The first summer job I had was busing tables in a Thai Restaurant, though by the end of the summer I was taking orders too. I would work the lunch shift from noon till two, constantly refilling glasses of ice water at tables of civil servants on their break, walk home, and return as the…

I have always preferred to change trains at St. George rather than at Yonge whenever possible. This morning as I walked up its slippery stairs, I thought of how it was the station I exited during my year working at Whole Foods, when I first moved to Toronto and ran out of money and worked…

I live in an old house; my room is on the third floor. In the winters the floors are so cold that I dread having to step on them in the mornings. I’ve just discovered that old liquor bottles make excellent hot water bottles, especially the flat green St. Remy’s brandy bottles. I have one…