# "If you're happy and you know it, swath your grain..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 13, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629 "2007-10-13T23:56:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/1 "2007-10-13T23:56:54Z")
News Item: Saskatchewanians, the residents of the Big Wheat, are the happiest folks in Canada: [Life’s better in Saskatchewan - poll suggests residents most content, optimistic](http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gujcfC9UBv6QTTbsi-D2OXADowPQ): > [@](#): > > REGINA - If you had to pick a place in the West where people are content with the lives they have now and the most optimistic about the future, where would it be? > > Surely Alberta would be top of mind - the unabashed champion of western pride, where the money flows as freely as the oil and the taxes are low. Or maybe British Columbia and all of its wild splendour, where vast stretches of untouched coastline give way to mountains that scrape the sky. > > Think again. > > It seems Saskatchewanians are the westerners most comfortable in their own skin. That’s right, flat and boxy Saskatchewan - the drivethru prairie hinterland with the catchphrase “Easy to draw, hard to spell.” > > A Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey of 1,400 western Canadians found that Saskatchewan respondents saw themselves as more compassionate, friendlier and demonstrably funnier than other Canadians. They saw their health and well-being getting better along with their economic future. So, all at once, “If you’re happy and you know it, swath your grain, If you’re happy and you know it, swath your grain If you’re happy and you know it, And you really want to show it, If you’re happy and you know it, swath your grain!” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/2 "2007-10-14T06:53:45Z")
After just catching up on the first 4 seasons of [Corner Gas](http://www.cornergas.com/), I tend to agree! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/3 "2007-10-14T15:04:25Z")
Although in the article, Brent Butt is quoted as disagreeing with the idea that Saskatchewanians are the funniest people in Canada. He gives the palm to the Newfoundlanders: > [@](#): > > “I would rank Saskatchewan high. If we are looking for the top, though, there is no doubt Newfoundlanders are the funniest,” Butt says. > > “Newfoundland is the one place where, as a Canadian, I feel stupid doing shows, because you are at best redundant. Everybody in the crowd is 10 times funnier than I will ever be in my life.” ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/4 "2007-10-14T15:16:49Z")
Out of curiosity, why is happiness so prized? Yeah, I get that everyone wants to be happy, but why do we have to be happy all the time to the extent that we’re measuring everyone’s happiness and grading it against others’? I think minimizing stress is important, as is contentment and a good self image, but the idea that you have to want to “whistle while you work” has always bothered me for some reason. It’s work, for God’s sake - I have to do it and sometimes I do enjoy it, but I also feel like people think there’s something wrong with you if you aren’t positively giddy doing it. Jeez. I feel really jaded now. Perhaps I should move to Canada to relax! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/5 "2007-10-14T20:27:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Saskatchewan - the drivethru prairie hinterland with the catchphrase “Easy to draw, hard to spell.” I hear Kyrgyzstan is the new Saskatchewan: “Not quite as easy to draw and much harder to spell.” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/6 "2007-10-14T20:53:11Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] Although in the article, Brent Butt is quoted as disagreeing with the idea that Saskatchewanians are the funniest people in Canada. He gives the palm to the Newfoundlanders: [/QUOTE] I don’t recall ever injuring myself laughing at _Corner Gas_. _Codco_, on the other hand… Funnier than _Python._ ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/7 "2007-10-14T21:41:13Z")
“swath your grain”? Is that what the kids are calling it these days? ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/8 "2007-10-14T23:57:00Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] “swath your grain”? Is that what the kids are calling it these days? [/QUOTE] I’m both relieved and disappointed that this thread is not titled “…swath your _groin_,” as my brain insisted on reading it. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/9 "2007-10-15T00:51:43Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] I’m both relieved and disappointed that this thread is not titled “…swath your _groin_,” as my brain insisted on reading it. [/QUOTE] I endeavor to keep my groin swathed at all times. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/10 "2007-10-15T01:28:53Z")
Since swaths have a propensity for being cut, I’d think twice about that. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/11 "2007-10-15T16:34:30Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] I endeavor to keep my groin swathed at all times. [/QUOTE] Is that like girding your loins? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-happy-and-you-know-it-swath-your-grain/422629/12 "2007-10-15T18:24:38Z")
Funny you should sing, “If you’re happy and you know it, swath your grain,” because all farmers ever do is bitch. I’m surprised they have any time for seeding and stuff with all that bitching. 😃 I think Brent Butt is right about maritimers - Saskatchehoovians are funny, but maritimers are even funnier. Are you remaining SKians so happy because all the malcontents are in Alberta?