The Unexpected Torch

Unexpectedly, I saw the torch go by today. This is one of the interesting phenomena of living in an Olympic host city. The Olympics is all around you, so events that people come from miles around to see might just pass by your door step.

As an Olympic fence-sitter, I haven’t been doing my research on potential spots to see the torch, since I wasn’t planning on going out of my way to see it. Little did I know it would be coming past my house.

I was sitting at my kitchen table, working from home to avoid Olympic traffic madness, when I started hearing loud music and people yelling on loud speakers. Before, I could even say, “what is going on?” my partner came into the room, and said: “Hey the torch is going by.” We put on our shoes and stepped outside just in time to see the happy people dancing on the Coke trucks go past. I thought that was probably it, but the spectators were sticking around, children clapping little inflatable tubes together and all the Olympic fans jumping up and down in their cut-up Canada flag outfits.

We stuck around, and eventually, were rewarded by the passing of a sizable police motorcade and streams of police on bikes. After another few minutes, the torch runners emerged: a pretty blond woman, torch held high, and a team of men in black running around her. The whole thing took about 30 seconds to pass us and the crowd went wild.

Later, on my way downtown to attend another Cultural Olympiad show (Dance Marathon), I passed another mass of people waiting for the Torch, and was given a pretty little Torch Relay pin from a volunteer. I guess I could have hung around to see the torch pass by a second time, but once is enough for one day.