My view of Canada

[DeadPoolX 9]

All in all, I think Canada is pretty cool (pun intended). I like it and the people seem friendly enough, although you can find jerkoffs anywhere.

There was this one guy in a movie theater that had a seat in between two empty seats. The movie theater was very crowded (despite arriving half an hour before the movie starts) so my wife went up there and politely asked him if he'd move over one seat. The man looked at me as if I were asking him to commit suicide and replied, "You want me to move? No ###### way! Find your own damn seat." Then he laughed at us and shook his head. My wife and I were carrying drinks at the time, so I briefly considered dumping my soda on him "accidentally." But I didn't. Instead, we exited the theater and asked for either our money back or new tickets to a later show. Fortunately, the staff were very accommodating and did what we asked.

Most of the time, however, people have been quite nice.

I like the colored money. That makes it easier to see what bill denomination you have without even reading the number. I could do without $1 and $2 coins, though. I'm sure they last longer than paper money, but carrying $10 in either loonies or twoonies is a lot heavier than stuffing ten $1 bills into your wallet. I just give my change to my wife, since her wallet is larger and she has a purse.

Come to think of it... I ask my wife to carry pretty much everything in her purse. That might be why she recently bought a smaller version.

I'd like to visit Jasper sometime or another. My wife claims it's a neat place. Having never been to either Yellowstone or Yosemite, I'd like to go. Conversely, my wife would also like to see Yellowstone and Yosemite at a later date.

I've found British Columbia to be a nice place to live. I'm glad I live here, rather than the colder areas in Canada. I don't mind a little cold, but when it gets down -20C and you have to bundle yourself up from head to toe... well, I wouldn't leave the house. I don't like GST and PST, but I can't imagine anyone in Canada does (except perhaps the government). That really brings up the price. In Texas, we had sales tax but no income tax. To be fair, every state ran their tax system differently, so some states would have every tax imaginable. The provinces act the same or so I've heard.

Perhaps my two major complaints are with the Canadian government (you all know why by now) and the stupid pedestrians who decide to walk out in the middle of traffic and then get angry at the drivers for actually wanting to move when the pedestrian does not have a crossing light or crosswalk. I know pedestrians have the "right of way," but that also means they need to follow the rules (the same is true of drivers). When I walk, I never expect a car to stop. They should, but they might not. In that case, it won't matter that it was my turn to go, since I'd be dead after a car slammed into me.

Most importantly, my wife is here. Nothing against Canada, but I never would have moved here if not for her. I'm sure many of you feel the same way about your spouse and the United States.

So... that's about it. I'm sure I could think of something else if I really put some effort into it, but who wants to do that?

[Sprailenes 47]

The money is coloured because it helps us when from getting ripped off when we're drunk.

You're right there are jerks everywhere, and I have been robbed in Toronto and have yet to be robbed down here, my husbands car got broken into in Midland and the stereo was stolen and that has never happened here. He's had someone walk up to him and try to pick a fight with him in Midland, he's never had that happen here.

Its funny because you'd expect all of that stuff to happen in Philly or surrounding areas, and though it does, it never happened to my husband and he works in Philly. It happened to him in a two year span in a small community in Canada.

[Sprailenes 47]

I have to add about the pedestrians! Omg! You made me laugh! Because down here my husband thinks I am NUTS for just walking across a street and acting all nonchalant about it!

When a light goes yellow my husband bolts and I just walk and tell him: "They have four wheels, they'll get to where they are going faster! I am not running for anyone"

And he noticed that about Canada too!

"####### is up with your pedestrians?" is what he used to say.

Edited November 19, 2008 by Sprailenes

[Emancipation 2]

And he noticed that about Canada too!

"####### is up with your pedestrians?" is what he used to say.

That is SO funny.. I walk out in traffic all the time and hubby goes bezerk! tee hee..

[Sprailenes 47]

When he first came to Canada, he saw a cross walk and it was by this adult bookstore and he asked me what it was and I told him: "Its a triple X cross walk, they put those near the porn stores because they found so many men were dying due to just running across the road to get to the porn shops."

He actually believed me!

Come to think of it, I don't really see cross walks down here in the area I am in.

Speaking of porn my husband also noticed way more porn stores in Canada then there is here.

I must say I agree with him. I wonder what that says about us??

[Emancipation 2]

When he first came to Canada, he saw a cross walk and it was by this adult bookstore and he asked me what it was and I told him: "Its a triple X cross walk, they put those near the porn stores because they found so many men were dying due to just running across the road to get to the porn shops."

He actually believed me!

gal YOU belong in a comedy club..

[warlord 73]

And he noticed that about Canada too!

"####### is up with your pedestrians?" is what he used to say.

That is SO funny.. I walk out in traffic all the time and hubby goes bezerk! tee hee..

My wife says the same thing, she hates it when I just cross the road not at a light or when the light is red and I start walking. I wonder if that is a Canadian thing where we have no issues with walking out into traffic like that?

[MrsCat 6]

And he noticed that about Canada too!

"####### is up with your pedestrians?" is what he used to say.

That is SO funny.. I walk out in traffic all the time and hubby goes bezerk! tee hee..

me too! When we cross the street now, he grabs my hand and holds it like a two year and says "okay now its safe to cross."

Oh, and I still do the pedestrian stare down too with vehicles here. Like "####### don't you see me walking here Mr. 4x4?!"

[Chica Yeyé 41]

And he noticed that about Canada too!

"####### is up with your pedestrians?" is what he used to say.

That is SO funny.. I walk out in traffic all the time and hubby goes bezerk! tee hee..

me too! When we cross the street now, he grabs my hand and holds it like a two year and says "okay now its safe to cross."

Oh, and I still do the pedestrian stare down too with vehicles here. Like "####### don't you see me walking here Mr. 4x4?!"

Uh.... doesn't everyone??? So that's why people hate me when I cross.....

[MrsCat 6]

And he noticed that about Canada too!

"####### is up with your pedestrians?" is what he used to say.

That is SO funny.. I walk out in traffic all the time and hubby goes bezerk! tee hee..

me too! When we cross the street now, he grabs my hand and holds it like a two year and says "okay now its safe to cross."

Oh, and I still do the pedestrian stare down too with vehicles here. Like "####### don't you see me walking here Mr. 4x4?!"

Uh.... doesn't everyone??? So that's why people hate me when I cross.....

You're asking for it in Seattle honey - no one appreciated the Canadian road cross when I was there.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

And he noticed that about Canada too!

"####### is up with your pedestrians?" is what he used to say.

That is SO funny.. I walk out in traffic all the time and hubby goes bezerk! tee hee..

me too! When we cross the street now, he grabs my hand and holds it like a two year and says "okay now its safe to cross."

Oh, and I still do the pedestrian stare down too with vehicles here. Like "####### don't you see me walking here Mr. 4x4?!"

Uh.... doesn't everyone??? So that's why people hate me when I cross.....

You're asking for it in Seattle honey - no one appreciated the Canadian road cross when I was there.

:crying:

[angie007 0]

I think the reason why people just cross the street just like that is because they know the drivers are so considerate and nice...(at least they are from where I live,in Newmarket)....I dont just cross the street, I wait for the cars to go through first everytime,even in a not pedestrian lane..but from my experience, I dont remember how many times, but I'm sure it's a lot of times, drivers would stop if they see me in a corner waiting for my turn to cross...sometimes we're in there for 30 seconds using gestures of hands saying go ahead first..but I always loose..so I get to cross first.

[DeadPoolX 9]

Perhaps the reason Canadians don't mind crossing the street is because there are generally less cars (yes, I know Toronto and Vancouver have many vehicles, but when compared to Los Angeles or Houston, the amount isn't even comparable) due to the population being much, much smaller than the United States. Another issue could be that Canadians simply walk than Americans, who consider driving the "normal" way of getting around. Very few people I know in the U.S. walk unless it's absolutely necessary. Therefore drivers are often given precedence over pedestrians.

I'm originally from Houston, TX. That's the fourth largest city in the U.S. by population and the second largest geographically. We probably have more drivers than Toronto and Vancouver combined. That wouldn't surprise me since the only way to get around efficiently is with a car. You could try walking (but it'd take you far too long to get anywhere) and the public transportation system is laughable. In cities like Houston -- which accounts for most of them -- the number of drivers far outweigh those who walk. If someone attempts to walk somewhere, it's something of an anomaly. I don't recall even seeing crosswalks and I've lived in Houston for my whole life.

The real problem with pedestrians was in downtown Vancouver. Aside from all the one-way streets and super aggressive buses (half the time they venture between lanes without a turn signal or even bothering to see if a car is there), the pedestrian count is astronomical. I have never seen that many pedestrians in all my life. To make matters worse, they'd cross the street at any time -- no cross light or crosswalk necessary -- and if cars didn't immediately stop or honked one when it wasn't the pedestrian's turn to go, they'd get pissed off and start hurling vulgar language at the driver. A number of pedestrians almost got violent and told off the drivers, stating that "they were walking there so screw off!"

I finally got so annoyed that I told my wife I'm going to run over the next pedestrian who crosses without a light. She said I couldn't do that. I responded that if they're going to go when they shouldn't, so will I. After that she wanted to switch seats with me and drive.

Maybe the above sounds a little over the top, but I was really getting pissed off. A drive that would normally take 10 minutes ended up requiring an extra 30 to 40 minutes, simply due to the pedestrian traffic. We had to add about an hour on to our travel time no matter where we went, so long as it was around downtown. That's just plain crazy.

I suppose that's what we got for having a temporary place (while looking for a permanent apartment, which we did find) on Burrard at Robson.

[bluegreen 0]

THEN of, course, it becomes protest season in Vancouver. People just LOVE to protest with their signs and banners all over the street. I'm not complaining—I like a good protest—but it DOES slow down the traffic quite often. If people tried that here in Southern Cali they would be run over faster than you can say, "Free Tibet".

[SapphireDreams 71]

You guys have obviously never been to NYC! The pedestrian traffic there is just out of control.

When you factor in all the slow/lost/overwhelmed tourists and the annoyed New Yorkers trying to get around them, it's a big mess!

I do agree though, Toronto pedestrians are annoying. I am one of them and when I drive downtown once in awhile I want to poke my eyes out. Combine the pedestrians with the bikers and the roads are just a mess. I don't know what it is with Toronto and bikes but there are just too many lately!!