Canada Eh?

I hate when people are rude. I may not be super friendly all of the time, but if I don’t know you, I surely won’t be rude to you on our first encounter (even if I can just tell that I don’t like you).  I just don’t understand it.  It gets under my skin, and in some cases, including the one below, it can shape my opinion about people, places, etc., for a long time. This happened back in September. I went to Canada for a work-related trip.  I was traveling alone and had to fly into Toronto and rent a car to get around for my 8 day stay. Up to day #7, the trip was going really great.  I had never been to Canada before, and it is somewhere, up to day #7, that I would absolutely recommend going to and hope to visit again.  It’s really beautiful. Except for Toronto, which is a fairly large city (and reminds me a lot of Chicago, which I love!), Canada’s pretty rural.  I was staying in Brantford, about an hour outside of Toronto, and it reminded me a lot of where we live today (except with less people, and more farmland… if that’s even possible).  It was really beautiful though. Anyway, day #7, I had to refuel the rental car before I turned it back in.  I pulled into the gas station, and for some reason (unknown to me at the time), my credit card wouldn’t work at the pump.  Side note: it turns out that Canadians have chips in their credit cards to verify their identify. It’s similar to the “fast-pass” at American gas stations. You can just scan your card… you don’t have to swipe.  Anyway, I walked inside the gas station since my card didn’t work at the pump.  I explained to the cashier that my card didn’t work, and she asked, “Are you American”?  If my lack-of-ridiculous-Canadian-accent didn’t already give that away, I responded that I was. And here was her response…. “Well, we don’t like Americans here”. What?!?  Is she serious or is she kidding? Did she really mean Americans or just American credit cards? She has no facial expression at all, so I’m assuming that she’s serious. I paid inside and left. But in my mind, I verbally abused her. Really!?… you work at a gas station, you ignorant, worthless 5-letter word beginning with a ‘B’ (hey, this is a family blog, so I’ll keep it clean)…If Canadians didn’t use the American supply-chain for resources, blah, blah, blah, followed by several 4-letter words, and then a punch to the face.  Anyway, it bothered me.  From my trip, this is what I remember most.  Not Niagara Falls, not the Toronto International Film Festival, not the wineries at Niagara-on-the-Lake… nope, I remember this. 

One night this past week, I was dreaming that I was flying a kite.  Not sure why I was flying a kite.  I don’t think that’s the piece that matters.  What does matter is the design of the kite that I was flying.  It was in the shape of a big question mark and the pattern was made out of the Canadian-flag.  That’s exactly how I feel about Canada now.