Dialing Info-Retard

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by CHRIS BARRY

There may be a lot of annoying things about being an Anglo in Quebec, but making fun of the French language certainly isn't one of them. In what other province could you find a restaurant that calls itself Hot Dogeria? Or a bus information service for the physically challenged called Info-Retard? That's right, Information-Retard!

Now lest you think you're dialing up Mayor Bourque's press agent, it's actually the number to call if you happen to be a user of the MUCTC's wheelchair-friendly low-floor buses and find that your bus is late. Written bold and clear on the signs for designated routes is the number for Information-Retard, right beside the wheelchair icon.

Now doesn't that seem a little, well, un-PC? Or at least a bit misguided? You would figure that some well-meaning anglo would have called the MUCTC on this by now, but apparently not. According to the good people at Info-Retard, I'm the only person in this city with nothing better to do than call up and giggle at their choice of names for the service. So I apologize.

But as summer approaches and the inevitable swarm of drunken Yankee tourists gets set to come here and soak up the local culture, it's hard to imagine the Info-Retard line won't soon be getting more than its fair share of misinformed calls.

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