Originally Posted by MuseChaser
You know, I've been biting my tongue on all of the threads mentioning how nice and polite Canadians are. At the risk of ruffling some feathers that I really WOULD rather leave unruffled, I'd like to mention a few things..
FIRST.. there are nice people and obnoxious people from every country. NO exceptions. OK.. got that out of the way.
My experience, too, has been that Canadians, in general, tend to be a fairly polite group. Quebecois seem a bit more standoffish until you speak a little French, and then things are good. HOWEVER...
My wife and I vacation at one particular spot in Mexico that shall remain nameless where we run into quite a few Canadians vacationing there too, mostly from points west.. Alberta, Vancouver, etc. A funny mix of easy-going and obviously on vacation, but a bit callous to the local customs and people. I can deal with that, as long as it's not intentional. The part that gets ME is that, invariably, after striking up the usual, "Hey, isn't it beautiful here? Where y'all from?" conversations at the beach, bars, loncherias, cockleterias, or elsewhere, when someone from Canada finds out I'm from the US, they almost immediately and invariably launch into a long dissertation on what's wrong with my country. The extra rub is, what they feel is wrong with my country is in direct opposition to what I think is wrong with my country. There's plenty, granted, but there's plenty of stupid in the governing of every country to go around. I'm on vacation, for crying out loud. One dude from Vancouver literally followed my wife up and down the beach preaching the wonderfulness of Canada and the lameness of the US; we couldn't get away from this dude, and I even said point blank but nicely, "I appreciate your opinion. I disagree and no longer wish to discuss this with you or argue. Have a good day." He still followed us around. This was an extreme case, but not atypical of the attitude of many others. He ruined the entire afternoon. Yeah, I know... "What did I do to provoke him?" Nothing.. we struck up a pleasant conversation about the weather, then when he found out we were US citizens instead of Canadian it was all over. Sigh.
Soooo... yeah, I'm not wild about a LOT of things about my country these days. I'm one of those weirdos who believe that our Constitution actually means something and should continue to define our country and our policies. As long as someone isn't doing any harm, I couldn't care less how anyone else chooses to live, where they choose to live, or how any other country decides to govern their people. As an American, I value personal freedom AND responsibility, and feel that we, THE PEOPLE, should take care of each other in our own families and communities, and NOT rely on the government for anything other than the intentions of our founders.
Oh well. I love Canada, and I have a lot of wonderful friends who are Canadian. It's an AMAZINGLY beautiful country, both in natural wonder and its people. Sure wish THOSE were the kinds of sentiments we could share with each other when vacationing rather than being lectured.
Who knows...
Barry
Sooo...
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