A Tim Horton’s in Toronto’s north end was the final destination of a hijacked city bus on the weekend. Police say a man with a knife commandeered the TTC vehicle early Friday morning and demanded to be driven to the nearest Tim Horton’s. Naturally, that’s what the terrified driver did…
Tim Horton’s after dark: Seen as a safe haven by troubled inner city dwellers?
The man forced the driver to run several red lights before directing him to turn into a strip mall parking lot in which a Tim’s was prominently located. The man then went into the Tim’s and called 911. Police say he told the operator he thought he might have overdosed on some kind of drugs…
But it all turned out okay…
First observation: This was NOT a dude who really, REALLY needed a Tim’s fix.
Second observation: This was NOT an incident – as so many weekend evening incidents are – in which ‘alcohol was a factor’.
Third Observation: The guy didn’t hurt anybody. Apparently, he was just panicking.
Can it be that, in his overdose stupor, he was able to remember that Tim’s is the one place in our modern world where you can still find a pay phone? Did he assume that all bus drivers know where the nearest Tim’s is? Did something in the back of his troubled mind tell him that he’d be ‘safe’ at Tim’s? Or what? Whatever else you may postulate, remember this: He thought of Tim’s before he even thought to call his mom. Now, that’s powerful branding!
Anyway…
The absence of malice on the part of the perpetrator and his singular fixation on getting to Tim’s – which he evidently saw as the seat of his salvation – elevates this particular incident above the usual. There’s got to be more to it than meets the eye. Question is, will we ever know the whole story?
~ Maggie J.