Thursday, January 17, 2008

Ever Changing Canadian American Relations!

Hello... finally a day off to get some of my appointments taken care of and just have some down right fun!
I had an appointment in the US today and my daughter had the day off so she came along and after my appointment we had a great time shopping at JC Penny's as they have a big sale on.
I didn't complain when they charged us exchange even though our dollar is above theirs right now I just sucked it up! Usually I don't shop much across the line as I like to buy in Canadian stores, but occasionally I have a fling. It is not so much that you can get better deals as the fact that the stores are different and so are a lot of the products. It is interesting once in awhile - kinda like a holiday.
Before 9/11 people from Canada poured over the border to shop even though our dollar was much less. For a lot of people it was a life style thing. If it was American it had to be better, but a lot of that changed with 9/11 and the bad feelings that were created both by the bad press that was put out by the US government about us and was perceived as false by most here in Canada as well as the fact that most of our country was opposed to the war and that was perceived by Americans as being unsupportive of their troops. Not to mention the whole softwood lumber fiasco that left a very big chip on most Canadian shoulders. I have many good friends in the US and I know that the lack of Canadian traffic over the border hit them hard. Many businesses went bankrupt and closed their doors. Others barely hung in there. I can remember going to Bellis Fair Mall in Bellingham on a Saturday a few months after 9/11 and you could have shot a cannon through the halls and barely hit a soul. In the past the parking lot in that mall would have more Canadian cars in it than American ones.
It did not help much that our friendly border had become very unfriendly and there was a definite anti-Canadian feel to it. None of us mind being checked for security reasons, but being hassled because of who we were was a different matter entirely. It was also a new feeling as most of the time Canadians are welcomed around the world. Because I had so many friends on that side of the border I felt concerned that their families were suffering because of the lack of jobs and the hit to the economy. You would think that with our dollar at par or just above that Canadians would again flock to the US , but that has not been happening and I think it may take years to mend the fences so to speak. Canadians still nurse their wounds from being spoken of badly by the US government and from the Americans who put up anti-Canadian websites and refused to sell goods to Canadian shoppers online, but more than that in the years since 9/11 the world itself has changed. The baby boomers are getting older and the younger generation are not so enamored of the American lifestyle. Instead we have become more proud of our own country. We have found our self confidence so to speak and discovered that we are really privileged to live in THIS country.
Today while driving home through some beautiful American countryside I wondered what changes will occur in our relationship over the next few years. Especially as we are both on the brink of an election.

9 comments:

  1. Gosh,, that was a nice post...You even had kind words for us
    Bushwacking Warmongers....
    Now get your butt back into French poodle land and stay there....:-)

    Still no word on Jacks butt....

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  2. Wow... you really are obsessed with Jack's butt ... have you seen a doctor about this Jack buttitis you seem to have acquired?

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  3. butt,, butt,, butt,, butt...

    I don't have much time to play tonight,, I'm going to a black tie dinner in my honor to pick up my award for Certified Honest Blogger...I believe the guest speaker is going to be Tammy Bruce,, not sure but I think shes going to have a lot of "good" things to say about Hillary...I was going to take you,, but you never answered my E-gram,, so now I'll just have to make do with the 2 chinese hookers in the limo....

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  5. Oh...I forgot...
    Hows it going trying to get that busboy to 'run' over you?....
    Next time your over there,, say Hello to Ralph Kramden for me....

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  6. I think all Canadians should be extremely proud of their country. I am glad to call a few of them "friend"!

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  7. As a Canadian I've never been big on crossing the border to do shopping...only 'cause I feel like I'm doing something illegal! LOL And I'm not much of a shopper so it's not something I'd do anyway.

    Last time I was there was in 2000...went to Nashville, had a great time, everyone was amazing there. I find a disconnect between how wonderful the people are and how weird the tv news people are...LOL If I thought america was anything like fox news I'd never visit...LOL!

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  8. Boy Dorowseymonkey! that is the truth! The people are much different from the TV people thank goodness! I also don't buy much from the US, buy buy Canadian has become a joke. We can't find anything that is made in Canada anymore.

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  9. I used to get art supplies from the U.S. once in a while, just stuff that wasn't available in Canada though, certainly not gasoline or staples.
    We vacationed in the winter in some to the sunnier places and in Hawaii we were always welcomed with open arms. One year we went to the Bahamas and were treated very badly there. We figured it out - they thought we were Americans; while the Hawaiians knew the dif! They were sick and tired of how Americans treat the people there. We then made sure to wear our Canada flag pins and mention our beautiful country alot. Made lots of friends once they knew that!

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