2girlzmum

The amusing difference

 

I am Canadian. A Manitoban at that! Be still my heart.

 

 I am Canadian. I am reserved and quietly patriotic. Im not a chatty Yankee with that charming Southern hospitality. How can we be chatty when we hardly know how?! I mean, how can we be when their are only 4 people per square mile? And when we do meet each other, we don't always hear you due to the "toque" pulled tightly over our ears. Sometimes, your words are swept away by the chilling blast of the winter winds. So pardon us. We do mean well.

 

 We lack Rotel, cheap dairy products, and cream of coconut. We lack the vast variety of Mexican food staples and the yeast on the market is inferior. Interestingly enough, our mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers have prepared food for generations and we are well fed, content human beings. Some of us sporting a pleasant girth and the urge to go back for seconds.

 

 I also march confidently to the "line up" at the grocery store holding my jar of cheese whiz humming the national anthem quietly to myself. I'm not going to say I don't choke on my beaver tail at the price of gas or spew out my Tim Hortons Hot chocolate in sheer horror over the price of 2 bags of milk. I simply collect myself and proudly hand over the multi colored bills, thanking the Lord for strong bones.

 

I unashamedly stand at my stove, stirring in milk and margarine into my white gravy that is cooking in a "pot." I wipe my mouth with a serviette and treat my daughter to "timbits." I don't own an "icepick" and I have managed to maneuver out of my driveway on those winter days without it all these years.

 

  I've birthed two children with the assistance of incompetent medical staff. I've even thanked them profusely for how they helped me. How ignorant am I?!

 

We Canadians have our own sense of humor, riddled with satire and self-depreciation. The world looks on...puzzled. We embrace any sarcasm heard on land or sea for it makes us feel at home. We also have an OCD urge to fill in the missing "u" in words such as honour, harbour, and colour.

 

I will say, I thoroughly enjoy the southern menu...black eyed peas and pork over rice, biscuits, cornbread, fried chicken, 'slaw, authentic Mexican food. Bring it on. Every last finger lickin' bit, thank you very much. I appreciate the relaxed environment...the chatty folks.

 

But I am Canadian...You can have your grits while the birdies chirp and the sun shines hot. I'll be eating my eggs and Canadian bacon...I'll feed my family Kraft dinner and butter tarts. I'll eat and ENJOY my beaver tail while I look at the twinkling city lights of Ottawa and listen to the carving of skates that belong to hundreds of skaters silently skating in the darkness, minding their own business as any good Canadian will do.

 

But guess what?! I appreciate and love my American friends and family. I can't imagine life without them. The only fault that I could come up with is that they seem to genuinely enjoy biscuits and gravy...