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Top 5 things I saw in America which, as a Canadian, freaked me right out

daftandbarmy

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InterEsting.... can anyone top these observations?

I like the sign outside of Whitby Island Naval Air Station:

PARDON OUR NOISE - IT IS THE SOUND OF FREEDOM!


Top 5 things I saw in America which, as a Canadian, freaked me right out

I’m back from my vacation down in the United States, and will return to blogging with regularity as soon as possible.

To celebrate my return to this frigid, yet comparatively sane country, I felt it worthwhile to relay a list of five items which I saw during my travels which the locals thought was perfectly normal (I presume), but which freaked the heck out of me as a Canadian.

#5

A trucking company which hauls all manner of freight throughout the deep south of the U.S. which calls itself a “Christian company” (the very idea of which seems as bizarre to me as a “Christian dog”) and which requires that its trucks to carry religious and political messages. The messages I saw included:
It’s not a choice, it’s a child
and
God loved us so that he gave his only son.

#4

A breakfast creation in upstate New York called “Stuffed French Toast”. What does “Stuffed French Toast” entail, you naïve non-American might ask? It’s French Toast (which, keep in mind is cooked in butter) stuffed with bacon, eggs and processed cheese (which they proudly call ‘American processed cheese’, I presume, to distinguish it from real cheese which could, after all, be French and/or offer unAmerican nutritional content). But here’s the kicker: on top of your “Stuffed French Toast” cooked in butter, you will find… a square of butter.

#3

A massive billboard in South Carolina just outside of Georgia which read:
“Victory is great, but honor is greater. Defend your Southern heritage.”


#2

A letter to the editor pasted proudly on a business door in Key Marathon, Florida by the business owner discussing how immigrants today are a disgrace to immigrants from the start of the 20th Century. The letter details how people need to read history because in 1901, when the business owner’s grandfather came to the country, he didn’t ask for any government handouts like modern immigrants are asking for. So modern, non-English-speaking immigrants are greedier than the immigrants from 100 years ago and thus do not recognize the value of hard work and don’t appreciate why America is great. (I’m not concocting a straw man here, this is, as best as I can recall, the structure of the argument). Apparently, nobody told the letter-writer that in 1901 NOBODY got government handouts (other than cheap land which WAS aimed at immigrants) because there weren’t significant government social programs until after World War II.
I guess the purpose of the letter was for other people to read history, not for the letter writer to read history.

#1


Casa D’ice, a restaurant located near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which features political messages as their signature claim to fame.  Among the political messages they put up under their restaurant’s name and proudly reproduced on their website include:

http://paulitics.wordpress.com/2008/01/09/top-5-things-i-saw-in-america-which-as-a-canadian-freaked-me-right-out/
 
I've seen the signs.  A friend sent them to me in an email.
As far as the Letter to the Editor - Good on him for telling it like it is!
Stuffed French Toast sounds like a GREAT hangover cure (maybe as good as Rotten Ronnie's) but I could do without the cheese (processed American or not).  :-X
 
When I was in Oklahoma City:

Billy Bob the armed security guard. For a restaurant!  I chose not to eat there and several other like minded establishments.  These folks did not look capable of fast thinking.  Very scary.  Some folks I trust with guns... others, less so.

Roving armed guards in the mall parking lots, and not just one or two.

Crap beer.
 
Thats gold. Good stuff. I never went to America when i was over there. I met a few of them and that was enough for me. Some i'm sure are great people, others ruin it for everyone else. I met a Texan who said "Australia? Thats a...big country right?", I replied, "Yeah, its pretty massive i suppose", "Where is it?" he asked, "Umm, down below Indonesia, at the bottom of Asia, its on all the world maps, you cant miss it". "Oh, Asia! Whats that like?"

I've met some nice Yanks but its those few who ruin it for everyone else. I'd love to go to the States, just i could say i did and see the place. It'd be an experience for sure.
 
When I was in Ohio I had to go to the local UPS facility to ship a parcel back home. I was taken aback by a sign on the gate that read "No Handguns on Premises". The idea that this UPS has such a problem with people bringing handguns in with them is baffling to this naive Canadian.
 
In April 2004, Ohio's concealed carry statute went into effect. The law (Ohio Revised Code 2923.12, et seq.) allows persons 21 and older to receive a concealed handgun license provided that they receive a minimum of 12 hours of handgun training (10 hours of classroom instruction and 2 hours of range time) from a certified instructor, demonstrate competency with a handgun through written and shooting tests, pass a criminal background check, and meet certain residency requirements.[45]

The licenses are issued by county sheriffs.
 
Larry Strong said:
In April 2004, Ohio's concealed carry statute went into effect. The law (Ohio Revised Code 2923.12, et seq.) allows persons 21 and older to receive a concealed handgun license provided that they receive a minimum of 12 hours of handgun training (10 hours of classroom instruction and 2 hours of range time) from a certified instructor, demonstrate competency with a handgun through written and shooting tests, pass a criminal background check, and meet certain residency requirements.[45]

The licenses are issued by county sheriffs.

I wanna go to Ohio!
 
daftandbarmy said:
InterEsting.... can anyone top these observations?

I like the sign outside of Whitby Island Naval Air Station:

PARDON OUR NOISE - IT IS THE SOUND OF FREEDOM!

I love that sign!!
It was put up after many residents were complaining about the noise from the Prowlers.
I guess they didn't bother to check and see what the flight path was before buying their houses.

ps... It's Whidbey Island..not Whitby Island  ;)


edited to change "jets" to "Prowlers"...
 
An entire thread for the rabidly anti-American crowd. ::)
 
Not really anti-American, but I do enjoy seeing some of the comedic things you see down there (like I'm sure a lot of them do to us up here...).

I was just recently in Great Falls, Montana, and when cruising through the mall I saw a shop called "Posh Taco".  It even had a cheesy Neon Top Hat.  It was so odd, I had to take a picture. :D
 
Just so we're all aware of what the point of this (otherwise mindless) hatred of Americans is, here is the list of "General Links" from this guy's blog (and these aren't even the "Blogs I really like" section ... that part is even more pinko):
Against the Grain
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Communist Party of Canada
Democracy Now!
Hands off Venezuela
HowdTheyVote.ca
International Socialist Review Online
Marxist Internet Archive
Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada
Marxmail.org
Media Matters
Noam Chomsky official site
Rabble.ca
Radio Chomsky
Resistance mp3s
Socialist Worker Online
TED lecture series: Ideas worth spreading
The Evil Bible
The National Priorities Project: The Cost of War
The Socialist Project: Relay Magazine
Website Calculator
Young Communist League (Canada)

 
Allow me to state, my post was not meant to be anti-american.  My point, which I should have stated, was how sad it must be to live in such fear that armed guards are everywhere.  As a Canadian, I was a bit taken aback by that and it fit with the title of the thread.

I have served with Americans and count several of them amongst my best friends.  They find some things about us, quite amusing as well and I wouldn't dream of calling them "Canada Bashers".

Let us take a chill pill and enjoy the moment.

 
Well, I'm there a lot. I have found that contrary to the 'ugly american' image that pompous Canadians and Eurotrash like to perpetuate, they are much more polite, friendly and outgoing than we are. Don't kid yourselves, Canada is chocked full of uneducated, ignorant assholes too. I also like their prices, choices of merchandise and the fact that that guy can have a sign, no matter how much you disagree with what he says, without nameless jerks complaining to a Human Rights Commission. It's called freedom of speech, another thing we are losing here.
 
Yup......and 2 years ago when I spent a week in New York city I felt safer walking around than either Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal.

Ditto for Florida last year.
 
Bruce Monkhouse said:
Yup......and 2 years ago when I spent a week in New York city I felt safer walking around than either Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal.

Ditto for Florida last year.

I've walked in the Cass corridor of Detroit and wasn't as uncomfortable as I was in some areas of TO.
 
recceguy said:
Well, I'm there a lot. I have found that contrary to the 'ugly american' image that pompous Canadians and Eurotrash like to perpetuate, they are much more polite, friendly and outgoing than we are. Don't kid yourselves, Canada is chocked full of uneducated, ignorant assholes too. I also like their prices, choices of merchandise and the fact that that guy can have a sign, no matter how much you disagree with what he says, without nameless jerks complaining to a Human Rights Commission. It's called freedom of speech, another thing we are losing here.

+1 recceguy

I'm in the US very often and i feel more at home in San Diego than i do in any large/medium Canadian city.
 
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