Re: Are we wimps?
 

I want to know do Canadians have a sense of humor? I havent wiped the smile of my face after reading some of these posts. Dont you just need a
'brit fix' sometimes!

Re: Are we wimps?
 

i certainly hope so - i tend to be very playfully sarcastic in general. Have one or two candian friends with whom my sarcasm has hit with great seriousness until I have had to explain why I said what I did and that it wasnt intended to be serious - then they just look blankly at me ( by this time its kinda gone extremely flat anyway) have to say they are now starting to get used to it and will go quiet briefly then laugh and say " your being sarcastic arent you" but its taken quite a while to get this far. Im kinda just hoping that they are not the norm as far as Canadians understanding brit sense of humour and sarcasm goes :D

Re: Are we wimps?
 

I have zero problem with the canadian sense of humour. As far as Im concerned its alive and well..but then I end up scratching my head a lot of the time over "popular" british comedies like little britain etc.

Re: Are we wimps?
 

I'm with you on Little Britain. I thought it was ridiculous. But then everyone has a different sense of humour. I love the Vicar of Dibley, but I am sure there are those who think THAT is ridiculous!!

Re: Are we wimps?
 

We've been in Canada 7 months and find the service in general very attentive. I had an set back in Zellers a few weeks ago where a cashier put a pair of shoes on my bill and I hadn't bought shoes, fortunately I check my bill before leaving the store and went straight to Customer Services for them to sort it out. (I wasn't paying for that kids new shoes so she could go out with her friends on the weekend.) I didn't even get an apology so don't go in there anymore.

Mal was in Timmies in White City a few weeks ago it was nightime and he was due to drive for 12 hours so he wanted his fix of tea. Well the tea he was given was cold, he tasted it before leaving the counter so give it back and asked for a hot cup, he was told that it was only cold cos it has double milk duh! after an arguement he was given a "fresh" cup out of the same pot :eek:. He again said I am not drinking it, it's from the same pot but she would not make a new one. When he asked for his money back she refused, but now he was getting angry which is not a good place to be in when you're just going to drive a truck to BC so he walked out. We should have complained but it was only 2 days into his 10 day trip so the anger had gone.

But as for the people in our town, they have been so welcoming and go out of their way to introduce us to people. An lizwil of course :thumbup:

Re: Are we wimps?
 

God, you should spend 4.5 years living in Germany to discover how people stand up for themselves! I was quite shocked when I first arrived and found most of the natives very rude, but if you challenge them as to their behaviour, they will tell you in a very logical voice - if it is not right, then why should I pay for it? You sit in restaurants and see loads of plates being sent back, people only paying for what was edible on bills, taking money off at tills - you name it, I;ve seen it!

They also have the 'every man for himself' attitude. Never expect a nice orderly British queue - if you are waiting on a train platform, everyone pushes on before anyone can get off. At a checkout in a clothes store, if you dare to form a queue, someone will just walk in front of you if they deem themselves to be a bigger hurry than you - unbelieveable! The rows I have had with people and I just get told I am too British!! I just think its good manners - another thing that evades many Germans.

You also have to have your wits about you at the supermarket checkout, no niceties there - your food is just shoved through as quickly as possible and if you can't pack it quick enough, stuff falls off the end onto the floor and do I complain? Rarely! Oh how I am looking forward to nice customer service!!

So, even though I have learnt 'the German way', I doubt my nice British manners will leave me and I'll still queue and not send inedible food back.
Ho Hum!

Re: Are we wimps?
 

Well, Lorna, I can tell you, you cannot get hot tea in a restaurant here. Those friends of ours that you met - they had family come over here and they constantly complained about the tea. The water is never boiling hot. So she told them "If you don't like cold tea - order the coffee - that will be hot." But they continued to order the tea and they continued to get it lukewarm and they continued to complain about it. I think she was quite glad when they left again!!

I honestly don't think they have the capability of boiling water - certainly not in Tim Hortons or Robins or probably anywhere else!

Re: Are we wimps?
 

Carry one of those warmer things that heat up of the car battery via a cig lighter used to use it for the baby food etc they heat up pretty quick,

anyway the coffee is quite nice as long as you know what your ordering,
The first time i went into one last year i had someone who didn't speak very good English ( or canadian ) barking at me what sort of coffee didn't here the words cappucchino or anything else that i recognised, a lovely lady realised i was a newbie and told me very nicely what was what, so ended up with a decent coffee :thumbsup: i thanked her profusely after saving me from what felt like a trip to mars ( sorry i don't get out much ) :o

Re: Are we wimps?
 

Mal has got used to the lukewarm but this cup was cold and the attitude was really bad, I think that got to him more than anything. There was a young lad and his mother sitting in Timmies at the time and the boy came over to the counter to tell the server to make a new pot, but by now Mal was in no mood. It turns out the boy was the manager at Timmies in Moosejaw so maybe Mal didn't need to complain as this boy witnessed it all. I'd have liked to be a fly on the wall when Mal left. :lol: