The 51st State

Everyone who comes to Canada says that, unlike Americans, Canadians are genuinely friendly people.

Bullshit.

Yesterday it was -14. Me and Shirl went to the Mall for lunch. On the way there we passed this woman on the road whose car had clearly broken down. On the way back from the mall (90 minutes later) she was still there. Now this car was slap-bang in the middle of a junction, not neatly to one side. Can you imagine that happening in the IOM? It'd be two minutes before a couple of burly gentlemen got out and (at the very least) pushed your car to one side*. Admittedly, during that two minutes you'd be beeped at 20 times and receive a fair amount of middle-finger gestures.

But here? Nope. Totally ignored. No help, no beeps, no fingers. It's a way of life. We all ignore each other all the time. Apart from in stores and restaurants...

...you see, in the States, the serving people (e.g. waitresses and salespeople) are really nice to you basically so they get their tip/commission. Makes me sick, but at least it's understandable.

However, in Canada, being-nice-to-customers is compulsory. Did you know that it is mandatory for shop-floor staff to smile and ask "can I help you with anything?" whenever they are within 10 feet of a customer. It's in the handbook. And the distance is actually specified.

And that staff-members will be reprimanded if they are reported for not doing so. Cashiers HAVE to ask "Did you find everything you were looking for?". EXACTLY those words.

And they have head-office staff going round stores pretending to be shoppers trying to catch the staff out. Nice.

Genuinely friendly? Ha!

At least in the IOM if someone says "Hi? How are you?" they're being sincere. They're also being sincere if they say "Get out of my way or I'll kick your tits in".

Regards

p.s. No, we didn't stop and help either, she could've been a psycho.