Life&Style Got style? Contact us at lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca & New Year’s resolution conversion - ' By Dominique Leclair Ts new year is upon us and it is time for renewal, reflection, and evaluation: what went right last year, what went wrong, and what went unexpectedly. I’ve never really been one for making New Year’s resolutions. I’ve just never really understood the point. People resolve to change things just for the sake of resolving to change things because of a day. Lose weight, quit smoking, eat less chocolate, eat more green vegetables, all the things they think they’re supposed to change about themselves, and more often than not, a year will go by and the resolution hasn't been achieved. So I have never made New Year’s resolutions. During the year I always find something about my life that I want to change, but because it happens organically I usually am more successful at seeing my goal through. I’m not doing it because of a day, but because I really do want the change. As it happens, I think just such a moment has occurred, ironically, in time for a potential New Year’s resolution. So here I am; an example of never say never, because you never know when you may find yourself doing something unexpected. Just the other night, I was with friends. We were talking and drinking some wine, discussing our neighbourhood and the people who live in it. We all live in Kits, and are quite fond of our little neck of the woods, but what we talked about was how unfriendly the people we pass on our streets can be. When uncomfortable or foreign. And we acknowledged that we are just as guilty of the standoffish behaviour that we criticize the city we love of exhibiting. It dawned on us then that maybe we should try to take our own advice and heed our own “During the year | always find something about my life that | want to change, but because it happens organically | usually am more successful at seeing my goal through. I’m not doing it because of a day, but because | really do want the change.’ you walk down the street no one smiles, no one says hello, everyone avoids eye contact, and it is almost comical how we go out of our way to not acknowledge anyone we pass. In fact, if someone does smile or says hello it is such a shock to the system you're not quite sure what to make of it. I recently experienced this. About two weeks ago I was walking down my street en route to meet a friend when a guy about my age smiled and said hello as he passed me. Iam so unaccustomed to this very normal and polite exchange that I almost didn’t collect myself in time to smile and say hello back. Retelling this exchange to my friends, we commented on how other cities we have lived in and visited are so much friendlier and this very simple human interaction is not so complaints. Start smiling at people we pass in the street and say hello even if we don’t know them— especially because we don’t know them. So, I may just be making a New Year’s resolution, but hopefully | am also making a lifestyle change. I am going to try and be a part of the change I would love to see in our physically beautiful city, to make it a socially beautiful city as well. I’m going to smile at people more. I will say hi to people I don’t already know. Who knows where this change may lead. It may just surprise me. Only time will tell if this resolution sticks and I make good on my promise to be friendlier to the people I meet in my neighbourhood, but this is one of those times that I do hope a New Year’s resolution sticks. Adventures in Christmassing By Gurneev Panesar ne festive day, my family and I decided to go Christmas shopping at Metrotown. Little did we know there were some fascinating moments in store. Public transit was our method of transportation, so we all jumped onto the bus to start our little adventure. About 10 minutes into our bus ride towards our transfer via the SkyTrain, we were all excited until we noticed an awfully-drunk man on the bus who offered a young teenager his bottle of whiskey. Being rejected, he stumbled along to the other passengers on the bus, until finally sitting himself down in front of us. He stared and muttered at my little eight-year-old brother, who was startled, but we all tried to ignore the fellow. Moving on, he began throwing his now nearly-empty bottle of whiskey next to passengers who took notice to his behavior. After another five minutes, he got up and 10 tried to walk, but was too wasted to do so, which left me wondering how he got on the bus in the first place. We finally arrived at our stop and transferred to the SkyTrain to Metrotown. Shortly after, our journey was a success! The mall was packed, with barely any room to breathe. However, in my opinion, shopping is a girl’s best friend under any circumstance. With all the sales I picked up everything that caught my eye. My rule of thumb? You haven’t really shopped until you've dropped. Hours of madness passed by and the day’s end neared, so we started for home, knackered as could be. Too tired to talk we sat silently on the SkyTrain, and my sister sat pre-occupied with becoming deaf, blasting music through her headphones; she didn’t realize our stop was the next. When my dad, mom, brother, and I got off the train we headed down to the bus, assuming that my sister was following behind. Unfortunately, she wasn't. We got to the bus stop and looked around; she was nowhere to be found! Luckily, moments later my phone rang; my sister was on the other end, telling me she was lost. Her lack of transiting skills and my highly qualified ones deemed me the lucky one to get on the train to rush and get her. Eventually we made it back to the bus stop in one piece, even before we missed our bus. All in all, it was a Christmas adventure to remember!