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JerBear
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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 Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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| ajgeddes wrote: |
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Except for Tahiti, I have met immigrants in America from ervery one of the countries you mention, and about a dozen more just in San Francisco. I used to joke to my friends that anytime there's a war or famine somewhere in the world San Francisco gets a new cuisine, when a new restaurant opens up around the corner started by people trying to get out of there. I THOUGHT I was joking. Then Milosovich came along and a little while later ... who knew there WAS such a Croat food?
And being condescending toward America has been a hobby for a lot of people since our country got started. Believe me, we are VERY used to it.
I hear a lot of vitriol hurled at Koreans for the way some behaved after the fall of the Twin Towers, but some of us picked up a more subtle vibe from our so-called friends and allies " "Well, that's what you get. About time, too. Don't you think you had it coming?" |
Frist of all, I bet there are immigrants from the USA to all those countries in Western Europe, as well. Just because you met an immigrant from another country, doesn't mean everybody from there want to do the same. I have met immigrants from the States in Canada, so obviously we must be the best place on Earth (just using your logic).
Second, Canadians weren't happy about the twin towers, so watch your mouth. Canada was very quick to respond with help, not to mention there were plenty of Canadians in those towers as well. |
This is true. On a side note, did you know that many of the first responders in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina were Canadians? Wikipedia (I know, flawed source that it is) says this:
Canada
Main article: Canadian response to Hurricane Katrina
September 5, 35 military divers were poised to depart by air Sunday from Halifax and Esquimalt, B.C., for the New Orleans area.September 4, On the request from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Canada sent thousands of beds, blankets, surgical gloves and dressings and other medical supplies. On September 2 the Government of Canada announced it was sending three warships along with a Coast Guard vessel, and three Sea King helicopters to the area. Over 1,000 personnel are involved in the operation, including engineers and navy divers. The Canadian Heavy Urban Search and Rescue out of Vancouver was in Louisiana from September 1, due to security they started their mission on Sept 3. Ontario Hydro, Hydro-Qu�bec, and Manitoba Hydro, along with other electrical utilities, had crews set to go to the affected areas. On September 2 Air Canada participated along with U.S. member airlines of the Air Transport Association, in a voluntary airline industry initiative to support rescue and relief operations.
Can't find much about Canadian first responders at the World Trade Center site, but I don't have the slightest doubt that there were many.
PS I'm a Texan. |
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joshuahirtle27
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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I still don't think the Canadian guy was implying that the USA got what it deserved.
Of course he was. |
Did you think to ask? |
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joshuahirtle27
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:28 pm Post subject: Re: Conversations with non-Americans about 9/11 |
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| The Bobster wrote: |
I mentioned to a Canadian guy in a bar a few months ago how much I dislike going to the American Embassy in Seoul, or any other country for that matter.
The Bobster : You know they take away my phone? Store it in a box and give me a ticket to retrieve it on the way out. Metal detectors, concertina wire on the walls. Police surrounding the place, 24 and 7 ...
The Canadian : Really? The Canadian Embassy is very mellow, nothing like what you're describing, hey.
(This is actually true. Walked by the Canuck Embassy once and barely noticed it, seemed like any other place. Um, might be a metaphor there, if we look around a bit ...)
The Bobster : Yeah, well, I guess people don't come from halfway across the world just to fly airplanes into your buildings ...
No they don't come half way around the world to fly into our buildings. Besides the CN Tower is like 300m high and the fattest parts are the bottom and the Space Deck... the rest is only a few meters thick. I know it's awful to say but if you CAN hit it with a plane then you've got some pretty good aim and you're looking to kill maybe 300 people. It's not a status symbol to be able to say "Na na na na na , our buildings get hit by terrorists' planes." and if you're proud of that fact then you're just as much of a terrorist as the ones who flew planes into those buildings and killed thousands of people.
The Canadian : Yeah. I wonder why that is. Ever stop to think aboot that?
The Bobster : (biting tongue hard and trying, just barely succeeding, not to say) Maybe it's because, um ... nobody cares? Look up the word "Canada" in the dictionary - it says, "Move along, folks, nothing interesting or important going on here." (actually saying instead) Hey, that's a cute little maple leaf flag you got sewn onto your backpack. You know, I visted Canada once and I never saw anybody with a maple leaf sewn on their backpack when I was there.
Um... you don't look up a countries name in a Dictionary unless you want to spell it correctly. You look it up in an ATLAS. And why would someone IN Canada, who IS Canadian wear a maple leaf. Canadians have ways of picking out who's not one of our countrymen. We know based on how they act. They expect us to take their money, use their measurement system and speak their language which is usually some dyslexic bastardization of the English language (and goes over really well in Quebec). I'll give you a hint as to who does that... it's not the Europeans, Asians, Africans, South/ Latin Americans, or the Aussies
The Canadian : Yeah, we just do that when we are traveling, so we get treated better when people know where we're from ... hey?
The Bobster : Yeah, it must suck for you that you look, talk, dress, eat, and behave in every way just like people from the most hated country in the world ... good strategy, to have a sense of national identity predicated completely and only upon "We're not THOSE guys." The paradox, of course, is that there is exactly ONE country in the world where just about everyone wants to live if they only could - and it ain't Canada.
Perhaps people don't flock to Canada from whatever country they are "immigrating" from, but loads of people do. Just because people flee Cuba and Mexico to go to the US doesn't make it a better choice, it makes the US a convenient choice. I takes far less time and effort to get to Florida from Cuba than it does to get to Nova Scotia. If I could live in another country (besides Canada) it would NOT be America. Granted there are some nice Americans but I have a policy where I either want to pay taxes or pay for Doctors... not both. A lot of Canadians wear their identity on their sleeve or their pack because if they do they are treated differently... this is because people expect to be treated differently by Canadians. Why do you think some Americans wear the maple leaf when they travel? There has to be a correlation somewhere.
The Canadian : Yeah, and right now I'm wondering what made you think you could sit down for a beer in the Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon and talk this kinda bull hockey? Hey?
Again, who sits down and starts shit and then picks up and leaves (see next line in quoted section) that's just looking to start something stupid. How would the American have felt if the Canadian had said this stuff.
The Bobster : Yeah, right. Got an appointment, guess I better move along. Hey? |
www.caffeinated-goodness.co.nr |
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joshuahirtle27
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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Can't find much about Canadian first responders at the World Trade Center site, but I don't have the slightest doubt that there were many.
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Yup we sent people. I'm not sure where to find the stats for it either but I know that medics left CFB Halifax for NY shortly after the disaster. :) Glad to see someone knows something about their neighbors to the north. |
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howie2424
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Can't find much about Canadian first responders at the World Trade Center site, but I don't have the slightest doubt that there were many. |
Thanks for pointing that out. It is indeed true. As for 9/11, you will recall how Canada opened up it�s airspace to all those diverted American flights and the Canadian families who accommodated the folks on those flights in their own homes while they waited to go on to their original destinations. Yes, it seems most Canadians sympathized greatly with the tremendous tragedy that took place on 9/11. But some folks prefer to overlook these facts and base their views of an entire country on the drunken ramblings of some expat English teacher they met in a bar in Itaewon.  |
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joshuahirtle27
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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I think the post title was misleading... The conversation was in poor taste, if you can call it a conversation at all. And it was with ONE non American at a random bar. If someone I didn't know plopped themselves down and started spouting off and giving me lip about how insignificant my country was I'd be less than happy...
And it is not a positive status symbol to be able to say "my country is a target of terrorism". Anyone who says anything to the contrary should be drawn and quartered. |
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