* We drink our
Homo mostly from
milk bags.
* We own Santa Claus (but he's moving to
Russia in the near future.
* We invented
basketball, baseball, and football, but of course we prefer hockey (or 'ice hockey as you put it).
*We have Liberals who are actually conservative, Conservatives, who are actually reactionary, and NDP progressives who are actually socialist (and proud of it!). All are to the left of their counterparts in US spectrum (as is most of the world).
* We are a collection of losers from the world entire, dating back to he French Indian War, yet we've won every war we've entered in.
* Grandfather, a world traveler between the two World Wars, was once asked why he settled on Canada as a place to bring his refugee family. His answer? Canada has a future.
On the train ride from Montreal to the rented accomodations he had managed, his oldest daughter asked if they would be joining any German clubs. His answer? Germany is across the ocean, we belong to Canada now.
* We have been described as a railroad looking for a country to happen. Hewers of wood and drawers of water. New England is full of jokes about Canucks. A funny thing happened though. As the multinational resource companies were looking the other way, the peons in the company towns were developing their own culture and politics... History, they shamelessly thought was not made by great men, but by people living... and politics was less about what was advisable than what was practical
And people, unlike plaster saint Great Men, had needs.
* We don't pledge allegiance to a flag. Ever. Once we sang about God Saving The Queen, but few do these days. Belief in God acting a part to save a nice Middle class German Lady having gone by the wayside. We (or some of us) once ascribed to the slogan "One fleet, one Flag, one Empire!" but we are seeing the 100th anniversary of a Canadian Navy this year, we got our flag in 1965, and the Empire crumbled a long time ago...
Nowadays we sing "O Canada" in varied accents, and we flub half the lines proudly.
* We don't prefer M&M's - we like Smarties.
* We don't have any inculcated aversion to socialism, or community organizing, or government help. Winter arrives every year to remind us that we are all in this together, and collective effort sure beats freezing alone.
* Happy Canada Day!
One more....
A few (more than a few - actually) years ago, at Old Jarry Park, my dear old Dad, then younger than I am now, brought his three sons to see the Expos play the (stinking) Mets of New York. It was just before the Dominion Day (now Canada Day) long weekend.
A seat neighbour (notice the "u") was from Pennsylvania. He overheard our convo...
"So your fourth of July is on July First?"
"Yes. and our Memorial Day is actually in November, and Victoria Day is in May. And our Thanksgiving is in October when the harvest actually occurs."
A pause.
"So when do you have Christmas and New Years?"
Happy Glorious Fourth to you Yanks. As always, call us if you change your minds - we're in the book. We're that big pink part that hangs above you on the map... if we were in jail, you'd be our bitches... :-)