WARMINGTON: Fans just wanted a glimpse of Lionel Messi

Article content

It should not only be called Toronto the mean but Toronto is stupid as well.

Article content

If Palestinian protesters or homeless drug addicts were to camp out and try to catch a glimpse of legendary Lionel Messi down as BMO field, there would be no issue.

Article content

Article content

But a bunch of kids, moms and dads looking through a knothole to get a glimpse of the game because of the way the stadium is designed get thrown out.

Not everybody can afford $400 a ticket to go in and see the legendary footballer, so many fans gathered outside the stadium and were enjoying little glimpses of him here or there – until a security guard came and sternly told everyone to move along because they were blocking an emergency exit.

Would he have moved someone who was in the same spot doing fentanyl?

Article content

Article content

It was futile anyway, because as soon as he kicked out the dozen or so people that were there, two minutes later, a new dozen people filled that void and stood there anyway.

But he ruined the day of a bunch of people who didn’t expect to be treated this way.

Toronto is no longer about the people who live in the city, it’s about the rich, the connected, and the authority figures who use their power to ruin the day for others.

It’s gross and it’s not the city that I love, grew up in, and covered as a journalist for 40 years.

But that’s the way it is now – the haves and a have-nots.

Article content

That covers the mean, the stupid relates to the city not having proper transit for members of the public to travel into downtown.

Go Train service was shut down for the weekend while they do routine track maintenance, and portions of the subway system were also closed, which created complete gridlock in every direction as people tried to make their way into the heart of the city to catch the TFC game, the Blue Jays game and the Maple Leafs game against the Montréal Canadiens.

It’s just cruel – and as unnecessary as bullying people outside a stadium.

Only provincial and municipal managers who are out of touch would ever consider closing down TTC trains on a weekend with so much going on.

But people made it down anyway, through all the traffic and on the buses – only to be thrown out from a spot where they were trying to catch a glimpse of a superstar from a sidewalk on property owned by the city.

Article content

Not far away, there were people in tents shooting up, sleeping in bus shelters and protesting while keeping media out from being allowed to cover it.

As I wrote in my Saturday column, there is even a group of people floating the idea of charging a $15 toll to drive into the downtown core.

The city is now unrecognizable as Toronto the good. It has become Toronto the no good.

Not the residents, they are amazing and deserve better. But the people who govern the city and only take care of themselves.

Article content

Big pay increase, huge tax hikes and pathetic service – while reminding us who is worthy and who isn’t.

But there was a ray of sunshine that popped up here, thanks to a Toronto hairdresser named Daniel Gabriel.

He saw people being thrown out and had extra tickets from a soccer club in which some of the people were unable to make it, so he offered them to people and brought them in for free when he could’ve easily got $400-500 a ticket.

I would vote for this hairdresser for mayor.

The security guard who kicked people out from the fence could learn a lesson on how to treat people from this gentleman.

Nobody was trying to stay for the whole game, people were just trying to glimpse the superstar Messi through a very small opening – that’s all.

People just wanted to experience a little bit of the good life. But in Toronto, there is now no such thing these days unless you’re part of the in-crowd.

jwarmington@postmedia.com

Article content