoreline. In the restaurant we eat a sumptuous meal of Atlantic salmon and afterwards we browse in the shop for souvenirs. And I buy a tee shirt. There is nothing fancy about it, just a simple tee shirt that says Nova Scotia on the front.

Back in the big smoke of Toronto, the Monday morning after my vacation, I rise, shower, drink a hearty breakfast of two cups of black coffee and charge out the door, full of enthusiasm for work.

I stand alone in near darkness waiting at the bus stop. I’m wearing my Nova Scotia tee shirt and I’m trying to sleep with my eyes open.

“Good morning!” I almost do a back flip out of my skin! I open my eyes, I mean really open my eyes and I see a man standing there smiling at me! The bus arrives and in shock I stumble onto the bus. Zombie like, I drop my token in the machine and turn to walk to a seat. “Good morning!” the driver says and smiles at me.

Arriving at the subway station, I get into battle formation, head down and elbows in. The doors open and out we charge, down the steeps and onto the platform. No train in sight, so I find a space where I can put my back against the wall. I look to my left and a woman smiles at me. Another passenger slides into the space on my right, glances at me and says “Good morning!”

As I stand there wondering if I have slipped into the twilight zone, the train comes roaring into the station. I get back into battle formation. Got to time this right, leave the wall too early and who knows, I may end up on the tracks from some crazy. Leave it too late and I will face a wall of passengers. The train whooshes past me, head down, charge!

Inside the train, I find myself hanging onto a pole wedged in like a sardine with my fellow passengers. Ten minutes later, the train arrives at my station and I breathe again. Strolling out of the station I am greeted by more smiles and people are actually looking at me. I check my zipper. No, it’s not that. I’m all zipped up.

As I walk down Bay Street to my office, I notice a street person walking unsteadily toward me. He’s an older guy with a thick greyish beard, he reminds me of an old sea Captain. A few feet from me he stops and carefully places the plastic bags he’s carrying on the pavement. “Good morning Nova Scotia!” he hollers at me.

And then I get it. It’s the tee shirt!

People are friendly and talking to me because of a tee shirt? Is it because they think I’m from out of town? I wonder would people be friendlier to each other if everyone wore a tee shirt? Would it have to indicate you’re from out of town? From a particular country, province, or city? For instance would it have to be perceived as friendly as say Nova Scotia?

My head is suddenly full of ideas. National tee shirt day! A tee shirt for each province of Canada! Show your pride in Toronto by purchasing a tee shirt (for charity) and wearing it on a particular day of the week and smile! On Canada day, everyone wears an “O Canada” tee shirt!

Dollar signs are dancing in front of my eyes. The ideas keep tumbling into my head. Dreams of getting rich send my spirit soaring over the tall buildings. But then I realise I am already rich. People are smiling at me. And I smile back.

About James Crowley:

I was born in Ireland and came to Canada to seek my fame and fortune (I'm still searching.) As a son of Ireland writing (and talking) is as natural as breathing to me and so I have written a number of short stories and poems. My intention is to write a book some day (a wildly successful best seller.) I live in Leslieville, the best part of town, with my lovely wife Ann and Sunshine, the smartest cat in the whole Universe (he made me say that.)