TORONTO – Call him Mister Manners.
A Toronto man is doing his part to try to make Canada’s most populous city a little more polite.
Christopher Rouleau – a graphic designer by trade – has designed colourful cards that can be downloaded, printed and handed out as needed.
The cards have boxes that can be ticked off to remind people of the proper etiquette for cellphones, transit use and smoking, among many other things.
Rouleau says he moved to Toronto after growing up on the prairies and while he loves his adopted city, he sometimes finds people a little rude.
So he has launched the Toronto Etiquette Project to get people thinking about respect and courtesy in a fun way.
For instance, one card reads: “Dear fellow transit user, just a friendly reminder that you probably shouldn’t … play loud music, eat smelly food, over-perfume, hog seats/poles, barge/hold doors, preach, trim your nails, floss your teeth, leave your litter … on the TTC.”
Other cards deal with pedestrians, cellphone users and general lapses of courtesy and respect such as swearing, spitting and being nasty to elderly or homeless people.
Rouleau advises the cards be handed out discreetly so as not to embarrass anyone and that people use common sense in terms of personal safety.
“And above all, be kind,” he says on his website The Toronto Etiquette Project.
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