Tim’s takedown
Posted by Dalton48 on 17 May 2008 at 10:28 am | Tagged as: Food and Wine
It’s about time. Acoording to Rex Murphy, “the days of Tim Hortons as an essential Canadian experience are dwindling and few”:
Their “roll up the rim” is a farcical gimmick. Their signature phrases — “double double” being the most familiar — gall more than they please. Their ridiculous lineups — in some places it takes longer to pick up a coffee than to pick up a licence at motor vehicle registration — have lost the kind of self-congratulatory charm they had some time back. People used to smile at each other for the silly indulgence of lining up for a not-very-good cup of coffee. They don’t smile as much any more. They mutter.
Never doubt Rex, but one thing I do like about Timmies: unlike Starbux, Timothy’s (the high-end Tim Hortons)or the Second Manky Cup, they do put the milk in for you. I appreciate that. No fluffing around or getting in line behind the unwashed at the unwashed station. What’s more, the uniformity of the size of the dollop is identical from coast to coast. Another interesting feature of Tim’s is the blend of Robusta and Arabica that they use–all Canadians of a certain age just love the flavour — my folks, their friends — while we of less than that age look for a bit more African in our cup. For example, I once left a vile Can of Costco’s best at my mother’s flat in Florida. On our next trip down (she doesn’t have a Costco card and is too cheap to get one) she asked us to buy her two cans. How did it taste? like Tim Hortons (and where is that apostrophe anyway, did it go the way of Eaton’s) but worse.
Hmmm. Out here on the distant horizon, maybe because people aren’t pursuing the essential Canadian experience anymore (sorry, Rex), Timmy’s not affected around here. The Tim Horton’s near my Sunoco station, at the junction of Highways 2 and 53 and a 403 exit/entrance, a truck stop with a Wendy’s, Emma’s Back Porch as well as the Timmy’s (aka St. Timothy’s) is always jam-packed and traffic-jammed. And, my friends and acquaintances who train and trial the retrievers routinely give directions using the various Tim Horton’s, and always go there after training on Tuesdays and Saturdays. About a decade ago, I painted our sun room on the outside with a lanky teenager who ate one dozen Tim Horton’s doughnuts every day–we chose them after I picked him up each morning. Maybe he’s moved on to tofu, but I doubt it. When I had a meeting a couple of years ago with the erstwhile executive-head of our conservation areas, he specified a Tim Horton’s as the meeting place, and was astonished when I needed complete directions to get there. As it turned out, my way of identifying that plaza is that with the Shopper’s with the best place to get adult diapers. I once tried a Tim Horton’s turkey/ham sandwich which stands out among the worst meals of my life, along with the lamb shank at that Greek restaurant with several stars on the Danforth. By contrast, it’s quite difficult to drive, not having had breakfast, past an Egg McMuffin. So, thought I’m not part of the Timmy’s fan-base, obviously a huge proportion of the known world hereabouts is. I don’t think Tim Horton’s will go out of business anytime soon no matter what Rex says.