# There are other countries besides your own! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 26, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126 "2006-07-26T18:26:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/21 "2006-07-28T04:31:20Z")
> [@rainwalker78](#): > > I thought it was the state just east of Arizona. > > Kidding of course. You’re not kidding as much as you think. New Mexico finds it necessary to add USA after the state name on their license plates. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/22 "2006-07-28T04:47:15Z")
**yojimbo** , that’s a cool show; however, there are a couple of misspellings and they left out at least one country. Anyway, it’s cool and I’m going to use it for one class next semester! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/23 "2006-07-28T04:55:09Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I initiated a thread about American websites that don’t even have the American state fields correct. **Antigen** , if they can’t get it right for their own country, what makes you think they’ll manage to do it correctly for another land? Ah, here it is. And, yes, it makes a huge difference if it’s not done correctly. First, my bank’s computer will laugh (maybe) and then decline the credit order (almost always) if it doesn’t exactly match what my address is. Second, if I fudge the address and the bank doesn’t laugh it off, then the outfit will decide to charge me sales tax. Forget it! That’s one of the reasons, or so I’ve heard, of having the AP/AE/etc. addresses. Yeah, I agree whole-heartedly with the OP of this thread. If you’re going to market your wares on the Interent, FIX YOUR WEBSITE! ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/24 "2006-07-28T06:14:51Z")
Usually I say fuck it, but a while back I wanted to order some books from this groovy little lesbian publisher, and their webform was unacommodating in the manner described. So I dropped them an e-mail explaining the situation. I got an apologetic e-mail back assuring me the order would be filled properly and the webform fixed… and also including the nugget of information that the web master was from Ontario :smack: ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/25 "2006-07-28T11:13:01Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > **yojimbo** , that’s a cool show; however, there are a couple of misspellings and they left out at least one country. > > Anyway, it’s cool and I’m going to use it for one class next semester! There are many more errors than that. I have a theory that it was actually first written in the early 70’s due to some of the names. More details about mistakes etc. [Animaniacs - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakko's_World) You can use it as a teaching device. Have them try to find the errors 😉 ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/26 "2006-07-28T15:31:26Z")
This reminds me - back at my old company, I spent a lot of time writing some new billing code. The day before it launched, someone decided that the look & feel of the page needed to change. So, someone who had no understanding of the code rewrote the front, and somehow managed to make it so that the field verification of zip on the page level for Canada would fail, but still call my billing code (which was aware of how to verify the zip). Basically, the page the user received back would say the transaction failed - but would actually succeed through my code. There were a lot of refunds given for the next few days, because of multiple purchases… Susan ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/27 "2006-07-28T15:49:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Mexicio Don’t be silly. Mexico is a state. If it wasn’t, why would it have the same name as a U.S. state, huh? And why would part of it be called “California”, which as we all know is _also_ a U.S. state? And why would they all _speak Spanish_, just like tons of Americans do? Huh? Huh? Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/28 "2006-07-28T19:49:59Z")
In all honesty, most websites I’ve seen that ask for an address allow you to enter “State/Province” and “Zip/Postal Code”, which seems like it would cover everyone north of the Rio Grande–heck, everybody north of Guatemala, come to think of it. Since the OP is evidently interested in applying for a job, though, maybe it’s common in that context to assume that the applicant already has a U.S. address. It makes a little sense in that you presumably have to be a legal resident anyway, in order to get the job, but it doesn’t make much sense for someone trying to line up the job in order to be allowed to immigrate and become a legal resident so they can…etc. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/29 "2006-07-28T22:43:00Z")
BTW I always use 90210 when I meet this problem. I’d say the majority of non-USer’s do 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/30 "2006-07-28T22:53:05Z")
Yes, there are. For the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/31 "2006-07-29T00:26:37Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > And why would part of it be called “California”, which as we all know is _also_ a U.S. state? TWO parts! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/32 "2006-07-29T14:01:05Z")
Not quite a hijack (I hope) but last night’s Family Feud had the question, “If you couldn’t live in the USA, which country would you want to live in?” After both families had had their shots and had come up with Australia, Ireland, England, France and Spain, and had failed to get the last answer on the board it was revealed to be Canada! ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/33 "2006-07-29T15:43:00Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > And yet you apply anyway? There are plenty of reasons to only hire from people already living in the country. This rant is totally bizarre unless the page specifically says they want foreign applicants. Yeah, because it would be ridiculous for an American living in say, Windsor, to be looking for a job in, say, Detroit. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/34 "2006-07-31T22:39:12Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Yeah, because it would be ridiculous for an American living in say, Windsor, to be looking for a job in, say, Detroit. That raises an interesting point. If you live in one of the border cities, how practical is it to live on the other side, but work where you have citizenship, and the automatic right to work that goes with it. So say you are, in fact, an American living in Windsor, but you work in Detroit. You presumably don’t need Canadian working papers to do that, but what are the implications with regard to residency? Could you declare your intent to immigrate to Canada, and have your time spent living in Windsor count towards any stipulated waiting period? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/35 "2006-08-01T14:08:06Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > So say you are, in fact, an American living in Windsor, but you work in Detroit. You presumably don’t need Canadian working papers to do that, but what are the implications with regard to residency? Could you declare your intent to immigrate to Canada, and have your time spent living in Windsor count towards any stipulated waiting period? I don’t know about intent to immigrate, but once **dr\_mom\_mcl** , who was born in the US, was already a landed immigrant in Canada, we spent a year living in Quebec’s Eastern Townships near the Vermont border. She worked in a clinic in Newport, Vermont, commuting each day, with no problems that I’m aware of. As far as I know, she had the ideal situation, as a landed immigrant (i.e. permanent resident) in Canada who also had the right to work in the US, being a citizen. I imagine this is relatively common in border areas, especially ones where the border is particularly porous such as in the Eastern Townships. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/36 "2006-08-01T14:20:57Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > You’re not kidding as much as you think. New Mexico finds it necessary to add USA after the state name on their license plates. Why do think this is odd? Do you know that every state in Mexico adds “Mex” or “Mexico” to its license plates? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126/37 "2006-08-01T22:14:09Z")
One company I’m interested in applying to drives me nuts when it comes to their Careers section. The link off their Canadian webpage, company.ca goes to their worldwide Career website, [company.com](http://company.com) on which there is a drop-down menu to choose the country that you are interested in. Canada is not on the list. I know they have a Canadian location, because it’s 20 minutes from my place. Stupid company. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-other-countries-besides-your-own/366126.md?page=1)