I was en route to the Gourmet Food Market to pick up some of the world’s best black bean burritos (and Zellers) this morning, post storm-of-the-century. Much to my surprise, there were cars on the roads, no army tanks and the sun, the same sun we thought we would never see again after the colossal damage threatening our lives yesterday, beamed brightly through the window at my diapered wrecking ball and rice cracker nibbling sidekick.

When it’s just car-seat baby and I, I have full authority to listen to any radio station I choose and as always, I choose one or two versus of Bonnie Rait’s Something To Talk About, found on every light rock station available and then I shift to my friend, news radio.

Today’s top story (they can’t all be gems) was about a proposal to reduce service on forty-eight bus lines in Toronto.

There are always two sides to every story. So before I sign the petition to help save the bus lines, or the one to kick their tires, I like to hear what those in the know have to say and make an informed decision as to whether I am going to lose one ounce of sleep over this proposal that has no bearing on how I get through my day and likely never will. I am a captive audience, ready to take a stand for or against something as long as I’ve heard both sides before I arrive at destination burrito-ville.

The person they interview representing the argument for the closure will likely discuss things like budget, taxes, fare hikes. Solid arguments and I’m going to have a hard time not siding with whoever speaks first. I wonder if debate teams have figured that one out. The person arguing against the cancellation will (or maybe in retrospect should have) talk about financial restrictions, employment, proximity to higher education, maybe an injury or more severe, crippling, health issues, anything other than roller skating.

That’s right. Roller skating. The top story on my favourite news radio station was an interview with a woman representing her roller skating team who went on at great lengths about how she and her teammates depend on this particular bus route to make it to practice. She talked about the competitive nature of the sport, the athleticism, the bonds that have formed and if the bus gets axed, so too does their team.

I’ve seen Whip It (on the shelves at Blockbuster) so I can appreciate there is an interest in roller skating or at the very least, roller skating movies, that stems back to the seventies but if that’s the best pitch they can give to save a bus line from going down, I think it’s time to hang up your skates…..but not before making one of those long, conga lines and doing “the hustle” one last time around the rink.

“While [the new plan] is definitely better than the previous plan to axe the route entirely, it does little to help those of us who don’t have a car and use that facility on weeknights for our recreational sports,” said, captain of Chicks Ahoy!, an adult Roller Derby team that also plays at The Hangar.