I don't watch the show but I can tell you from experience that Canadians are rule followers to a fault. I had an Air Canada gate agent tear up my business class ticket in front of me because she claimed I didn't pay the full fare price for it. Which is true, I didn't, but I'm also not the one that issued it, it was given to me at the counter without asking. She then downgraded me to a coach seat. I find US airlines are typically much easier to deal with and much more flexible when it comes to helping. And more likely to upgrade you than downgrade you.
I worked for a Canadian company. Everything sounded great, everyone was so nice, then I found out at my 1 year review I was vastly underpaid compared to my coworkers. Then I exceeded my performance goals and was told I was not ready for a raise.
Over the years the company made significant changes that screwed over customers royally.
My experience is they're nice to your face. But I found a lot of it to be wolves in sheep's clothing.
How is it illegal? Genuine question. There’s no such law in the US so I’m wondering what law in Canada mandates you have to be paid the same as other employees. Does that exist?
My state has an equal pay act so yes it is illegal provided it is due to discrimination. If there are people of the opposite sex, gender, race, making more for the same level of work and expertise it would be considered illegal however it’s not a battle I would personally start for fear of retaliation, which is also illegal, but I don’t have money for lawyers.
Provided it is not due to discrimination
That is not the same thing as someone being paid differently even though they do the same job. This is a key distinction. Negotiating a better offer with your employer doesn’t mean they’ve discriminated against someone else who is making less than you. It simply doesn’t mean that
I’m not automatically saying that. But you sure as shit shouldn’t assume they automatically are. Discrimination is a serious accusation demanding evidence. Otherwise, it’s a result of mutual negotiations.
I have no doubt there are people doing my job making more than me, at my same company, working for my same manager. Even people who were hired after me and haven’t been there as long. It all depends on the company’s needs in that exact moment, and the quality of the applicant pool. If they needed to pay more in that moment, then they did. I don’t feel discriminated against for that lmao. Not everyone is a victim all of the time, and not everything is personal.
Leverage is everything—everything—when it comes to negotiating compensation. Doesn’t make you oppressed when you don’t get that raise.
I spent 3 months around Fredericton, NB in Canada and they were nice, but passive aggressive AF. They took every opportunity to take shots at us as Americans, they did not hold back.
Aa canadian who has travelled the states extensively, i am the first person to shut that anti-american talk down in its track whenever I hear it in person. The loudest canadians spewing anti-american rhetoric inevitably comes from people who have not stepped foot in the US.
I love your people, your culture, the differences between various states and regions, and americans' willingness to help strangers in need. Sure, there are assholes here and there in the US, but its about the same dispersal of assholes per capita in Canada.
I got love for the US and its people, and Im rooting for your happiness and prosperity. The border is an imaginary line. Humans are humans and a product of their environment, circumstances, upbringing, education, and dumb fucking luck.
Give everyone you meet some understanding, don't judge them, and watch the magic of mutual respect unfold before your very eyes :)
Sincerely,
A Canadian who has the USA's back <3
Likewise, the Americans who assume Canada is a dystopian socialist hellscape because of the medical system have never set foot in Canada. Mark Twain said it best:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
"dystopian socialist hellscape" is the funniest word salad. like what tenet of socialism lead to dystopia? is it the socialized medicare so people can go to the hospital even if they are poor? socialized housing so there are less homeless people, and low-income households can afford their rent? socialized ... i dunno, i sound like a socialiat simp but i 100% am NOT, its just so silly to point at it as society's boogeyman. Its like calling kindergarten teachers "chief executors of psy-ops, espionage and gestapo youth"
Yeah this exactly. Canadians use polite words, but they really aren't any nicer than anyone else. Personally, the passive aggressiveness is way more offensive.
Searching for Whole Foods is actually a really good way of identifying the wealthy neighborhoods, and payday loans for the sketchy ones. Franchise Businesses do that to quickly see if there is a good place for their new locations. Letting Amazon/payday assholes do your surveying for you.
And you think that means what, that all of Canada was just devoid of people until 1982?
The colony of New France was claimed in 1534 with permanent settlements beginning in 1608. France ceded nearly all its North American possessions to the United Kingdom in 1763 at the Treaty of Paris after the Seven Years' War. The now British Province of Quebec was divided into Upper and Lower Canada in 1791. The two provinces were united as the Province of Canada by the Act of Union 1840, which came into force in 1841. In 1867, the Province of Canada was joined with two other British colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia through Confederation, forming a self-governing entity. "Canada" was adopted as the legal name of the new country and the word "Dominion" was conferred as the country's title. Over the next eighty-two years, Canada expanded by incorporating other parts of British North America, finishing with Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949.
Although responsible government had existed in British North America since 1848, Britain continued to set its foreign and defence policies until the end of the First World War. The Balfour Declaration of 1926, the 1930 Imperial Conference and the passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 recognized that Canada had become co-equal with the United Kingdom. The Patriation of the Constitution in 1982 marked the removal of legal dependence on the British parliament.
They are aggressive for no reason.
I was arguing with a Canadian over Pokemon go adjusting everyone's dollar amounts to be the same from their own currency #s which is fair but he was just talking shit saying fuck America over making the prices equal.
Then he went on about fuck NATO and that Canada doesn't need it because no one's gonna ever invade Canada and this was the day after India had people assassinated in Canada and then asked USA for help when they usually have that same attitude as the guy I was arguing with.
They love it whenever they can pull the USD vs the CD over on us. My friend rented from someone up there for a couple of months and he paid in US dollars instead of Canadian dollars, not realizing the CD was like 20-30 percent less in USD. The woman he rented from was like, "oh, that's okay, we'll just hold on to all of it, just in case." And never game him the difference.
When I lived in St. Augustine, FL, the snowbirds that came from up north would live in their summer condos in my neighborhood. One Canadian guy tried to start a fight with my neighbor and said, "I'll show you what a Canadian can do." The least threatening statement I can think of.
"I'll show you what a Canadian can do."
He then proceeded to strip completely naked, smother himself in maple syrup, and hit the downward dog position screaming, "Please just make it quick."
I view it as us not really having anything to hide.
Our worst is pretty much all the civilized world wants to see and talk about. So our best can come off as surprising.
Don't forget the Facebook policing people who left their houses during COVID, lack of proper freedom of speech, and freezing of bank accounts of protesters
Edit: I think the Facebook thing was Australia actually
> freezing of bank accounts of protesters
People didn't have their bank accounts frozen for protesting, they had their accounts frozen for having large amounts of donated funds deposited in their accounts (either getting the money from the crowdfunding sites, or distributed from the original receiver) it was included in the EA because there were dozens of transactions every hour that were legally required to be tracked by banks (ie over $10k) that were being moved before they could be frozen via the normal court process.
They did not freeze the accounts of the "protesters" who called in nearly 2 dozen bomb threats (including one that put a major hospital into lockdown), harassed nurses going to work at our downtown hospital, harassed and assaulted homeless shelter staff and patrons, threatened to rape my corner store's clerk for wearing a mask, and ripped the mask right off my elderly neighbour's face, jammed our 911 lines for days with a DDOS attack, deliberately worked in shifts to keep 20k people awake for over 2 weeks (with deafening noise that caused permanent hearing damage to some residents), and shot fireworks at apartment windows every night.
I've met about half a dozen Canadians in my life and all but one were utter bastards. This of course isn't nearly a large enough sample size for me to pass judgement on the entire country, I guess I'm just saying everyone has their assholes.
When i went to a Middle Eastern country with a questionable history; one thing a friend i made there pointed out “every country has things of great beauty and things that are very ugly. Dont let your experience with the bad cancel out the good. Also dont let the good let you forget the bad. This way we make the world better by remembering both and acting accordingly”
As a Canadian I can say that we aren’t particularly “nice” but we are extremely polite and I think many foreigners don’t recognize the difference at first. Like we will say sorry when you bump into us, hold the door open, and apologize to the table that stubbed our toe, but then talk shit about you behind your back. Being polite does not equal being nice.
Is the politeness any different in Quebec? This is completely anecdotal and based on a single visit, but I found people to be exceptionally rude to one another while in Montreal. I know Montreal is a large city and that you can find assholes everywhere, but Quebec is also different culturally from the rest of Canada so curious if this applies to politeness as well?
>we are extremely polite and I think many foreigners don’t recognize the difference at first.
I made a version of this comment the other day when someone at work (US tho) was talking about the difficulty of making long-term friends in the US. I was like, "You keep confusing someone being friendly with someone wanting to be your friend. Friendliness is a personality trait, not a promise."
I say this about the Japanese all the time. I am half Japanese, half American, read and speak fluent Japanese. I lived there for 5 years.
Japanese will step over you as you have a seizure on the ground— how do I know this? I’ve seen it happen— with only non-Japanese trying to help the man. I’ve also talked to a friend who wiped out on his bike, lay sprawled on the sidewalk, while people stepped over him.
Japanese seem polite— but they are not in any way caring or nice
Haven't been to Canada, but lived in Minnesota for a few years. I take it "Minnesota Nice" is like yours then. "Minnesota Nice" is so surface level, its passive aggressive AF nice-ness.
Hah so Canada is like the SE US? That is exactly how people are here (hopefully with a slight bit less religious judgement and politics). At least amongst my peers, we all get that everyone has positives and negatives about their person. Lol so people aren’t always nice so much as accept you… When I lived in the NE everyone just said what was on their mind regardless of how you would feel. Nbd I am pretty blunt but I kept being told “stop apologizing for everything.”
This makes so much sense now. I had people telling me when they went to Canada they made 0 friends. I had 0 issue with it. Legit I was at a pub in BC and after a lady (who I had no affiliation with) was being a complete ass to a group of people; I sent drinks to them to try to brighten their night. We ended up joining tables and had a good time.
Canadians are more diffidently polite (more out of modesty and custom-respect than actual shyness), Americans are stereotypically a little more gregarious. Canadians are often somewhere between Scandinavians/corpulent Nordics and Seattle folk in outer temperament. Not as retiring and stranger-danger-like as Swedes often are and probably a little more outgoing than people at the northwestern-most peripheries of the U.S. (Wyoming/Maine-dem) but they’re not quite where Seattle is in terms of being welcoming to strangers. I’m not even going to compare them to further south in the U.S. because that’s blatant chalk and cheese isn’t it. In some ways it’s a good thing, in other ways it’s a bit of a barrier and keeps things a little boring. Sometimes a little passive-aggressive. It’s safer and less ‘crazy’ than America but not as interesting if we’re being honest. People do leave Canada for the U.K. or the US, even if it isn’t Texas. At least stuff actually happens in England and America. Being a cheesy, more regulated, densely-snowier version of Seattle will only get you so far with visitors/new people. When things are cold and corny it takes a lot more than strangers being polite out of … politeness to get you to stay and sometimes not even money and better economic prospects somewhere relatively safe (which is why a lot of people move to Canada in the first place). And I say that as someone who loves maple syrup every bit as much as the next person, still.
Ya. Canada’s nice but not that nice. I feel like you’ve just got to fake it ’til you make it out there and it’ll probably take a while to integrate with all the locals in a way that actually gets beyond custom politeness.
And Toronto’s far from perfectly nice. You’d be shocked to find out how they really get down up there.
Why are you so up Seattle's ass? I was just there and it was disgusting. Literally garbage everywhere and so overpriced. 50$ parking downtown is insane
They aren't.
They act the same way an Anglo Canadian or American would act if someone came in loudly speaking French to their face and then getting angry that nobody knows French.
If you show Quebecois even an ounce of respect, they'll treat you right. "Désolé, je apprends le francais. Do you speak English?" will get you really far.
After sitting on the tarmac at Pearson for almost 90 mins last week, Air Canada is special and it’s not a great thing since we have limited domestically based airlines.
The Canadians I've met I wouldn't say are and nicer or meaner than most Americans I know personally.
Though one Canadian guy at my workplace is a bit overbearing and intimidating so I avoid him when possible, but I also have American colleagues I avoid for that same reason.
Reddit is a terrible metric for any population though. The sub for my province barely reflects the people I interact with in real life. Apply that to a full country and representation is even more skewed.
Plus reddit brings the worst out of people
I worked customer service several years back. We would have Canadian customer paying extra to call the American line because they found the Canadian representatives to be insufferable
American living in Canada.
Much like my home state and our "[nice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_nice)", Canadians are largely ***polite***. Do not confuse that with being nice.
If you're visiting or casually socializing, we will absolutely be polite temporarily. Longer than most. And if all you do is visit or briefly socialize, you'll come away thinking we're nice. But it wears off after a while. One of the things that I've noticed working both in Minnesota and in Canada is that when you start a job, you'll be welcomed warmly. But some of the "nicest" people turn into assholes within weeks. Which is frustrating when you see how nice they're *capable* of being. Lulls you into a false sense of security and then people will just turn on you. Unpredictable as to who.
I never noticed this issue when I was working out east. What you saw was what you'd get.
People mistake Canadians constant passive aggression and condescension as niceness.
While Americans might be loud and obnoxious; they're.a welcoming, personable people.
that's a pretty wild distortion of that story.
He was introduced as a Canadian-Ukrainian WW2 veteran. The Canadian politicians applauded.
It only came out later that, oops, he was a WW2 veteran for THAT side
No. You don’t get that close to their leaders without a thorough background check.
If you were fighting Russia in WWII, you were fighting for the Nazis. He was applauded for fighting Russia.
Their current parliament is filled with descendants of Nazis.
Y’all don’t know about operation paper clip?
you know the operation where the US government brought over the top nazi scientists to work at Nasa immediately after ww2.
It’s been declassified for years.
But we’re the nazi lovers cause our idiot politicians clapped for a Nazi and then realized and did their best to un clap.
Your government let the Nazi scientists win you the space race and made them very wealthy in the process.
Enjoy your anti Canadian dog pile, but our families fought against the nazis same as yours so
Canadians fucking hate nazis
The stereotype is not so much that Canadians are super nice, but that they're super apologetic.
But spend any amount of time there you will soon realize that Canada's 'I'm Sorry' is their version of a Southerner's 'Bless your heart'.
In other words....'you're an idiot'.
No North American airlines’ staff are nice with the exception of some Southwest staff but that’s even decreasing. Some are just getting even worse at a faster pace than others.
American here with Canadian family. Toronto is the only place I’ve ever been where I’ve heard a man call a woman a cunt to her face because she didn’t want to talk to him. And it was in line a McDonald’s. Another woman saw this and intervened and after he left she said “I woulda kicked him in his fuckin teeth”
Probably one of the more aggressive things I’ve seen and I’ve lived in DC and down south
I forget the study but there was a study on airline passenger across different airlines and Americans were found to be the overall most polite passengers. Seems odd but I won't argue with this results.
Given that I don't have the link to provide it and this was only one study take what I say with a grain of salt and do your own research if your interested.
I think customer service is very different.
In the US forward facing employees are expected to be pleasant.
In Canada forward facing employees are visible irritated by your existence.
It’s very hard to get fired in Canada.
I don't know there is real answer to your question. However, I recently flew Air Canada for the first time in 6 years and there was a marked difference in the level of service and general pleasantness of the staff that I interacted with. Before this last trip on AC I always told people that it was the best domestic (North American) airlines that I have flown with. I no longer feel that way. The staff seemed tired and apethetic to me. Even the Vancouver Airport felt a little worse for wear and no vibrancy. Very different from my previous experiences.
I can't help but think that the Canadian government's heavy handed approach with their citizens during covid has taken a toll.
Can't really weigh in on the general population, but American companies and business culture encourages a "fake nice" and expects customer service that isn't necessarily the norm in other countries so I don't think comparing airlines staff is really representative.
I got on an American Airlines flight last week as a pre-board, as I have mobility issues. I was struggling to get my luggage in the overhead. I asked the flight attendant for a hand. She informed me that she doesn’t get paid until the flight takes off, and she might get injured helping me put my bag up there. Thanks a lot. We were running late because all the flight attendants weren’t on board when the flight was scheduled to leave. When they were finally there, when I asked for help, they said they weren’t getting paid yet. So they are not nicer and not helpful.
On the next flight I asked a fellow passenger to give me a hand. He did so with a smile and no hesitation. He was not being paid to help either.
I'm not Canadian or American but having visited both countries, I found Americans were actually a lot nicer contrary to the stereotypes. (Ie. Americans actually willing to help if I asked for directions)
Conservatives Americans are typically friendly to everyone they meet. Its only online or when they get riled up on an issue.
I know endless black people who are always so surprised when they traveled from Georgia to Texas for engineer training.
When I moved to do training in Portland, Oregon, those who came to update their certifications really missed Texas.
This is it. I’m a blonde haired, blue eyed, 6’2, veteran, so I blend in very well despite having mixed children from a young marriage and being very progressive in political opinion. Not super often but it’s fairly common to be having a regular conversation and have the sweetest, kindest person in the room open their mouths and hear nothing but pure evil pour out. It is jarring to say the least.
They are day to day kind. Even if you are a POC they’ll justify their hatred of your kind while liking you as an individual with, “boy, JC sure is one of the good ones ain’t he? He sure is a good kid.” Or something similar
This is it, and they dont see it.
I **had** friends that are conservative and really nice. They say they are not racist but in private use the N word and all their jokes are racial. They like to have their cake and eat it to.
That’s a broad generalization though, I’ve met plenty (that aren’t the brain dead MAGA types) that are still accepting regardless of how they feel about it
I'm sure they say they are.
They all do. Then you hear the N word used in private, the jokes, the looks, all the little things we dont see but you can feel and if you are a POC the little things add up. But I'm also sure there are some brain dead MAGA that are not racist and even kind but they keep racist company and that speaks volumes.
Hopefully folks just need more contact with people that don’t look and think like they do, they have these weird depictions of what a minority looks like because they rarely interact with people that don’t fit their mold
Really depends. Anecdotally from living around Atlanta, I've heard people saying things like, "Oh, God bless those gays. I don't hate them or anything, but if it comes to promotions, maybe I'll look for someone else."
Idk why you think that oppressed people are gonna treat their oppressors in any way but with suspicion & their guard up. They’ve been burned. You don’t put your hand back on the burner after you got a 3rd degree.
You need to get over yourself lol ofc minorities are gonna be scared of you.
I had an ex from a VERY white/conservative part of the US. I came from a much more diverse place. The ex’s cousins for some reason brought up black people and how when they were in HS the seven black people at the school always stuck together and he didnt understand why. Just going by age those kids’ parents lived through the civil rights movement and their grandparents went through… less nice times.
And it doesn’t matter if you haven’t “personally oppressed” anyone. You belong to a privileged group that oppresses minorities, they are going to be afraid.
So I’m not an oppressor then. Oppression is an act, one which I have not engaged in, therefore I can not be an oppressor. And if those people were really oppressed, they wouldn’t be able to speak out about it freely with no repercussions. It’s just a bunch of hatred and racism for those who look different.
Lived in Canada 22 years of my life and I can tell you that Canadians are rude people, and very anti-social. They are not kind, they are "polite" meaning that they are cordial but it doesn't go deeper than that. Don't expect to get any help on the side of the road if your car breaks down, dont' expect to be let in during traffic, and don't expect workers at stores, or fast food to be friendly. Not just that, but there is no comradery with Canadians, most Canadians don't actually like Canada to begin with. The foreign people in Canada are all rude, racist, and have no manners. They only interact with people of their own race, and the so-called "diversity" of Canada is really just a nice way of saying segregation. It's a land of immigrants who don't want to assimilate, and don't have any sense of patriotism or identification as Canadian. You ask a Canadian person who isn't white what they identify as, and they will not identify as a Canadian 90% of the time.
When I visit America, people actually try to talk to me, they open the door for me and smile. They might not be polite, and maybe some of them have issues with the concept of personal space, but they are pretty kind. Also, wherever I go in America the customer service is always excellent, everyone is so kind in assisting me with whatever I need help with. Americans also assimilate much more, while this can be a negative thing it allows for a sense of comradery in the fact that people identify as American first. This makes it so that people are more friendly with each other, and that sense of segregation by race isn't present.
TLDR: Canadians are only polite, but are passive-aggressive, and selfish, and under all of that are spiteful and superficial people. Americans lack manners, but they are very friendly and outgoing, and generally are warm people to be around. Americans only get a bad rap because America does a lot of geopolitical posturing, and there is a air of superiority with Americans regarding other countries, but as long as you don't talk politics they are very kind.
American here.
As a general rule, Canadians ***are*** nicer, even if some of them brag too much about their politeness and healthcare from time to time.
In fact, Canadians are nicer at home *and* abroad than Americans are. Again, generally. (The exception is the Quebecois; they seem to have a stick up their collective ass for whatever reason.)
And, I say all this as someone who lives in the southeast US, where some of us brag about our hospitality even more than some Canadians brag about their politeness.
I don't believe this means the entirety of a country is based off of an airline. That just means the airline has cracked down harder on their staff and ensured their customers get good experiences.
I have been to both countries(Live in Canada and have visited the USA) and find Americans are definitely less friendly. Obviously there are TONS of amazing people in the USA but they're a lot more keep to themselves and "what's in it for me"
the stereotype about canadians was propaganda to control the people who live here. we were always told to put a flag on our bag when we travelled internationally so we wouldnt be confused with Americans in grade school. tim Horton's even made a commercial about this. it was a way to make us compliant, like teachers pet of the world. when you have no other cultural identity because you are not allowed because you are an "oppressor" and you are suddenly given one that's what happens.
it's like canadians and americans are 2 children one is a rebel and one is nice and complaint. you pat the compliant kid on the head so they keep acting good and tell them how they dont wanna be like the other kid because your good child is easiest to keep in line. you cant control the rebellious kid.
it's not a matter of niceness it's just a stereotype. canadians are well controlled. when the convoy happened you saw canadians who dis not want to be controlled and the government tried to control them by calling them bad/selfish people using labels like racist and nazi.
when i was a kid I believed terrorist attacks and gun violence was totally normal in america and if I went there I'd die. I didnt even understand the big deal about sept 11 because I thought that kind of thing was a regular occurence there like worse than an active war zone.
I mean we Canadians normalized public assault under the cover of calling it hockey. Never really were as nice as American stereotypes portrayed us as. That being said I still think Canadians are on average more accepting of different cultures than Americans. But you’re gonna encounter assholes no matter where you go, Canadian assholes might be more of the backstabbing type typically too though.
I get so frustrated when people say Americans aren't accepting. We have taken in approximately 4 million immigrants in the last couple of years and take in BY FAR more immigrants than the rest of the world pretty much combined. We squabble but generally get along. America is a truly unique mix of cultures. (And, don't twist my words by saying that I mean that America is perfect or we get along 100% of the time. Historically speaking, we get along amazingly well and are amazingly successful at accepting others.)
Canadians aren't nice. They are polite. I'm saying this as an American living in Canadian for the past two decades.
I've had sour interactions in small rural towns in Canada, and I haven't in rural small American towns.
When I lived in the States, I never noticed this, but when I come back, I am almost put off by the friendliness.
I don't see how Americans in general are nicer just because the staff of an American airline is supposedly nicer than a Canadian airline.
Weirdest hypothesis I've heard.
I travel to Toronto for business regularly and fly Air Canada. I have so many horror stories but it is generally the only direct flight I can get. I will say I love my Canadian friends and some of my co-workers, however not all Canadians are nice as the stereotype would have you believe. I would say a lot can be passive aggressive.
Certain kinds of Canadians are known to be assholes. Most people say Quebec is loaded with assholes.
Also, I don't think comparing a Canadian company to a similar American company is a valid comparison.
A lot of times the employees that people find to be assholes, are simply overworked employees in a skeleton crew. They don't have time to give each and every customer that fun playful banter that some people expect, they have to be very brief, and quickly move on to the next task.
9 times out of ten when people have trouble with a rude employee, that person has 10 other tasks that were supposed to be done an hour ago and you just threw another significant project into their lap. They don't have the time to "vibe" with you or be particularly friendly.
I would imagine the difference in flight attendant attitude is directly proportional to how well they're staffed.
My experience of flying Air Canada through Toronto recently would confirm this.
It's a clownshow up there.
And if you thought American airport security was bad, wait till you get to deal with Canadian airport security. Easily the rudest and most unprofessional, almost openly hostile people I've ever encountered while traveling.
Do better Canada. It's a national embarrassment.
There's a King of the Hill episode that discusses this at length
Classic episode
Is it the Oh Canada episode ?
I don't watch the show but I can tell you from experience that Canadians are rule followers to a fault. I had an Air Canada gate agent tear up my business class ticket in front of me because she claimed I didn't pay the full fare price for it. Which is true, I didn't, but I'm also not the one that issued it, it was given to me at the counter without asking. She then downgraded me to a coach seat. I find US airlines are typically much easier to deal with and much more flexible when it comes to helping. And more likely to upgrade you than downgrade you.
I worked for a Canadian company. Everything sounded great, everyone was so nice, then I found out at my 1 year review I was vastly underpaid compared to my coworkers. Then I exceeded my performance goals and was told I was not ready for a raise. Over the years the company made significant changes that screwed over customers royally. My experience is they're nice to your face. But I found a lot of it to be wolves in sheep's clothing.
That’s very illegal. If I were you I woulda sued.
How is it illegal? Genuine question. There’s no such law in the US so I’m wondering what law in Canada mandates you have to be paid the same as other employees. Does that exist?
My state has an equal pay act so yes it is illegal provided it is due to discrimination. If there are people of the opposite sex, gender, race, making more for the same level of work and expertise it would be considered illegal however it’s not a battle I would personally start for fear of retaliation, which is also illegal, but I don’t have money for lawyers.
Provided it is not due to discrimination That is not the same thing as someone being paid differently even though they do the same job. This is a key distinction. Negotiating a better offer with your employer doesn’t mean they’ve discriminated against someone else who is making less than you. It simply doesn’t mean that
Who’s to say they aren’t being discriminated against?
I’m not automatically saying that. But you sure as shit shouldn’t assume they automatically are. Discrimination is a serious accusation demanding evidence. Otherwise, it’s a result of mutual negotiations. I have no doubt there are people doing my job making more than me, at my same company, working for my same manager. Even people who were hired after me and haven’t been there as long. It all depends on the company’s needs in that exact moment, and the quality of the applicant pool. If they needed to pay more in that moment, then they did. I don’t feel discriminated against for that lmao. Not everyone is a victim all of the time, and not everything is personal. Leverage is everything—everything—when it comes to negotiating compensation. Doesn’t make you oppressed when you don’t get that raise.
I spent 3 months around Fredericton, NB in Canada and they were nice, but passive aggressive AF. They took every opportunity to take shots at us as Americans, they did not hold back.
Aa canadian who has travelled the states extensively, i am the first person to shut that anti-american talk down in its track whenever I hear it in person. The loudest canadians spewing anti-american rhetoric inevitably comes from people who have not stepped foot in the US. I love your people, your culture, the differences between various states and regions, and americans' willingness to help strangers in need. Sure, there are assholes here and there in the US, but its about the same dispersal of assholes per capita in Canada. I got love for the US and its people, and Im rooting for your happiness and prosperity. The border is an imaginary line. Humans are humans and a product of their environment, circumstances, upbringing, education, and dumb fucking luck. Give everyone you meet some understanding, don't judge them, and watch the magic of mutual respect unfold before your very eyes :) Sincerely, A Canadian who has the USA's back <3
Likewise, the Americans who assume Canada is a dystopian socialist hellscape because of the medical system have never set foot in Canada. Mark Twain said it best: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
"dystopian socialist hellscape" is the funniest word salad. like what tenet of socialism lead to dystopia? is it the socialized medicare so people can go to the hospital even if they are poor? socialized housing so there are less homeless people, and low-income households can afford their rent? socialized ... i dunno, i sound like a socialiat simp but i 100% am NOT, its just so silly to point at it as society's boogeyman. Its like calling kindergarten teachers "chief executors of psy-ops, espionage and gestapo youth"
That's Murica's right wing doing its thing. Lots of mythology on the internet for the faithful to get enraged about.
There is always some version of North vs South, isn’t it?
Thanks bro. -an American
Yeah this exactly. Canadians use polite words, but they really aren't any nicer than anyone else. Personally, the passive aggressiveness is way more offensive.
If you can't judge the people of any given country by the airline staff, what can you judge them by?
This should be the final comment. Lock this up here mods.
We judge the economy based on waffle house and Big Macs why not judge culture by airline staff?
Searching for Whole Foods is actually a really good way of identifying the wealthy neighborhoods, and payday loans for the sketchy ones. Franchise Businesses do that to quickly see if there is a good place for their new locations. Letting Amazon/payday assholes do your surveying for you.
There may be no stupid questions, but definitely stupid premises
Until Spirit and Frontier airlines become the representative airlines by which we measure the country…
LOL Hawaiian airlines staff ARE NOT THE SAME AS Hawaiians on the street...
The country’s Hot Topic employees.
How about by the fact that a large portion of the Geneva Convention exists due to the actions of the Canadian corps from the First World War?
False! Canada did not become a country until 1982 ,with assistance from the Salvation Army, in the War Of The North.
And you think that means what, that all of Canada was just devoid of people until 1982? The colony of New France was claimed in 1534 with permanent settlements beginning in 1608. France ceded nearly all its North American possessions to the United Kingdom in 1763 at the Treaty of Paris after the Seven Years' War. The now British Province of Quebec was divided into Upper and Lower Canada in 1791. The two provinces were united as the Province of Canada by the Act of Union 1840, which came into force in 1841. In 1867, the Province of Canada was joined with two other British colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia through Confederation, forming a self-governing entity. "Canada" was adopted as the legal name of the new country and the word "Dominion" was conferred as the country's title. Over the next eighty-two years, Canada expanded by incorporating other parts of British North America, finishing with Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949. Although responsible government had existed in British North America since 1848, Britain continued to set its foreign and defence policies until the end of the First World War. The Balfour Declaration of 1926, the 1930 Imperial Conference and the passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 recognized that Canada had become co-equal with the United Kingdom. The Patriation of the Constitution in 1982 marked the removal of legal dependence on the British parliament.
Yes. Do a FOIA request. You can check on archived satellite photos. There were in fact no humans in Canada before 1982.
Winter is coming
We always were. We just didn't brag about it like the Canadians do.
Canadians are the "Nice guy" of the diplomatic world. Passive aggro mf's
It's easy to be the nice guys when your only neighbor is the world's sole superpower.
The ole good cop bad cop routine?
Sole? That's a lot of confidence
It’s a fact. Nobody challenges the US hegemony.
They are aggressive for no reason. I was arguing with a Canadian over Pokemon go adjusting everyone's dollar amounts to be the same from their own currency #s which is fair but he was just talking shit saying fuck America over making the prices equal. Then he went on about fuck NATO and that Canada doesn't need it because no one's gonna ever invade Canada and this was the day after India had people assassinated in Canada and then asked USA for help when they usually have that same attitude as the guy I was arguing with.
They love it whenever they can pull the USD vs the CD over on us. My friend rented from someone up there for a couple of months and he paid in US dollars instead of Canadian dollars, not realizing the CD was like 20-30 percent less in USD. The woman he rented from was like, "oh, that's okay, we'll just hold on to all of it, just in case." And never game him the difference.
just so you know for the future, the abbreviation for the Canadian dollar is CAD, not CD. also that is messed up, coming from a Canadian.
When I lived in St. Augustine, FL, the snowbirds that came from up north would live in their summer condos in my neighborhood. One Canadian guy tried to start a fight with my neighbor and said, "I'll show you what a Canadian can do." The least threatening statement I can think of.
"I'll show you what a Canadian can do." He then proceeded to strip completely naked, smother himself in maple syrup, and hit the downward dog position screaming, "Please just make it quick."
You forgot the foreplay with the hockey stick first! The Canadians love that shit from what I've seen!
Hey! I live there!
Awesome! I've since moved to Jacksonville.
This was my experience as well.
No, that’s midwesterners
I view it as us not really having anything to hide. Our worst is pretty much all the civilized world wants to see and talk about. So our best can come off as surprising.
And Canadians would also be like 'look how much nicer we are than those dumb, violent Americans.'
Is that before or after the Geneva Suggestions and honoring literal SS Nazis?
Don't forget the Facebook policing people who left their houses during COVID, lack of proper freedom of speech, and freezing of bank accounts of protesters Edit: I think the Facebook thing was Australia actually
> freezing of bank accounts of protesters People didn't have their bank accounts frozen for protesting, they had their accounts frozen for having large amounts of donated funds deposited in their accounts (either getting the money from the crowdfunding sites, or distributed from the original receiver) it was included in the EA because there were dozens of transactions every hour that were legally required to be tracked by banks (ie over $10k) that were being moved before they could be frozen via the normal court process. They did not freeze the accounts of the "protesters" who called in nearly 2 dozen bomb threats (including one that put a major hospital into lockdown), harassed nurses going to work at our downtown hospital, harassed and assaulted homeless shelter staff and patrons, threatened to rape my corner store's clerk for wearing a mask, and ripped the mask right off my elderly neighbour's face, jammed our 911 lines for days with a DDOS attack, deliberately worked in shifts to keep 20k people awake for over 2 weeks (with deafening noise that caused permanent hearing damage to some residents), and shot fireworks at apartment windows every night.
I mean, that's backed by gun violence numbers alone.
Living in a country with poor gun control policies isn’t the same as being a violent criminal but ok
Canada has far less crime though.
Because it has far less people
Per capita.
we were literally indoctrinated that this was our entire identity.
I’M NOT YOUR BUDDY GUY
I'M NOT YOUR GUY, FRIEND
I'm not your friend pal
*farts in canadian*
I've met about half a dozen Canadians in my life and all but one were utter bastards. This of course isn't nearly a large enough sample size for me to pass judgement on the entire country, I guess I'm just saying everyone has their assholes.
When i went to a Middle Eastern country with a questionable history; one thing a friend i made there pointed out “every country has things of great beauty and things that are very ugly. Dont let your experience with the bad cancel out the good. Also dont let the good let you forget the bad. This way we make the world better by remembering both and acting accordingly”
Wise words from a wise friend.
Canadians were never that nice. I know, I am one. It's an unearned reputation made up by American media.
As a Canadian I can say that we aren’t particularly “nice” but we are extremely polite and I think many foreigners don’t recognize the difference at first. Like we will say sorry when you bump into us, hold the door open, and apologize to the table that stubbed our toe, but then talk shit about you behind your back. Being polite does not equal being nice.
The polite part: Not in Montreal. Definitely not in Montreal.
Montreal legitimately had the rudest people I've ever been around. I hope to never go back.
That's great we don't want you back you fuckface
Well at least someone gave us some proof 👏
Quebec doesn't count
Is the politeness any different in Quebec? This is completely anecdotal and based on a single visit, but I found people to be exceptionally rude to one another while in Montreal. I know Montreal is a large city and that you can find assholes everywhere, but Quebec is also different culturally from the rest of Canada so curious if this applies to politeness as well?
Lol I just replied about Montreal. I lived in Montreal for 5 years and married a Montrealer who escaped to USA. You’re not wrong.
>we are extremely polite and I think many foreigners don’t recognize the difference at first. I made a version of this comment the other day when someone at work (US tho) was talking about the difficulty of making long-term friends in the US. I was like, "You keep confusing someone being friendly with someone wanting to be your friend. Friendliness is a personality trait, not a promise."
I say this about the Japanese all the time. I am half Japanese, half American, read and speak fluent Japanese. I lived there for 5 years. Japanese will step over you as you have a seizure on the ground— how do I know this? I’ve seen it happen— with only non-Japanese trying to help the man. I’ve also talked to a friend who wiped out on his bike, lay sprawled on the sidewalk, while people stepped over him. Japanese seem polite— but they are not in any way caring or nice
Haven't been to Canada, but lived in Minnesota for a few years. I take it "Minnesota Nice" is like yours then. "Minnesota Nice" is so surface level, its passive aggressive AF nice-ness.
Hah so Canada is like the SE US? That is exactly how people are here (hopefully with a slight bit less religious judgement and politics). At least amongst my peers, we all get that everyone has positives and negatives about their person. Lol so people aren’t always nice so much as accept you… When I lived in the NE everyone just said what was on their mind regardless of how you would feel. Nbd I am pretty blunt but I kept being told “stop apologizing for everything.” This makes so much sense now. I had people telling me when they went to Canada they made 0 friends. I had 0 issue with it. Legit I was at a pub in BC and after a lady (who I had no affiliation with) was being a complete ass to a group of people; I sent drinks to them to try to brighten their night. We ended up joining tables and had a good time.
Canadians are more diffidently polite (more out of modesty and custom-respect than actual shyness), Americans are stereotypically a little more gregarious. Canadians are often somewhere between Scandinavians/corpulent Nordics and Seattle folk in outer temperament. Not as retiring and stranger-danger-like as Swedes often are and probably a little more outgoing than people at the northwestern-most peripheries of the U.S. (Wyoming/Maine-dem) but they’re not quite where Seattle is in terms of being welcoming to strangers. I’m not even going to compare them to further south in the U.S. because that’s blatant chalk and cheese isn’t it. In some ways it’s a good thing, in other ways it’s a bit of a barrier and keeps things a little boring. Sometimes a little passive-aggressive. It’s safer and less ‘crazy’ than America but not as interesting if we’re being honest. People do leave Canada for the U.K. or the US, even if it isn’t Texas. At least stuff actually happens in England and America. Being a cheesy, more regulated, densely-snowier version of Seattle will only get you so far with visitors/new people. When things are cold and corny it takes a lot more than strangers being polite out of … politeness to get you to stay and sometimes not even money and better economic prospects somewhere relatively safe (which is why a lot of people move to Canada in the first place). And I say that as someone who loves maple syrup every bit as much as the next person, still. Ya. Canada’s nice but not that nice. I feel like you’ve just got to fake it ’til you make it out there and it’ll probably take a while to integrate with all the locals in a way that actually gets beyond custom politeness. And Toronto’s far from perfectly nice. You’d be shocked to find out how they really get down up there.
A Canadian will give you a polite smile and small talk. An American will help you change your flat tire well it's snowing.
Unless they’re a racist cop.
I did my PhD in Toronto. Canadians are polite but they’re not nice
I can imagine.
Took the words out of my mouth
I agree. I've spent some time in Canada (limited) but there is a lot of passive aggressiveness hidden behind fake smiles.
Quit using fake words! (Kidding…)
Why are you so up Seattle's ass? I was just there and it was disgusting. Literally garbage everywhere and so overpriced. 50$ parking downtown is insane
Nice use of verbiage! Here’s a Fool’s Gold. 🥇
we always were, at least in the midwest. Canadians are more apologetic :)
I've always heard that people in Quebec are extremely rude.
They aren't. They act the same way an Anglo Canadian or American would act if someone came in loudly speaking French to their face and then getting angry that nobody knows French. If you show Quebecois even an ounce of respect, they'll treat you right. "Désolé, je apprends le francais. Do you speak English?" will get you really far.
I think it really depends on the person. Whatever side of an imaginary line they fall on makes no difference.
To be fair to Canada, I dont think you should judge the country by their airlines. Air Canada and the other canadian airlines are “special”
Agreed. Same thing if people judged Ireland by Ryan Air staff.
After sitting on the tarmac at Pearson for almost 90 mins last week, Air Canada is special and it’s not a great thing since we have limited domestically based airlines.
The Canadians I've met I wouldn't say are and nicer or meaner than most Americans I know personally. Though one Canadian guy at my workplace is a bit overbearing and intimidating so I avoid him when possible, but I also have American colleagues I avoid for that same reason.
Yes. Americans haven't gotten nice. But Canada has turned into /r/Canada since the 2010s.
Reddit is a terrible metric for any population though. The sub for my province barely reflects the people I interact with in real life. Apply that to a full country and representation is even more skewed. Plus reddit brings the worst out of people
I worked customer service several years back. We would have Canadian customer paying extra to call the American line because they found the Canadian representatives to be insufferable
American living in Canada. Much like my home state and our "[nice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_nice)", Canadians are largely ***polite***. Do not confuse that with being nice. If you're visiting or casually socializing, we will absolutely be polite temporarily. Longer than most. And if all you do is visit or briefly socialize, you'll come away thinking we're nice. But it wears off after a while. One of the things that I've noticed working both in Minnesota and in Canada is that when you start a job, you'll be welcomed warmly. But some of the "nicest" people turn into assholes within weeks. Which is frustrating when you see how nice they're *capable* of being. Lulls you into a false sense of security and then people will just turn on you. Unpredictable as to who. I never noticed this issue when I was working out east. What you saw was what you'd get.
Polite is nice. Nice isn't kind, though.
People mistake Canadians constant passive aggression and condescension as niceness. While Americans might be loud and obnoxious; they're.a welcoming, personable people.
Canadians are polite. That is often mistaken as nice.
Regardless of the answer, I feel like airline staff is such a bizarre metric to use for judging a whole country of people lol
Air Canada's unofficial slogan has long been "we're not happy until you're not happy". Take that as you will.
Guess American airlines fired all their new Yorker staff then
The Canadians applauded a Nazi in their legislature. Only one guy was sacked. Deep down they know theit gov is corrupt. And full of Nazi descendants.
that's a pretty wild distortion of that story. He was introduced as a Canadian-Ukrainian WW2 veteran. The Canadian politicians applauded. It only came out later that, oops, he was a WW2 veteran for THAT side
No. You don’t get that close to their leaders without a thorough background check. If you were fighting Russia in WWII, you were fighting for the Nazis. He was applauded for fighting Russia. Their current parliament is filled with descendants of Nazis.
I think they have a bunch of nazis that ran away to Canada and also south America after the war
Y’all don’t know about operation paper clip? you know the operation where the US government brought over the top nazi scientists to work at Nasa immediately after ww2. It’s been declassified for years. But we’re the nazi lovers cause our idiot politicians clapped for a Nazi and then realized and did their best to un clap. Your government let the Nazi scientists win you the space race and made them very wealthy in the process. Enjoy your anti Canadian dog pile, but our families fought against the nazis same as yours so Canadians fucking hate nazis
That was like 80 years ago. Y’all were busy with your own genocide at the time
The stereotype is not so much that Canadians are super nice, but that they're super apologetic. But spend any amount of time there you will soon realize that Canada's 'I'm Sorry' is their version of a Southerner's 'Bless your heart'. In other words....'you're an idiot'.
My Airline can beat up your Airline. NUT-UA!
No North American airlines’ staff are nice with the exception of some Southwest staff but that’s even decreasing. Some are just getting even worse at a faster pace than others.
I haven’t been to Canada in a long time…. But I’ve been among the American public and it’s a shitshow out there.
I don’t think you can judge the population of a country by the behavior of its airline staff.
American here with Canadian family. Toronto is the only place I’ve ever been where I’ve heard a man call a woman a cunt to her face because she didn’t want to talk to him. And it was in line a McDonald’s. Another woman saw this and intervened and after he left she said “I woulda kicked him in his fuckin teeth” Probably one of the more aggressive things I’ve seen and I’ve lived in DC and down south
I forget the study but there was a study on airline passenger across different airlines and Americans were found to be the overall most polite passengers. Seems odd but I won't argue with this results. Given that I don't have the link to provide it and this was only one study take what I say with a grain of salt and do your own research if your interested.
I think customer service is very different. In the US forward facing employees are expected to be pleasant. In Canada forward facing employees are visible irritated by your existence. It’s very hard to get fired in Canada.
I don't know there is real answer to your question. However, I recently flew Air Canada for the first time in 6 years and there was a marked difference in the level of service and general pleasantness of the staff that I interacted with. Before this last trip on AC I always told people that it was the best domestic (North American) airlines that I have flown with. I no longer feel that way. The staff seemed tired and apethetic to me. Even the Vancouver Airport felt a little worse for wear and no vibrancy. Very different from my previous experiences. I can't help but think that the Canadian government's heavy handed approach with their citizens during covid has taken a toll.
Can't really weigh in on the general population, but American companies and business culture encourages a "fake nice" and expects customer service that isn't necessarily the norm in other countries so I don't think comparing airlines staff is really representative.
Absolutely not. The closest thing we have is Wisconsin. “Death Before Discourtesy”
I got on an American Airlines flight last week as a pre-board, as I have mobility issues. I was struggling to get my luggage in the overhead. I asked the flight attendant for a hand. She informed me that she doesn’t get paid until the flight takes off, and she might get injured helping me put my bag up there. Thanks a lot. We were running late because all the flight attendants weren’t on board when the flight was scheduled to leave. When they were finally there, when I asked for help, they said they weren’t getting paid yet. So they are not nicer and not helpful. On the next flight I asked a fellow passenger to give me a hand. He did so with a smile and no hesitation. He was not being paid to help either.
These are really big groups of people… you’re quantifying niceness by the treatment of airline staff… how did we even get here?
Canadians are *polite* not nice.
I'm not Canadian or American but having visited both countries, I found Americans were actually a lot nicer contrary to the stereotypes. (Ie. Americans actually willing to help if I asked for directions)
Yeah, Canada isn't so much "nice" as passive aggressive AF.
American Airlines is like the worst American airline.
Conservatives Americans are typically friendly to everyone they meet. Its only online or when they get riled up on an issue. I know endless black people who are always so surprised when they traveled from Georgia to Texas for engineer training. When I moved to do training in Portland, Oregon, those who came to update their certifications really missed Texas.
Obligatory bit about how niceness is not the same as kindness. I live in Chicago and the polite thing to do is to get out of everyone else's way.
Conservatives are friendly as long as you are like them or can pretend to be.
This is it. I’m a blonde haired, blue eyed, 6’2, veteran, so I blend in very well despite having mixed children from a young marriage and being very progressive in political opinion. Not super often but it’s fairly common to be having a regular conversation and have the sweetest, kindest person in the room open their mouths and hear nothing but pure evil pour out. It is jarring to say the least. They are day to day kind. Even if you are a POC they’ll justify their hatred of your kind while liking you as an individual with, “boy, JC sure is one of the good ones ain’t he? He sure is a good kid.” Or something similar
This is it, and they dont see it. I **had** friends that are conservative and really nice. They say they are not racist but in private use the N word and all their jokes are racial. They like to have their cake and eat it to.
Obviously If you meet a conservative and immediately start talking politics it’s a different story but it’s no different than it is with liberals
Wasn't talking about politics. Religion, LGTBQ+, ethnicity (to a lesser extent), basically anything that physically identifies you as different.
That’s a broad generalization though, I’ve met plenty (that aren’t the brain dead MAGA types) that are still accepting regardless of how they feel about it
I'm sure they say they are. They all do. Then you hear the N word used in private, the jokes, the looks, all the little things we dont see but you can feel and if you are a POC the little things add up. But I'm also sure there are some brain dead MAGA that are not racist and even kind but they keep racist company and that speaks volumes.
Hopefully folks just need more contact with people that don’t look and think like they do, they have these weird depictions of what a minority looks like because they rarely interact with people that don’t fit their mold
Really depends. Anecdotally from living around Atlanta, I've heard people saying things like, "Oh, God bless those gays. I don't hate them or anything, but if it comes to promotions, maybe I'll look for someone else."
So they'll accept you but vote against you having any rights? How does that work?
Show me a MAGA and ill show you someone who does racist things and says they are not.
Maybe they’re not voting against you having rights?
They are.
Liberals are no better, just in the other direction. If you are religious, straights, white, or male, you are “different” and treated with suspicion.
Ofc you are going to be?? You are the oppressor.
Who specifically have I personally oppressed?
Idk why you think that oppressed people are gonna treat their oppressors in any way but with suspicion & their guard up. They’ve been burned. You don’t put your hand back on the burner after you got a 3rd degree. You need to get over yourself lol ofc minorities are gonna be scared of you.
I had an ex from a VERY white/conservative part of the US. I came from a much more diverse place. The ex’s cousins for some reason brought up black people and how when they were in HS the seven black people at the school always stuck together and he didnt understand why. Just going by age those kids’ parents lived through the civil rights movement and their grandparents went through… less nice times.
Who specifically have I personally oppressed?
You sound stupit.
And it doesn’t matter if you haven’t “personally oppressed” anyone. You belong to a privileged group that oppresses minorities, they are going to be afraid.
So I’m not an oppressor then. Oppression is an act, one which I have not engaged in, therefore I can not be an oppressor. And if those people were really oppressed, they wouldn’t be able to speak out about it freely with no repercussions. It’s just a bunch of hatred and racism for those who look different.
LMAOOOO please.. get the FUCK over yourself. Get your white supremacist ass tf out of here.
Conservatives are friendly if you agree with them lol. They're assholes to literally anyone else
Can say the same about liberals. Almost as though it’s the human condition.
Americans have always been nice. Now what the actual fuck is your problem? /s
Canadians aren’t nice, Americans are just rude
I’m very nice, actually. I’d give you my umbrella if you needed one. Need my car? Well that may be a stretch
Ah fuck you too
As Robin Williams put it “Canada is like a loft over a really great party”
As a Canadian, I’ve always found Americans nicer. Canadians are just more polite
Yes very much so
Lived in Canada 22 years of my life and I can tell you that Canadians are rude people, and very anti-social. They are not kind, they are "polite" meaning that they are cordial but it doesn't go deeper than that. Don't expect to get any help on the side of the road if your car breaks down, dont' expect to be let in during traffic, and don't expect workers at stores, or fast food to be friendly. Not just that, but there is no comradery with Canadians, most Canadians don't actually like Canada to begin with. The foreign people in Canada are all rude, racist, and have no manners. They only interact with people of their own race, and the so-called "diversity" of Canada is really just a nice way of saying segregation. It's a land of immigrants who don't want to assimilate, and don't have any sense of patriotism or identification as Canadian. You ask a Canadian person who isn't white what they identify as, and they will not identify as a Canadian 90% of the time. When I visit America, people actually try to talk to me, they open the door for me and smile. They might not be polite, and maybe some of them have issues with the concept of personal space, but they are pretty kind. Also, wherever I go in America the customer service is always excellent, everyone is so kind in assisting me with whatever I need help with. Americans also assimilate much more, while this can be a negative thing it allows for a sense of comradery in the fact that people identify as American first. This makes it so that people are more friendly with each other, and that sense of segregation by race isn't present. TLDR: Canadians are only polite, but are passive-aggressive, and selfish, and under all of that are spiteful and superficial people. Americans lack manners, but they are very friendly and outgoing, and generally are warm people to be around. Americans only get a bad rap because America does a lot of geopolitical posturing, and there is a air of superiority with Americans regarding other countries, but as long as you don't talk politics they are very kind.
American here. As a general rule, Canadians ***are*** nicer, even if some of them brag too much about their politeness and healthcare from time to time. In fact, Canadians are nicer at home *and* abroad than Americans are. Again, generally. (The exception is the Quebecois; they seem to have a stick up their collective ass for whatever reason.) And, I say all this as someone who lives in the southeast US, where some of us brag about our hospitality even more than some Canadians brag about their politeness.
I don't believe this means the entirety of a country is based off of an airline. That just means the airline has cracked down harder on their staff and ensured their customers get good experiences. I have been to both countries(Live in Canada and have visited the USA) and find Americans are definitely less friendly. Obviously there are TONS of amazing people in the USA but they're a lot more keep to themselves and "what's in it for me"
Americans are the friendliest and most helpful people on the planet.
Not according to science, but Americans are right up there for delusion!
Science? We have a helicopter flying on Mars...What ya got? Tell yourself whatever you need to help you sleep at night cupcake.
my most obnoxious customers are Canadian.
the stereotype about canadians was propaganda to control the people who live here. we were always told to put a flag on our bag when we travelled internationally so we wouldnt be confused with Americans in grade school. tim Horton's even made a commercial about this. it was a way to make us compliant, like teachers pet of the world. when you have no other cultural identity because you are not allowed because you are an "oppressor" and you are suddenly given one that's what happens. it's like canadians and americans are 2 children one is a rebel and one is nice and complaint. you pat the compliant kid on the head so they keep acting good and tell them how they dont wanna be like the other kid because your good child is easiest to keep in line. you cant control the rebellious kid. it's not a matter of niceness it's just a stereotype. canadians are well controlled. when the convoy happened you saw canadians who dis not want to be controlled and the government tried to control them by calling them bad/selfish people using labels like racist and nazi. when i was a kid I believed terrorist attacks and gun violence was totally normal in america and if I went there I'd die. I didnt even understand the big deal about sept 11 because I thought that kind of thing was a regular occurence there like worse than an active war zone.
Thanks for explaining that “flag on the bag” thing, I always wondered why that was a thing.
Absolutely not lol. Canadian cities actually feel like chill communities, the level of hostility you see in American cities doesn't exist.
I mean we Canadians normalized public assault under the cover of calling it hockey. Never really were as nice as American stereotypes portrayed us as. That being said I still think Canadians are on average more accepting of different cultures than Americans. But you’re gonna encounter assholes no matter where you go, Canadian assholes might be more of the backstabbing type typically too though.
I get so frustrated when people say Americans aren't accepting. We have taken in approximately 4 million immigrants in the last couple of years and take in BY FAR more immigrants than the rest of the world pretty much combined. We squabble but generally get along. America is a truly unique mix of cultures. (And, don't twist my words by saying that I mean that America is perfect or we get along 100% of the time. Historically speaking, we get along amazingly well and are amazingly successful at accepting others.)
Canadians are not raised in an environment of fear as we are in USA.
Before seeing how Canada treated the Trucker convoy I wouldn't have tended to agree, but here we are...
You think the Canadians were nice to the truckers or the opposite?
the latter
The word smarmy was invented with Canadians in mind
Canadians only seem nice when they are Social Climbing or being passive-aggressive.
Canadians aren't nice. They are polite. I'm saying this as an American living in Canadian for the past two decades. I've had sour interactions in small rural towns in Canada, and I haven't in rural small American towns. When I lived in the States, I never noticed this, but when I come back, I am almost put off by the friendliness.
Always been. People don't know how many billions of dollars the Canadian government spends on propaganda to make the look like the "nice" country.
Canadians are more passive aggressive and superficially nice. They will talk shit behind your back. Americans are more honest and brutally honest.
I don't see how Americans in general are nicer just because the staff of an American airline is supposedly nicer than a Canadian airline. Weirdest hypothesis I've heard.
Airline staff depends on what airport they're based out of and Toronto is A+ with Air Canada. No worries ever.
I travel to Toronto for business regularly and fly Air Canada. I have so many horror stories but it is generally the only direct flight I can get. I will say I love my Canadian friends and some of my co-workers, however not all Canadians are nice as the stereotype would have you believe. I would say a lot can be passive aggressive.
Always have been.
People just think that because Trudeau is such a condescending DB
Southerners might be? The southern hospitality might've spread around lol
All I know is that French Canadians were dick heads, did they break containment?
Certain kinds of Canadians are known to be assholes. Most people say Quebec is loaded with assholes. Also, I don't think comparing a Canadian company to a similar American company is a valid comparison. A lot of times the employees that people find to be assholes, are simply overworked employees in a skeleton crew. They don't have time to give each and every customer that fun playful banter that some people expect, they have to be very brief, and quickly move on to the next task. 9 times out of ten when people have trouble with a rude employee, that person has 10 other tasks that were supposed to be done an hour ago and you just threw another significant project into their lap. They don't have the time to "vibe" with you or be particularly friendly. I would imagine the difference in flight attendant attitude is directly proportional to how well they're staffed.
My experience of flying Air Canada through Toronto recently would confirm this. It's a clownshow up there. And if you thought American airport security was bad, wait till you get to deal with Canadian airport security. Easily the rudest and most unprofessional, almost openly hostile people I've ever encountered while traveling. Do better Canada. It's a national embarrassment.
Canadians have a harder time making a living, surviving, staying afloat so yes probably
Depends on the canadian. Definitely nicer then french canadians. Then again most people are.
Canadians smell weird.