Cover photography & post production Marcio Fonseca

All other photographic material herein is ___

Magazine layout & editingMark Dallas

FUTURE PERFECTIssue #6: Dec '12

send comments to futureperfect.editor@gmail.com

This Month’s Contributors Mini-bios of those who made it possible

IntroductionBy the Editor

Hipster Hunting Hints Loana Gatti examines a subspecies under the microscope Bricks as Canvas Yi-Wen “Mandy” Huanginterviews 2 of Toronto’s Most Notorious

Subway Suicides and the Slippery Slope Maria Franchi interviews a health professional about the link between mental illness and ending it all

Waking up to Black Friday Alejandro Mejia Yepes looks at why more people each year choose to not spend money for 24 hrs

Finding your Niche in Toronto Marcio Fonseca gets kicked out of a fetish club

We (Also) Exist Andrija de Araujo & Marcelo de Carvalho discuss problems facing young people kicked out of home for being themselves

Staying Safe on the Subway Priscilla Rodrigues tells you how to avoid becoming a statistic under ground

Where the money went last time

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EDITOR’S INTRODUCTIONto the

UNDERGROUND ISSUE

The word underground has several meanings. Taken literally, it means subterranean, such as are most rapid transit systems.

Two of this issue’s articles feature the Toronto subway system: one about how to avoid becoming a victim of crime while “riding the rocket”, and the other asks a mental health professional about what drives people to throw themselves under it.

The other meanings of underground are more figurative.

One describes an activity that is secret and sometimes illegal or against a government. Underground art is often political, usually appears in public places and has a following independent of commercial success. In this issue we interview 2 Toronto artists who have appeared in the news because of their work. One writer confronts consumerism on Buy Nothing Day.

Another meaning of underground points to members of society who try new and often shocking ways of living.

Two of the articles feature chosen underground ways of living: we track down hipsters riding their fixies and drinking ironic bottles of Pabst Blue Ribbon, while another delves into the exotic world of fetish clubs and other nightlife.

Happy reading.

Mark Dallas

THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS

Mark Dallas is the founder and Editor of Future Perfect. The 1986 Pontins Knobbly Knees champion sometimes wears a kilt. His dream is to learn how to play the bagpipes.

Alejandro Mejia Yepes studies business in EAFIT University and has experience in sales and textiles.

Andrija Fontebasse de Araujo is a 21-year-old Brazilian soccer-player wannabe who loves traveling, drinking wine and driving her 1986 VW Beetle (but not at the same time). She’s about to graduate Advertising University.

Loana Gatti is a weird chick who writes weird things about weird people (i.e. hipsters). She likes trains.

Marcelo Silva Galvao de Carvalho is a 26-year-old student who loves movies, his friends and drinking beer or vodka and is passionate about life. In Brazil, he studied advertising, direction and screenplay in cinema and TV, and knows how to appreciate a good movie.

Marcio Roberto Jordão Fonseca is a Brazilian advertiser and amateur photographer. He has worked in some ad agencies where he had the opportunity to learn a lot of stuff from a few creative minds. Travelling and reading are his passions, and he also believes that meeting different people and hearing their stories helps him live a better life.

Maria Claudia Franchi has a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature from the University of São Paulo and is currently on a one-year Work Experience Program. Her favourite hobbies are singing, dancing bossa nova and listening to jazz.

Priscilla Ferreira Rodrigues is a 26-year-old Brazilian journalist and post graduate in script writing for film and TV. In her free time, she likes to discover new things, through travelling, talking, reading or asking questions.

Yi-Wen “Mandy” Huang (曼蒂)is a TV & Broadcasting major from Taiwan who spends a lot of her time watching movies and listening to music. One day she hopes to own a coffee shop.

4 5the hipster adopts a very spe-cific behaviour when it comes to socializing with the enemy, in other words, you. First of all, the hipster always denies. The goal is to look casual in the eyes of the non-hipster.

The hipster is dangerously ar-rogant and indifferent to every-thing. Do not take it personally; it is only a defense mechanism, which is quite understandable, regarding the hostile land they live in.

Adopt the same behaviour; the hipster will probably appre-ciate it even if he does not show it. The hipster does not ask questions: he is too proud. To converse with a hipster, think about controversial topics of conversation such as consum-erism and global warming: the hipster cannot help but show his disgust for global capitalism.

Beware! He is most likely to use to cynicism in order to hide his feelings and real thoughts.

The interests of our subject vary despite a clear preference for creative businesses and hob-bies. Film photography is one of the most common activities among the hipster communi-ty. Knitting, sewing and crafts are also popular pastimes.

Hipsters. Who are they? Where are they? Do they represent a threat

to our society? Here are the most frequently-asked ques-tions when it comes to these unfriendly and hated martyrs. Hipsters appeared only a few years ago, so they are not used to behaving like other humans.

However, their communities and settlements spread at light-ning speed, and their remain-ing divergence from our society draws the attention of onlook-ers and tourists around the world.

Because they are often hated, they tend to isolate themselves, creating an almost indestruc-tible social barrier.

The following advice I am about to give you will help to break the ice and discover more about this extremely odd and fascinating species! I will there-fore expose tactics and other subterfuges to go unnoticed in these hostile lands. This guide will reveal all you need to know about the hipster.

First of all, you have to know that hipsters follow a very strict dress code. In addition to allow-ing him to assert his identity regarding the clan, the hipster can be recognized in any com-munity.

To spot a hipster, you do not need to be extremely aware: they detach themselves easily from the crowd.

Males as well as females usu-ally wear used and worn super-tight jeans. The tank top is also very popular for both, with a preference for sizes XXS for fe-males: the tinier, the better.

Shoes vary from fancy sneak-ers to beige moccasins, to unisex laced leather shoes, not to men-tion the essential accessory: the backpack. It allows hipsters to carry with them any other ran-dom items, such as a film cam-era, a pair of Wayfarer glasses, a moleskin notebook and last but not least, a Macbook. This is the key symbol of the hipster community, representing the ul-timate success and achievement.

Then you should know that

Hipster Hunting Hints Loana Gatti

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For more info, seehipsterhandbook.com

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What do you think of graffiti? Is it street art? Some people see

it as public art that beautifies our streets, while others see it as vandalism and a crime. Whatever you think, it’s an always-changing, inescapable and fascinating part of modern culture. Graffiti can include anything from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. It has existed for a long time, and examples have even been found on walls left over from Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.

There are three main types of Graffiti: tags, throw-ups and pieces. A tag is the most basic writing of an artist’s name. It’s simply a handwritten signature in the artist’s own style. A Throw-ups is just a quick

Suitman by Joel Richardson

design done by an artist, usually improved on-the-go. A piece, however, can be done in a group and are pre-planned. Most of the time, a piece tells a story or is intended to deliver a message.

Generally speaking, street art contains traditional graffiti artwork, murals and stencils. Toronto City Hall defines graffiti art as “markings made or affixed to properties that are

approved by the property owner or occupant”, whereas graffiti vandalism

is “any deliberate markings … on property … without permission of the owner … [promotes] hatred or violence … or contains profane vulgar or offensive language”.

We interviewed two artists who are well known in

Toronto for their art on the street. We

asked them the same questions in separate

Bricks as CanvasYi-Wen “Mandy” Huang

interviews 2 of Toronto’s Most Notorious

You should know that this spe-cies tends to idolize techniques from the past: this makes their habitat look both retro and modern.

Musically, it is difficult to iden-tify a specific genre, but what is certain is that they advocate the random combination of any ex-isting sounds and noises, creat-ing a very particular melody to which it is impossible to dance. It is for this reason that you will never see a hipster nod or move to the rhythm of a popu-l a r a n d catchy song. The hipster is stoic in his mu-sic: it is all in the head

Do not dance under any cir-cumstance, even if it is a danc-ing party! This will expose you as an outsider. In all cases, adopt an indifferent attitude and look bored. They will never spot you that way.

Do not try to make friends and socialize by spontaneously approaching strangers with a smile on your face as this will immediately betray you!

Now that you know all the details associated with these funny creatures, you are able to come into direct contact with the community and maybe even gain their confidence! If you want to participate in their meetings and ethnic ceremonies, you will have to take the bull by the horns and go for a walk in the dark areas of the city: the industrial zone, abandoned fac-tories, wastelands, everything is

good for a hipster as long as anyone would think to set foot there.

You can also wander the streets and look for the

independent contempo-rary art galleries and coffee shops selling co-

lourful cupcakes. Hipsters frequent unusual venues.

Dear reader, you are now able to integrate seamlessly into the hipster community. But still, try not to be beaten at your own game! Hipsters are deceptive creatures; they will attempt to subvert you as soon as they un-derstand that you are not one of them.

Anyway, good luck and happy hipster hunting!

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What role do simple “tags” and “throw-ups” play in street art?

DB: not much...That is more about repeating a single name over and over.

JR: My job is to share my visions with the world, to provoke conversation and stand up for what I believe, not to “label” and categorize other peoples work

There’s a lot of ego in the street art world. What do you think about artists who are in it to be (in)famous?

DB: I think all artists want to be known... so at the end of the day, we all want the same thing - but some graffiti writers like being “purists”. They think doing gallery shows and selling work is ‘selling out’. To me, it’s just evolution.

JR: I am not against fame, or infamy, as long as that notoriety comes from substance. I love the work that Ai WeiWei is doing, and his fame and notoriety has helped him stay out of jail and possibly helped keep him alive. Much of art and culture are driven by large egos, there is something very selfish about telling everyone, “I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY”. So, fame for fame’s sake

online interviews, and their answers reveal how their styles are quite different, but their views often overlap.

One is Deadboy (his actual name has not yet been revealed). Best known for his stencil graffiti, he attended Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts and the Toronto Film School. He is best known for his earlier controversial series of Rob Ford stencils.

The other is Joel Richardson, a former portrait painter who now tries to expand traditional portraiture into the realm of social documentation.

Do you consider your-self a street artist or a graffiti artist, and what does that imply?

DB: Graffiti is more about “writing” script (lettering, sometimes mixed with images) that are created by freehand. Street art is stencils, posters or paint brush. I consider myself a street artist

JR: I consider myself an artist. Not just a street artist and definitely not a graffiti artist. My work happens in the studio, in galleries, out on the

street, in the forest, and around the world, as well as on screens big and small...

I do love working on the street, but that is only one part of what I do.

What’s the distinction between street art, graffiti and vandalism? Is this is a true distinction?

DB: Many graffiti writers think “graffiti” should be illegal at all times and many “taggers” (graffiti writing single names or “tags” in one quick spray) think it is about just pure vandalism. Street art is more about a creative output onto a public location.

JR: I do feel that the intent separates work that I like and work that I don’t. I like work that has something to say about the social conditions that we find ourselves living in rather than just work that sees who can make their name bigger than everyone else.

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Subway Suicides and the Slippery Slope

Every time you experience a delay on the TTC, there is a possibility that

someone just threw himself in front of a train in search of relief from the pain of being alive.

It is undeniable that each one of us is going to die. How and when is a great mystery and, normally, nobody wants to really think about it. But there are those who, for many reasons, decide to take out their own lives and, for that, choose, for example, to throw

themselves in front of a subway train.

The one and only TTC report about the matter was released in 2009 and showed that, between 1998 and 2007, 150 persons lost their lives in this way. The figures are even more shocking if we consider that there were hundreds of unsuccessful attempts.

Suicide rates in Canada are the concern of many institutions like the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. Both release information and provide help for those who are considered part of a risk group: mainly youth and people with mental illness.

In fact, more than 90% of suicide victims have a diagnosable psychiatric illness, and suicide is the most common cause of death among people with schizophrenia.

Moreover, the group aged between 15 and 24 has suicide

Maria Claudia Franchi

seems hollow and shallow, but I believe in my work and I am courting notoriety, I would like to be involved in the cultural conversations happening right now in the world, and for that to happen, people need to pay attention to what you’re doing. Have you ever run into a difficult situation while putting a piece up?

DB: I was putting up posters once, and a guy came up to me and started taking them down —said he didn’t want them on this wall. I said, “Okay,” and took them down (no fighting). Otherwise, it’s been a positive thing over all—I like to work in the early hours; most people are still sleeping when I’m doing my thing.

JR: I have had many difficult situations putting up pieces. I do not support the destruction of private or public property, but I do support freedom of speech, and I support the free, unbridled expression of political dissent, and I believe in our obligation to stand up for what we believe is right. And that may mean at times challenging or breaking a law (or two or three).

Has anything unusual ever happened while you were working on a piece?

DB: Having fans of my work come up to me was pretty funny. When I was first putting work up, I would go out in the afternoon on weekends. But then, people started to recog-nize my name and be like, “Oh my God! You’re Deadboy?!” That’s when I realized I had to change my art work hours. Camera phones are not a good thing for anonymity.

JR: I was putting up a large piece in New York State, a 20-foot [high] Financial Revolutionary. The owners of the building lost their shit when they saw it, and it became a lighting-rod issue in the small town, highlighting the large population of underprivileged African American residents. They seemed to get scared when they actually saw it, and the piece was taken down within a few days.

Graffiti can have a positive impact on the local environment, and it can make an important contribution to a neighbourhood.

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how to cope with the feeling of being always stuck, they might be depressed and more likely to think about suicide. According to Freud’s Mourning and Melancholia (1917), “(…) the ego can kill itself only if, (…) it can treat itself as an object—if it is able to direct against itself the hostility which relates to an object and which represents the ego’s original reaction to objects in the external world.”

Nevertheless, Ms. Carroll states that there are ‘warning signs` once someone has decided to end his life: “People start giving away possessions, writing a will, seeming ‘happy/relieved’ after a bout of depression for example. The person has made a suicide plan and are usually relieved to have made this decision. He may have attempted suicide in the past, may talk about death, looking up sites on death and suicide.

Warning signs include IS PATH WARM: Ideation, Substance abuse, Purposelessness, Anxiety, Trapped, Hopeless, Withdrawn, Anger, Reckless, Mood changes.”

There are, however, many ways of preventing suicide.

Effective steps towards the victory against suicide include assisting and following up on those who have already made an attempt, treating those with mental disorders, or else offering help lines for the ones who are depressed and seeking someone for them to talk to.

This is everyone’s battle so, if you ever face this problem or know someone who has been through it, never underestimate her feelings, talk to her, do not leave her alone and, most importantly, find her some help as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which is the main therapy used. Life can be pretty tough and not everybody can handle it alone.

For more information:www.suicideprevention.cawww.who.intwww.ontario.cmha.ca

as the second leading cause of death (24%), followed by 16% when it comes to people from 16 to 44 years of age.

Regarding gender, research shows that although the rates among men are four times higher than women, the latter make three to four times more suicide attempts than men do.

I spoke to Aideen Carroll, who is the Advanced Practice Nurse Educator in Mental Health at the University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto.

She said, “The highest group at risk for suicide in Canada are elderly single white men, and this has been consistent for the past 5 years.”

Regarding suicide rates around the world, according to the latest data released by the World Health Organization, instances in Canada are not as high as those in Japan or Korea but not as low as those recorded in Mexico or Brazil.

Known as a period of great changes—seasonal, personal or even professional—late July and August have the highest suicide rates of all the months of the year. Teens go back to school, people are fired or hired and, above all, the cold weather is coming. But the lack of change can also be overwhelming for some people and, not knowing

*Source: World Health Organization

0

20

40

Total

Men

Women

Total 11,3 24,2 24,7 4,1 4,6

Men 17,3 36,1 33 7 7,3

Women 5,4 12,9 16,5 1,4 1,9

Canada Japan Korea Mexico Brazil

SUICIDE RATES 2004-2005 (per 100,000)*

14 15The problems of this consumerism has not only been in America.

The worst part is that, to keep prices low, big corporations look to countries with week governments as they are easy to manipulate. These corporations, with the help of the governments, set mini-mum wage really low in countries like China, the Philippines and others. In these countries, work conditions have fallen to the mini-mum, and people have been exploited, working long shifts.

A lot of non-governmental organizations have accused these cor-porations for this practice, but this claim has been ignored.

I believe there is still hope, and days like Buy Nothing Day remind me that there are people who still think about the future of society, and they are willing to put all the effort into creating awareness. So if you are thinking about buying something, take a moment to breathe and ask yourself these questions.

1. Do I really need this?2. Where was this product made?3. Is the company which made the product recognized for good

practice?

Waking up to Black Friday Alejandro Mejia Yepes

Can you go cold turkey and stop spending your money for one day? Buy Nothing is an idea which emerged in Vancouver in 1992. It’s a global stand against consumerism.

The event takes place in North America on 23rd of November to match with Black Friday, and in the rest of the world, on No-vember 24th. The main idea is to create awareness and make a protest of the American stan-dard of life which is destroying our world.

Have you ever heard your gov-ernment say, “We need people to go and buy goods to reacti-vate the economy.”?

I will put it this way: now we are in a greedy system that al-ways needs to consume more to keep on track. That’s why, when someone is diagnosed with can-cer, our GDP grows because that person needs to pay all the medical bills and all the conse-quences of having cancer. Fur-thermore, if your parents get di-vorced or you get divorced, the GDP will grow because instead

of living in one house, those people live in two. I can go fur-ther with this list and the result will be the same.

When a forest is destroyed, or overfishing clears out the oceans, our system is corrupt and wrong. This is one of the major problems now in our so-ciety. If we don’t change, how will we measure our growth? We won’t ever get a clear image of what we’re doing to our envi-ronment and society.

For this growth, we have been do-ing things that have huge effects in our world and on society. We are going to face the consequences of our acts. 20% of the world popu-lation consumes 80% of natural resources. Those people are mainly from the US, Canada and Europe.

Americans are less happy now than 30 years ago even though they have more things and more wealth. This phenomenon occurs because we measure our happi-ness when we compare our lives with other people, and in that sense America has become in an unequal society .

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don’t care about stereotypes. These fetishers carry a feeling of pride in wearing exotic clothes. And to be honest, that’s the difference that makes The Latex Fetish Ball so interesting and incredible.

For those who prefer to hang out surrounded by street aesthetic, Sneaky Dee’s is one of the greatest options. There’s graffiti everywhere, and the customers are allowed to put their art on the walls or just write something cool. It’s already a tradition to promote independent artists’ shows different nights of the week.

On Wednesdays it’s Hip Hop and Black Music time to rock out the club. The public appears in a good number and nobody feels too shy to shake their moneymakers.

DJs or rappers lead the rhythm of good music and convey a great vibe to the audience all night long; it’s pretty awesome to see different people interacting no matter which style or colour skin they have. Sneaky Dee’s also sells bottles of beer for just 3 bucks on this night, and that is great fuel for awesome nights.

But if you belong to the classic style, it will be better to save your energy for the week and go there on Saturday. Definitely there’s no better day to dance to the 50’s

songs and you have the chance to meet some nice buddies too. The club starts to become full around 10pm, and everybody almost immediately grabs a beer, goes to the dance floor and starts to move like old-fashioned people.

A feeling of nostalgia is in the air and the music on the amplifiers just confirms this. “Twist and Shout”, “La Bamba” and a few Canadian popular songs are on the setlist, all of them are sung by the people with a strong will. Just to be clear, all of them seemed to be less than 40 years old. Yes, it may sound cliché (and certainly will) but pure music doesn’t have barriers.

Since 1987, Sneaky Dee’s has been in business, and having been there myself twice on different nights with different parties, just showed that the owners don’t really need to prove anymore how to offer real fun. They have the touch, for sure.

Now after reading this article, it will be easier for you to discover more underground options to hang out and live different nights: it’s all up to you.

Don’t forget the exercise from the beginning, maybe you can find a tasty layer that fits with your preferences.

Real fun is not exposed. Forget about regular pubs, fancy nightclubs and Hollywood movie festivals. They’re common, they’re on front stage. Real and amazing experiences are not in those places; it’s all hidden from the main lights of the show.

Do an exercise: imagine Toronto as a fruit that is composed of a few layers, and for each layer that is taken off, the taste will be better and stronger. That’s how the underground alternative scene works in this city, and now it’s your chance to check out some stunning places to have fun.

Latex, bright lights, extravagant costumes and more latex. These are the main elements that keep rocking the The Latex Fetish Ball. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get in because – as the name of the party clearly suggests - it was mandatory to wear this material or leather, and I just had street clothes on. At least I got some great impressions of the party.

Promoted by the Subspace Club, this event is for a big group of people who don’t fit into a pattern that is considered “regular”.

They like to be tied up – and sometimes beaten too – and dance to good music in a frenetic way. Heavy makeup is essential: it helps them to increase their night spirit. Combined with this feeling, bartenders create exotic drinks every minute, always in sync with the customers.

The DJ is responsible for giving more energy to the environment, and he knows what he’s doing. A set list of non-mainstream electronic music is ready to set the fetishers on fire, driving them to excitation.

To guarantee the registers of everything, photographers and designers work to create some exotic and exclusive material that will be transformed into a calendar for the next year.

Sounds weird? It might be for some conservative minds, but it’s important to remember that these people also work from Monday to Friday in common jobs, and they pay their bills like any citizen. The party goes on in a respectful and friendly atmosphere. They simply

Finding your Niche in Toronto Urban ways to ‘hang out’

Marcio Fonseca

18 19

they really are and come-out. As a result, family conflicts become the reason number one for those young people turn into homeless.

Alex said that there are no specific shelters for LGBTQ youth and that is an issue, since they usually don’t report to the staff about the violence which they suffer, on the other hand, he noticed an increase of report about homophobic and transphobic occurrences in the shelter system. The main cause of an inexistent specific shelter for the LGBTQ youth is, “this has much to do with a lack of funding and essentially a lack of interest from those in positions to make much-needed changes”, said Alex.

Furthermore, Alex explains that is important to provide specialized services, this is the only way to this young people to feel safe of being themselves without worries about homophobia or transphobia. In additional to this, Alex pronounced “These spaces should include: a place to sleep, hot meals, showers, gender neutral washrooms, clean

clothes, subway tokens, and access to health resources.”

Alex believes that shelter workers either they aren’t prepared for it or they haven’t been trained to handle with this kind of situation. Second of all, a better way to provide this training is including “Anti-Homophobia, Anti-Transphobia - LGBTQ Terminology and LGBTQ culture”, this could change the ways that things are today.

Finally, when asked about why he chooses this cause, Alex said that he has been interested in the issues of homelessness for as long as he can remember. The main reason is the fact he grew up in this situation, young and queer and had to deal with homophobia, so he can understand what these young people are going through, specifically when they don’t receive the support they need. Now Alex is focused on his research to fill the gaps in knowledge about LGBTQ youth homeless.

They are in everywhere, but you just pretend they don’t exist. They are walking among us breathing the same air. The only difference between you and them it is that they don’t have a place to call ‘home’. I’m talking about homeless people, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) homeless people.

You might be wondering why so many LGBTQ people are out there. In majority of cases, youth homelessness is caused by abuse and neglect from their families when they decide to come-out - If you don’t know, to ‘come-out’ means that a person reveals being LGBTQ - therefore, the streets became a better place to live in than their houses its-self. Furthermore, some families kick them out from their houses leaving them nothing but the streets.

According to Shelter House

Thunder Bay Website, one third of Canada’s Homeless population is youth, which means close to 65.000 young people are in the streets, struggling to survive everyday. The most intriguing fact it is that 20-40% of Homeless people belong to the LGBTQ Community, based on the Study Young Queer and Homeless in Toronto by Christine Wong-Chong, M.A (2012).

Alex Abramovich, a Doctoral Candidate in the Adult Education and Community Development program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education-University of Toronto, in an interview to website rabble.ca in September 25, 2012, supported the idea that homophobia and transphobia are, together, the main reason for the LGBTQ youth had been expelled from their homes. That is a consequence of society that encourages youth to be who

Andrija Fontebasse de Araujo and Marcelo Silva Galvao de Carvalho.

We (Also) Exist

20 21

transports 1.5 million people each day. And as everybody knows, everything needs to be fast until the doors close , which provides the time required for an assault.

I`m not saying that Toronto isn`t a safe place, but sometimes people think there is no danger and let their guard down.

In the 21st Century, everybody needs to be connected all the time with their cellphones, iPads, iPods and laptops, and this fact can be one of the most attractive things for thieves, because these kinds of items are easy to sell.

It’s hard to find statistics about this kind of robbery and maybe an explanation for this fact is that kind of thief can only be arrested if caught at the time of theft. Otherwise, nothing happens. But according to a report from CNews this kind of crime is increasing in Toronto. The TTC spokesman Brad Ross, talked about this fact. “iPhones, iPads, those types of devices, we’ve seen an increase in (these thefts) everywhere”. It isn’t all. Ross also said that people should keep their devices safe, inside their bags while using public transport and always pay

attention to people around you. So if you ask students from

South America about safety in Toronto, for example, they will tell you this kind of thing doesn`t happen here. However, this way of thinking can be dangerous. Vanessa Santana, is

a Brazilian student who lived in Toronto for one month: “I always thought first world

Last week I took the subway to meet a group of people and go to Quebec. It was 9:30 p.m and the subway was empty. Suddenly, a guy started to talk to me and with all my luggage, it wasn`t hard to imagine that I was going on a trip. The conversation did not have any problem until he started asking strange questions like: “Did you bring your camera?” and , “Did you bring your credit cards?”.

At that point, alarm bells went off in my head, and I decided not to wait until my subway station, and as soon as the doors opened, I hurriedly got off the train. Maybe he wouldn’t do anything, but I wasn’t going to hang around to find out! If in doubt, that is the best choice.

Indeed, living in a safe city like Toronto can be a problem sometimes. Just because it’s the safest large metropolitan area in North America, it doesn`t mean that you don`t need to be careful. Actually, assaults happen

every day and everywhere in the world, and you need to be prepared to identify dangerous situations.

Imagine a city like Toronto with a population of 2.6 million people, where each year, thousands of visitors come to study, work and see the sights.

Toronto is the fifth most-densely populated city in North America. With this picture, it isn`t difficult to imagine how hard it is to keep the population safe.

As well as anywhere, Toronto has the usual urban problems such as drug addiction, unemployment, homelessness and crime.

It isn`t hard to find a friend who has had a cell phone or a computer stolen, and if you stop and think about it, the subway is the perfect place for this kind of crime.

With four different lines, 71.3 kilometers of track and more than 60 stations, the network

Priscilla Ferreira Rodrigues

Staying Safe on the Subway

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Where the money went last time...

The September 2012 Journalism Class raised $145 for Autism Ontario, which is dedicated to increasing public awareness about autism and the day-to-day issues faced by individuals with autism, their families, and the professionals with whom they interact..

If you have any ideas for content or charities for future issues of Future Perfect, contact us at futureperfect.editor@gmail.com

...and where your money’s going this

time... For information about where the money for this issue is going,

turn to the back cover.

Handing over the cash, left to right: FP5 Journalist Toru Nagaiwa, FP Editor Mark Dallas, Executive Director of Autism Ontario and recipient of the Order of Canada Margaret Spoelstra, and ILSC (Toronto) Instructor Vanessa Delzingaro, who has a relative with autism.

countries were different in everything. When you come here you do not think there is any danger, but after a time you start to see some situations and hear stories and you change your mind and become more careful”.

On other hand, almost everybody knows that Toronto subway is a safe place, but as usual, you need to take care. “I never heard any stories about about assaults here, but even this way, I always pay attention, because you never know who is by your side”, said Michelle Vitorino, another student from Brazil.

But how does Toronto deal with this problem? Actually, Toronto Police are more worried about carjacking and other things. But the population can count on TTC Transit Enforcement Officers. They are trained to carry out of a variety of activities to enhance public and TTC employee safety and deal with emergencies. As part of TTC’s strategy to reduce crime, you can find the Transit Patrol Section conducting walking and mobile patrols.

The TTC’s web site has some tips on how to keep your valuables safe on the subway:

• Remain alert to what’s happening around you. Crowded places like bus stops, buses and subways provide opportunities for thieves.

• Beware of loud arguments, bumps and other incidents. They may be staged to distract

you while a thief takes your wallet or handbag.

• Carry only what you need. Avoid carrying unnecessary cash, credit cards and documents in your wallet or handbag.

• Carry your wallet in a place other than your back pant pocket, e.g. a front pocket.

• Be sure to carry your purse in front of you and close to your body with your hand over it.

And never forget: there are opportunists everywhere, and all they need is your moment of distraction. Be street-smart, no matter what!

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