Holier then thou attitude

[Sprailenes 47]

All depends on where you live too. I'm in NJ and it's a very fast paced life, people aren't super friendly, but they're very much to the point and they don't beat around the bush at all. When I first moved here I thought they were extremely rude, but I have grown accustomed to it, and I sort of understand that it's the way it is now. I mean you get a really rude person sometimes, but they're everywhere and I think it's easy to blame it on their country or background rather than dig deeper. I think stereotypes are an easy way to generalize and sadly, humans will continue to do it.

In Toronto this past weekend, my cab driver yelled and sucked his teeth at me because I didn't know what address it was I was going, but I knew the general area... and I asked him to stop at a Timmies and he refused!

If someone did something like that here, I think I probably would say something like: "Gah! Only in Jersey, stupid jerk!" because it's an easy scape goat. Not: "Wow maybe that dude has been brought up in an abrasive home" or "Wow maybe he's got some problems at home" or "Maybe he's just really unhappy and needs a hug"

When I get mad at the way things are, I don't complain about what I'm mad at, I blame it on the area, or the people... because it's easy.

[Tater&Bugger 3]

I think the majority of people, from everywhere, are just IGNORANT. Yes, some of my own family and friends fall into this category too. Reminds me of the infamous quote; "I don't know why it's called 'common sense' if it's so rare"

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I do get annoyed at my Dad every now and then who now lumps me in with all of those Americans who generally hold the extreme conservative/Republican values/points of view and complains about how regressive some of those ideas are. I object to him sending me emails linked to Tea-partiers and such and telling me that's whats wrong with the US, as if I am now responsible for them. I keep telling him that they do not speak for all Americans and that there are some of us who believe in values more akin with those held by Liberal Canadians. We're not many, but hey, we do exist ! He says he knows it but he has to complain to someone and I'm the closest person! It bothers me, especially as he knows I don't share those perspectives and I don't want to read them, let alone receive emails about them. Heck, I was a card carrying member of the Liberal Party of Canada and worked for a Liberal MP and my beliefs/values have not changed just because I have moved to the US. I keep sending him information about the other side of the coin, but I suspect this is going to be an ongoing situation for the rest of our lives together.

Edited October 19, 2010 by Kathryn41

[SonoranSongbird 3]

In Toronto this past weekend, my cab driver yelled and sucked his teeth at me because I didn't know what address it was I was going, but I knew the general area... and I asked him to stop at a Timmies and he refused!

If someone did something like that here, I think I probably would say something like: "Gah! Only in Jersey, stupid jerk!" because it's an easy scape goat. Not: "Wow maybe that dude has been brought up in an abrasive home" or "Wow maybe he's got some problems at home" or "Maybe he's just really unhappy and needs a hug"

I've driven in Toronto---the stress of having to drive there would be enough to make me kind of grumpy and impatient! Then again, there is a good reason I do NOT drive a cab in a large urban area....

But you're absolutely right--general attitudes vary a lot more from place to place WITHIN the US and Canada. And of course, even then, individual people are still quite different. You really can't compare the US and Canada without breaking it down by region. Places are just too different.

[Gemmie 142]

If someone did something like that here, I think I probably would say something like: "Gah! Only in Jersey, stupid jerk!" because it's an easy scape goat. Not: "Wow maybe that dude has been brought up in an abrasive home" or "Wow maybe he's got some problems at home" or "Maybe he's just really unhappy and needs a hug"

I agree. I guess it's because when you encounter an "outsider" you think to yourself 'oooh I've never met an X before, wonder how they are' and you interpret their behaviour as being representative of the nationality.

My husband came to England for the first time in 2007 and when we were on the bus ride to my apartment, we drove through a town where a couple of teenagers were being arrested outside a pub for fighting (it was after 11pm). Then when we spoke to his parents on the phone, they asked how he liked it, and he said "my first impression of England was seeing a bunch of people being violent in the street" and I was like... WHAT? Not only did you just exaggerate, but if a fight broke out in Boston, you wouldn't flinch! It's probably also because he comes from a small rural town, so he hadn't seen that before anywhere, but I was still annoyed that he attributed it to an English thing.

Edited October 19, 2010 by Gemmie

[Cheryl & Medo 3]

Dont want to start a war here but this is just my opinion and observation..I was born and raised in Canada and lived there for 40 years been in the US for 8 years now..Americans tend to be viewed by Canadians as bullies of a sort..If the Americans don't agree with the way a country is being run they just move in and change it to the way they want to see it..Canadians are more laid back and don't worry so much about what goes on outside of their own back yard.. When I lived in Canada a standard work week was 35 hours and health care was free..no worries in Canada..you get a year for maternity leave and are paid while you are off...I move here and I now work 40 hours a week..I can barely afford family health care coverage..$650 a month..most companies don't offer maternity leave so you have a baby and are back to work in a matter of weeks..I think what it boils down to is levels of stress..and I would have to say that Americans are a lot more stressed than Canadians..

AGain just my humble opinion

America is just filled with problems one after another.....

[JlovesA 109]

I live on a border down so Canadians here are pretty blasé about Americans, though my dad definitely has the holier than thou attitude. For the record, I find people in Michigan way, way friendlier than in Canada, especially when it comes to customer service. In Michigan, clerks and whatnot chat and make jokes. But more often than not here, the clerks I get act like I ruined their day by trying to buy something. It just seems like people in America are happier than Canadians, but I can only speak for SW Ontario and Michigan.

[bluegreen 0]

I notice it, and sometimes, I even find myself guilty of doing it, when I am having a bad day or feeling homesick. It's funny, because I grew up in Canada the child of English immigrant parents, and it used to really upset me that my Mum held very superior, holier-than-though attitudes towards Canada and Canadians. She has mellowed out a LOT now, but I remember feeling very upset about it as a kid, and I think it made me cling even more to my "Canadian" identity, even though she was always reminding me that I was an English girl. I always thought of that as a very British attitude, Now I know that she was probably feeling the way I feel these days - not wanting to lose her own identity on a country that felt foreign and unfamiliar, and definitely not wanting her children to become "one of them!"

I don't know why Canadians as a whole do this and it does bother me. I think it is kind of like a national bad habit:) we've just fallen into it and it makes us feel like we are in the "right" place doing the "right" things. I miss many things about Canada, and I do really need to work on becoming more appreciative and cognizant of the many wonderful aspects of living down here...

[Ban Hammer 13,283]

well canada does have

so it gets my vote

[Krikit 1,164]

I've only had one person pull the "Americans are... " card but I explained how narrow minded that idea is without causing offense. She hasn't said anything like that since. I think the loudmouth rude Americans who travel abroad give a bad impression to others and that's really unfair because the vast majority are lovely people.

What started this rant was a friend on Facebook who went to Buffalo shopping on the weekend and she came back saying how rude all the Americans were....

Are you kidding me?!! I always shopped in Buffalo because.... for one.... their customer service was outstanding!!! I bet you anything your FB friend went in there with attitude and got what she deserved.

[warlord 73]

All my life I've gotten this. From all my experiences, yes it is on both sides, but Americans tend to just joke, the same way they joke about New Jersey. Canadians though don't joke and are much more serious, or at least the friends and family I know.

Every time my entire family is together, my two older brothers (middle one especially) try and bash the US every chance they get, and it leads to a big heated debate, usually with my dad taking on my side to defend the US.

When I visit friends, they will get right into it too about how stupid Americans are, how crappy this and that is blah blah blah. Again, I get pitted against a group of them and honestly I freaking hate it.

My parents are much older (80's) and don't have the same hatred, bitterness towards the US as those that are younger, so seems like those 50 and under seem to be a lot more anti-US, and much more serious about it.

Teasing is one thing, but all the Canadians I know, aren't teasing, they're dead serious with their anti-American feelings. Of course a lot of that stems from the bad ####### you hear about in the news about select people. But I always tell them, there's ####### like that in Canadian news too, and they will say, yeah but not as much. I then have to remind them the population of Canada is smaller then that of the state of California, now do you think they might comprehend why we might have a bit more of that? How many times bigger is the US then Canada in population? Nope, they still go on saying "in the news", "this US dumbass" blah blah blah. Freaking annoying as hell.

At least in the US when people joke about Canada, I can have fun with it, and when it seems someone is actually saying something that they don't know about in Canada and I step in to defend it, then they tend to go "oh I didn't know that" and no longer bring it up, because it's that they just don't know. For instance one coworker found out I had to attend 13th Grade, he thought was it because Canadian education wasn't up to par and they had to add an extra year to match with the US. He was serious, because he wasn't aware of why that would be. If this had been the opposite and the US had 13th grade, Canadians would jump on board and flat out say it's because the Americans are stupid and everyone was held back too much that they made it mandatory because every American is dumb...

[Sprailenes 47]

I remember a couple of weeks ago when that priest wanted to burn the Quran in Florida, one of my friends - who always has a cynical outlook on life posted the story and then said: "This is proof that all Americans are idiots and racist and if you disagree you're an idiot too" I kid you not, my mouth dropped. To lump all Americans in with this idiots mentality did really upset me, and I actually wrote back and then he deleted the entire story altogether - never once replying, apologizing or anything.

It's funny people will say such ignorant things about an entire nation of people, and to not understand or realize that they're guilty of the exact same thing they're accusing others of being.

[Golden Gate 530]

I live on a border down so Canadians here are pretty blasé about Americans, though my dad definitely has the holier than thou attitude. For the record, I find people in Michigan way, way friendlier than in Canada, especially when it comes to customer service. In Michigan, clerks and whatnot chat and make jokes. But more often than not here, the clerks I get act like I ruined their day by trying to buy something. It just seems like people in America are happier than Canadians, but I can only speak for SW Ontario and Michigan.

I'm from Michigan, and I have to say that this is the one thing I miss about being away from there. Even though Michigan has a depressed economy, you find them very pleasant and customer service oriented. I think part of the reason there is such high unemployment is because people just don't want to move away from there. I guess they are just happy people!

[Sprailenes 47]

Even within a country though people do this. I'm in NJ and people always have something snarky to say about this state. People seem to look at me like I'm serving a life sentence instead of choosing to live here. At Canada day in DC two years ago this guy asked where my husband and I were from and we said: "New Jersey" and he said: "I'm sorry to hear that".

Out in western Canada there are people who loathe Ontario and call it Onterrible. They think Ontario is over developed and is full of snobs and people who are all about themselves.

But we sort of become defensive of the places we choose to live. I get a little upset when someone says Jersey stinks, or Canada eats whale blubber, or American's are all morons. Now I just find myself trying to correct a lot more people because I have lived in more places...

[The_Dude 1,142]

All you can go by is your own experiences. So, if you're only exposure to the U.S. is what you've seen on t.v., then of course you're going to have a jaded and frankly, ignorant viewpoint. I find this thread quite funny, considering how much sublte anti-american comments come from people on this board.