The single worst thing about Canada is....
#61
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
I find the high cost and difficulty of obtaining booze to be a pain in the arse but I think it's just a symptom of a bigger problem; the Canadian fixation with legislation, regulation and conformity. I think there's a real split between the born-in-Canada-to-Canadians people, the unhyphenated, who are largely employed regulating and fussing and the general public who are largely engaged in evading, subverting and getting on with life. I was saddened by the bust of a west end grocery store last week for selling home made wine, as I am when I hear of traders run in for selling Marlboro..
Duh!
#62
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
Oh please, I'm neither. I'd just like to be able to have a wider choice of beverages, at competitive prices. As Steve said, when something's cheaper in Hawaii you know you're being ripped off
#63
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
For example last Sunday while toiling in the fields I had the idea that margeritas would be nice. Since it was four o'clock and that's when the local LCBO closes I had to drive 20 miles each way to one that's open until five in order to get Tequila and Cointreau. In a civilized country I could have gone to the gas station and paid a premium or to No Frills and bought store brands. If I had been motivated by simple alcoholism I could have drunk one of the many beverages on hand.
The streets and parks of Toronto and of Guelph, two places I know well, are jammed with homeless alcoholic, meth and crack addicted bums. The queues of people at the Beer Store at 11:00 on Sunday morning clutching their collection of cans for recycling and begged quarters are a common and unseemly sight. Drunk driving is usual in our county, drinking while driving is common as evidenced by the whisky and beer bottles that line the sides of roads (and incidentally by the bullet holes in the road signs).
The LCBO serves to generate lots of tax revenue and to make alcohol purchases prissly inconvenient; it's a religious thing, not a useful one.
#64
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
Also the blank look and, "Thats hilarious" after you've told them a funny joke or a funny story.
Just laugh then!
#65
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
This has had me in stitches... maybe if we fail to get in I will just print off all the good reasons why we didn't make it!!!! Thanks guys
#66
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
It could be worse.. you could be still trying to get there despite all these bad things Tell you what, I'll do a house swap with any of you in Calgary area!!!
#67
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
It was always three stops for me - buy the food, then go to booze shop. Realise you don't have necessary mixers/limes/whatever for booze, go back to supermarket and purchase Now I just do a one-stop shop in the US
#68
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
'Chips' and 'Crisps'? WTF!
If I have to physically point at another rack of crisps (yes CRISPS damn you all) and mouth C-R-I-S-P-S in a slightly demented, slack-jaw yokel stylee, then I will go in a major huffy.
If I have to physically point at another rack of crisps (yes CRISPS damn you all) and mouth C-R-I-S-P-S in a slightly demented, slack-jaw yokel stylee, then I will go in a major huffy.
#69
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
....people using cell phones whilst driving.
I must see every forth driver using their cell. It seems that every European nation has banned it but Canada seems to be 20 years behind on it.
My SIL when she was 7 months pregnant was on the phone to the wife for over 30 mins and then told her she had to go because she has just arrived home at driving through the snow. And she is a nurse and her other half is a doctor.
I have seen someone driving whilst smoking and using a cellphone, a father driving his minivan with all the family in it and texting at the same time.
There seems to be all this coverage about wanting to ban smoking parents from smoking in their vehicles when their kids are there. This is a great idea but i think that someone nattering away on their cellphone is more likely to cause the death or serious injury of their kid.
I must see every forth driver using their cell. It seems that every European nation has banned it but Canada seems to be 20 years behind on it.
My SIL when she was 7 months pregnant was on the phone to the wife for over 30 mins and then told her she had to go because she has just arrived home at driving through the snow. And she is a nurse and her other half is a doctor.
I have seen someone driving whilst smoking and using a cellphone, a father driving his minivan with all the family in it and texting at the same time.
There seems to be all this coverage about wanting to ban smoking parents from smoking in their vehicles when their kids are there. This is a great idea but i think that someone nattering away on their cellphone is more likely to cause the death or serious injury of their kid.
#70
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 15,883
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
They call them chips here get used to it. It is really not that big a deal and would be quite easy for you to change your vocabulary.
Last edited by Steve_P; Jun 13th 2008 at 2:10 pm.
#72
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
(No doubt when i move back to Northern Ireland I'll get the piss taken out of me for using "canadian" words.)
#73
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
There seems to be all this coverage about wanting to ban smoking parents from smoking in their vehicles when their kids are there. This is a great idea but i think that someone nattering away on their cellphone is more likely to cause the death or serious injury of their kid.
#74
Re: The single worst thing about Canada is....
Sarcasm and Irony - two other cultural differences I miss.