I think it depends a great deal where you go. A few years ago I went to North Carolina and people were very kind and polite, the whole “southern hospitality” thing. When I was in New York another time, though, whenever I smiled or said “thanks” or “sorry” to anyone, 9 times out of 10 they looked at me like I had two heads.
As others have stated I think people are confusing politeness with kindness. Actually, I think they’re confusing politeness with cultural norms.
Example, I live in Okinawa these days and the people I’ve met here have been overwhelmingly kind-hearted people. As a matter of fact, the people I’ve met just about everywhere I’ve lived have generally been good, kind people but that’s beside the point.
However, were I to, for example, smile, nod my head and say great people walking down the street I would get the above mentioned ‘two head’ result; not because they’re not polite, but because that’s not how things are done. On the other hand, I walk into a restaurant or even a fast food joint I get a slew of bows and a chorus of greetings. Once again, that’s just how things are done.
Now, if I’m in a crowded area up in mainland I can expect to be bumped, nudged etc. Not because people are rude but because that’s the norm.
America has a large population spread out across an even larger landmass. While arguably there are certain areas where you can generalize about populations, the larger the population and the greater area that population is spread across the less likely it becomes that the population shares the same ‘touchstones.’
Now, it is possible to draw from a nation’s history, government, geography certain traits which you would like to ascribe to a populace. Unfortunately, the more personal/subjective the trait [i.e. kindness] the more difficult it becomes to make the connection.
I’ve met lots of nice Americans when travelling through the States. But I’ve thought before that Canadians on the whole are a bit more easy-going. Maybe because we have a stronger social safety net and are fairly inconsequential in the world. We don’t have to be as tough or treat life as seriously.
So, would that make the murder rate for Toronto higher or lower than the figure Barbarian cited?
Care to back that up?
Barbarian did not cite a particular figure. He says Canada’s murder total is lower than where he is, but I don’t know where he is.
How, exactly, would you propose I do that?
Explaining the basis for your judgment would be a good start.
I’ve heard Spider speak publicly more than once (at SF cons) and I can’t believe Northern Piper was hearing the same person.
Happens all the time here in Los Angeles. But then again we are the second largest city in the U.S. I have no idea what happens in Chicago.
That’s on par with NH, then. We have 1.2 million people, and 20 murders last year. As an interesting aside, only one more person was shot than stabbed, despite the gun ownership rate in this state being nearly 1 in 3 adults (as self-reported in 2004 exit polls ). But do we really think “people are less likely to shoot or stab you” when we try to define the word kind? There are a lot of general unkind people here despite their disinclination to murder anyone.
Well, I spent five years in Canada, in elementary school and high school. My answer is a resounding NO. Canadians, at least Canadian schoolchildren, are definitely not any kinder than Americans.
Ed
There’s a lot to that, I think. Not that all Americans treat life seriously. But if you don’t, you feel the heavy hand of your culture on your shoulder. We’re a more outwardly religious nation than Canada. We also put a premium on pulling your own sled – to the point where we can be quite cruel to people who can’t or won’t do that.
Toughness is important as an American, too. Force, and people used to the exercise of force, pretty much built this country. As an American, one way or another, I have to come to terms with that as a part of my heritage and culture. We’re a jock school; the rest of us cliques pretty much just get by.
The premise of this OP is flawed. It is impossible to ever decide which country is kinder then another. However, within my experience (I have lived near Toronto my whole life, I have visited more of the US then I have other parts of Canada) I would agree with most of the other posters, Canadians tend to be more polite and more liberal concerning events such as Sex and Drugs, but not towards things such as Guns or the Church. We say please and thank you more often, we say sleep with whomever you want, but I don’t want to hear about your guns or your god.
One reason for this, I would propose, is that Canada’s greatest politician, Pierre Trudeau, “Government has no place in the nations’ bedrooms” to paraphrase. We hear that over and over and over growing up. I would say ALL of my friends who aren’t politically astute know this statement and agree with it completely. The drug thing, well…Canada is right on that!
The US greatest politician, of recent times (no Linncoln, no Washington) is JFK (at least if we go by who non-Americans hear the most about and would know the most about, at least who I do 
). His claim to fame is getting shot.
I won’t comment on guns or god.
Greatest politician? <snerk>
Too bad he didn’t hold the same opinion regarding my wallet.
Uzi I am well aware of your political leanings. I stand by my statement, and believe most Canadians would agree with me. Who would you propose? Preston Manning? Diefenbaker? ALL of my friends know who PET was, no other politician could make that claim in Canada.
I’ve gotten drunk off my ass with Spider on more than one occasion. He has never been anything less than a complete gentleman, even when more polluted that I. Even when I capped his pun!
Ok, it only happened once. But dammit, I’m still proud! 
Most well known politician certainly. Actually, I would agree with Greatest ‘Politician’. No one could bamboozle like he could and he left a legacy that we’ll be paying for generations to come.
Clearly, Spider is of the opinion that “kindness” is synonymous with “liberal.”
But he forgets that
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Just a few short decades ago, the idea of gay marriage and legalized narcotics was as unthinkable in Canada as it is in most parts of the US. Does that mean that, forty years ago, Canadians would have been ruder, less courteous drivers?
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Those kind, courteous Canadians did NOT rise up as one to demand the legalization of gay marriage. That was done by the Canadian courts.
Well, two different aspects went into the comment.
First, he occasionally gets op-eds published by the national papers up here. First time I came across one, I read it avidly, because I like some of his sci-fi stuff. Wasn’t impressed by it; disappointed. Read a few more; respect for him dropped further. I don’t read his columns anymore - regardless of the supposed topic, the real topic is always Spider. But that’s just my take on it; if you read them, YMMV.
Second, at the conference he spoke at a few years ago, he just didn’t come across well, in my opinion. First, at an indoor conference, he wore a straw hat and darkish glasses. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s a cry for attention, and is rude too boot - when you’re listening to a speaker, the speaker shouldn’t put barriers between you. I’m not saying “Michael Jackson” weird, but it was definitely off-putting.
Next, he seems to be one of those speakers who thinks that if you say something LOUDLY that automatically makes it funny; and if the crowd doesn’t laugh, you say it MORE LOUDLY the next time, until the dumbasses in the audience realise that you’re being funny. Well, no - it’s a cheap attention-getter that again is rather rude.
Finally, nothing that he said really rose above the level of sophistication of late night bull sessions at a university res - with Spider being the know-it-all one who always dominated the discussions. Been there, done that, long time ago.
Again, YMMV. But I doubt I’ll ever go out of my way to hear him speak again.
As a Canadian, I certainly don’t perceive Americans and rude or unkind. I have met many Americans, both abroad and at my alma mater. Only one of them is an asshole (and he’s from New Jersey). Most of them are just as kind and pleasant as anyone else I know.
Then again, I don’t drive, so I can’t tell you how the traffic compares in the two nations.
Sorry if this has been stated by other posters. I don’t think one could say Canadians are kinder than Americans. Certainly not based on the example given in the quoted peice. Both countries are large, and the US has been a country for a long time. In that time individual states and even cities have grown an identity of their own, so much so, that in terms of “national” identity, one could say that residents of those places have thier own identites. So in a given situation we could expect New Yorker’s to act differently than Texan’s. One may be more “kind” then the other in that given situation.
I think the same could be applied to Canadians. In a given situation a Torontonian would act differently then someone from Vancouver. I think that in the quoted bit of the OP, the author just happened on one place where they are kind. I know if I were in a situation like that above, I wouldn’t let a person in. If they knew a merger was coming up they should have been in the proper line, as I am. So I wouldn’t let them in.
I think I’m rambling. The point I’m trying to make is that I don’t agree with the OP. I’m sure that there are places in the US that when compared to places in Canada would make the place in the US to seem as though it’s full of angels. Both countries are too diverse to seperately paint them with a wide brush.