I suppose next you’re gonna call my pince-nez “bizarrely out of date.” My riding pants “not the ideal office ensemble.”
My Mitch Miller box set “less than the bomb”. . .
Not in my experience. Canada waves it’s flag far more than the U.S. does (hard to believe, but true). The maple leaf is everywhere. I’ve lived in Japan, Malaysia, Australia, and the U.S., and nowhere have I seen the nationalism displayed as it is in Canada. The Aussies will make a joke about you and call you a sceptic, but Canadians are more likely to put a finger in your chest and harrangue you about U.S. politics and cultural mores, most of which is stereotypical nonsense.
Now, now. No one said we didn’t elect idiots.
In fact it seems almost impossible not to.
As a canuck whose last job had me working with Americans on an almost exclusive basis, I was called an asshole on a frequent basis, but I guess that’s what you get when you tell them their credit card has been denied.
But I digress.
Myself, I am very nationalistic, as are most Canadians. While we don’t go out of our way at home to prove it, in fact, we badmouth Canada just as much as the US when we go for coffee, but when we are outside of the country, we make it loud and clear we are from Canada, and it is a better place than anywhere else.
As for all Canadians being polite, I would say that for the most part, the average Joe Blow walking down the street is as polite as an American from the MidWest. Of course, regional differences are there as well. Prairie folk are politer than Ontarians on average, while Maritimers are the politest of us all. BC is the only province I haven’t been to, so I can’t say much there.
I’m American and I have Canadian friends (spoken like a true bigot!). Anyway, even though I am from Texas, I think I have more in common with them than I do some types of American. I mean, its not like they are from New Jersey or L.A. or something.
I don’t recall any real political friction between Americans and Canadians at all (aside from relatively arcane issues or the remembrance of past events such as the ‘unpleasantness’ of 1812) until a couple of years ago.
I have never heard any “asshole” myths, other than suggestions that Canadians don’t tip well.
This usually runs about 1:1 of Canadians:Americans pretending to be Canadians.
The “Canadians don’t tip well” thing I think comes from a difference in wage laws; in talking to some people in the states, they told me that a lot of servers actually make well below ‘official minimum wage’ with the tips being assumed to bring the income up to that level. Here, you get the minimum wage and the tips are over and above that. So 10% is an average tip here (and food is still cheaper!). Since most Canadians almost never work in the States (and certainly not as waitstaff), we never get to experience this.
One of the great defining characteristics of Canada is the embracing of duality and paradox; a prime example is the ‘inferiority-superiority’ complex we have with the US. We like what we’re doing here and think it’s better than what you guys have going – so “why aren’t you all stampeding up here (like we’d let you in anyway)?”. On an individual level, we like you, even if we think you’re a bit nuts and we generally don’t like who you pick as a leader, but would probably let up if you started acknowledging us a bit more on TV (besides cheap jokes on sitcoms – currency jokes are oooollld and don’t even necessarily make sense) and appreciating all the wonderful things we’ve given you, which is, you know, everything, like how some black people claim George Washington Carver invented everything.
In my experience, Canadians often do tend to bring up American politics and stuff, often they will harangue you about it too, but the undercurrent is almost always good natured, and if you respond in kind(good natured), they’ll usually laugh and buy you a beer. “Last time we fought, we burned the White House” is a favorite…excuse me, favourite of theirs, to which my response is generally two pronged: “First, it was British troops who did that, there were no units from Canada amongst those that burned the White House, and second, anytime y’all want a rematch, you just let us know, OK?”, always said with a wide grin. Once they realize that you’re not going to be a steriotypical American blowhard, they usually lighten up, share some beers, a admit that the relationship between the U.S. and Canada is like that of brothers: We may argue from time to time, but we’ll always be there for each other.
The hockey fans can get pretty vicious sometimes. And have you never dealt with anyone from Québec? (Although, in all fairness, they seem to hate everybody.)
All I know is, there is no location with which I am familiar where you can see more than 70 individual Canadian flags without moving any body part but your head. This was the case in the carport of a hotel I stayed at recently in New York.
Okay, here’s my Canadian story, and I hope no one ever convinces me otherwise. Back when I was a military wife, it was my role to attend many, many military functions with my husband…and not being a particularly gorgeous or powerful woman (ie. married to a colonel or general) I was used to being pretty much ignored by most of the men present (including my husband, but that’s a whole 'nother thread). It’s not that unusual…I was a married woman, after all, and if I wasn’t friendly with their wife, or if they were single, there was not a whole lot of reason to chat me up. Even at the functions were I was one of only a handful of women, I got ignored.
Then came the reception for the Canadian officers who had come to Ft. Benning for a training course. None of their spouses were there, and there were only about six women present, and I found myself surrounded by these wonderful, warm, friendly men who wanted to talk about their kids, their wives, the difference between Canadian and American schools, food, American military life, cats, dogs, cars…you name it, they formed a circle around me all night and made me feel like a general’s wife! They got me drinks, brought me food and basically were charming and sociable all night long. And it was wonderful to be treated so courteously instead of being ignored. They talked about their wives with love and respect and humor, and talked about the difficulties of being away from home. They laughed about dealing with a Southern summer, and the lack of decent beer. I left the evening thinking very highly of Canadian men and their manners, and very negatively about the American officers who considered me not worthy of conversation because of my looks.
Since I have always had warm fuzzy feelings for Canadians, it’s always a bit of a shock when I listen to Canadian radio and hear the rather smug put-downs of Americans and American culture. Aside from a few jokes about lumberjack-types, I’ve always viewed Canadians with respect and a sense of siblinghood, and thought the feeling was pretty mutual. I always try to separate the people from the government, and wish those Canadians who seem to detest us could do the same.
Nah, we just hate people who think that we only speak French 
Having travelled all over the world myself and having spent much time in both countries, I’m sorry, but I find this extremely hard to believe.
Next time you’re there, look around. It’s true. And matt, try Niagara Falls.
I think Canadians who hate Americans have you confused with your government. Most Canadians – at least in my part of the country – think your government is insane. And insane, wealthy, and heavily-armed, is a frankly terrifying combination.
However, plenty of Americans feel the same thing.
I’ve said this before, but I’ll bring it up again: a lot of what seems like America-bashing to Americans is actually a response to our own politicians, many of whom are in love with the United States’ policies. It seems like we have to constantly re-affirm that yes, we do prefer socialized medecine and a strong social safety net, and yes, we are willing to pay the taxes to support that and other progressive policies.
If we stop reminding our leaders of this for five minutes, we’re quite certain they’d forget. After awhile, repeating this reminder becomes habit. Actual Americans get caught in the cross-fire. But our comments are aimed at our lazy, colonial-minded elites, not at our neighbours south of the border.
Of course, there are things an American can do that’ll make a Canadian angry. Such as having our nationality treated like a technicality, which happens a lot in conversations with Americans, I’ve found. That might the reason for these “Canadian assholes,” as you put it.
Well, c’mon. Niagara Falls is a) a border crossing, b) a tourist trap, and c) a national symbol. It’s like the perfect storm. Anywhere else?
All the Canadian’s I have known living stateside (and all very informally) have been anywhere from swell to obnoxious…same as here in the States.
It’s funny: I lived in Ireland for a semester while in school. That happened to be during Gulf War I. Canadians did in fact adorn themselves with Maple Leafs and kept away…from me. I saw them, they saw me, they immediately avoided eye contact and moved the other direction. I kept feeling like looking up and around, wondering if snipers were in the buildings above, waiting to pick off any Americans who crossed their sites. I never got to talk to any of the Canadian students who were abroad like me. I guess they wanted to avoid all possible association.
The Irish, on the other hand, were great fun, and so warm and friendly to me. Really, I don’t know where this “Canadians are all nice” thing comes from, having no personal experience to draw from. The Irish, now, I haven’t a bad thing to say about them. They were nice, but not stupid nice. They never acted “eager to please”, just plain good-natured and friendly. Willing to give me a chance before passing judgement, it seemed. Really, I was there not five days when the US started bombing Baghdad, and all of the sudden every German in the country took to the streets of Cork, it seemed like, to curse G.H.W. Bush’s name and pretty much disparage the United States in any way they could think of, on big paper banners. I knew I stuck out like a sore thumb, but tried my best to not get in anybody’s face, lest they spit in mine. I dunno, maybe the Irish folks took pity on me or something, but they treated me with such genuine decency. Nearly everyone I met had a sibling or a cousin in the states, and so maybe that made it harder to hate us, but I’d like to think they were simply fair and generous.
I kind of wish I got to know the Canadians better, as I was sincerely interested in what they thought of it all. But their reaction to me was “We’re not with that guy over there, see? See? We move away quickly, we look askance! Not Americans! Not Americans!” Nice? Friendly? Not to me. And only because of who I was, I imagine. Maybe it sounds sappy, but I actually found it a little hurtful.
I grant you that. In return, however, do you find New York City post 9/11 representative of the U.S.?
Fair enough. How about rural Vermont? It seemed like every second house and business had at least one American flag on or in front of it.
Never been to rural Vermont, so I can’t comment. Here in Colorado, ther are a lot fewer Stars and Stripes than ther are Maple Leafs in Toronto (and I am not referring to hockey supporters).