| The Beaver is a Noble Animal |
You may have heard that Canadians are a friendly bunch. We like to say our pleases and thank you's and often times apologize excessively for no reason whatsoever.
Take yesterday for example. I was carrying Nate in a store and as I walked up an aisle I noticed there was a guy stocking shelves ahead of me, so I veered to left. Suddenly an aisle display jumped right in front of me and because it was not there a second ago, I crashed into it. And the guy – the one stocking the shelves – turned around and apologized for his brief existence in my life and for taking up too much of my personal space.
Mark told me the other day he was running down University Avenue to catch his train after work, because that is what commuters do, they run – a lot, and he rammed right into a lady, who then apologized to him for her brief existence in his life and for going too slow.
And last week Mark and I were out shopping and as we were heading into the mall, Mark opened the doors for me so I could push Nate’s stroller through. On the other side of the door stood a little girl and her mother and I was just going to wheel Nate around them when suddenly the mother apologized for their brief existence in our life and for being in our way.
So yes, Canadians tend to be a rather polite bunch and because I am having a BBQ this weekend, I feel the need to apologize for not inviting everyone. It’ll be fun. Joe’s bringing the beer and we are going to get very drunk and spend lots of time apologizing to one another for being shit faced while we snicker excessively over the fact that our national animal is also a slang word for a vagina.
Even if you aren’t Canadian, feel free to stop by. Just finish every sentence with “eh”, randomly apologize for your existence, pronounce the last letter of the alphabet as “Zed” and talk about hockey and beavers a lot and you’ll fit in just fine.
And if you are the motherfucker that broke into my car last night, I’m sorry to say that you are not invited. Instead, let me offer my most polite and sincere Canadian apology for your sorry existence on this planet.
And thank you for not stealing my blue yoga jacket.
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I want to come! Pretend I am and have a shopping cart at the ready!!
xo
Cookouts are fun!! We need to have one soon!
We have had our car broken into a few times in the past few weeks, they go through all of our stuff, but don't take the $1000+ worth of tool sin my hubby's truck they only steal his lose change! Oh and the checkbook lying on the seat isn't worthy either...must bee a bunch of kids.
Sorry about your blue yoga jacket=(
Hi
Do you mean checking out this link, its a website for missing toddler Madeleine Mccann. Perhaps you won't mind putting the videos on your blog since so many people visit it daily. Thanks a bunch, its heart wrenching stuff, poor little girl.
http://www.madeleinemccann.com/
Wow....lets see if I can show off my Canadian-ness here.
I'm so sorry that I can't make it to your BBQ...sounds like it's gonna be fun, eh. Hopefully the Sens will win in Buffalo on Saturday night!
And my son Zander's name is spelled with a ZED, not a ZEE. I'm sorry if that sounded rude.
How was that?
Canada rocks! I can't wait to visit again (I'm a rude, ugly, self-centered american, as you can tell by the fact that though we share an american continent, and you're canadien and i'm from the U.S., the implied context is that you're just a canadien, but I'm an "American". God we suck. I'm sorry we suck so bad in the U.S.)
Sorry to hear about your car too.
Well see in all those cases a Californian would have bumped into you and blamed YOU for it.
I'm sorry about your car, and I hope you have a great time at your BBQ!
Hi Karla,
I've been reading your blog for sometime now, but never commented until now.
We moved to Florida from Toronto several years ago and it took a long time to get used to life here. It was only then that I realized how friendly Canadians were and how awkward it was to say, "zee" and spell words like color and favorite without a "u".
Have a good Victoria Day and enjoy the good weather. BTW, Canadians have a lot of public holidays, too!
Oh my gosh! I think I might secretly be Canadian (minus the whole hockey part.) Wish I could be at the BBQ to find out for sure :)
AS for the fooker who broke into your car, I have been through that time and again. In fact, I blogged a letter to the jerk that broke into my car and I may just post it again especially for you. It's an awful feeling knowing someone has been through all of your things and in your space. I'm sorry!
The Canadians I met on vacation at the beach in South Carolina last year were not a representation of your country then. Not once did they apologize to anyone, for anything... but they made sure that EVERYONE around them for a quarter mile knew of their existence and the fact they were from Canada. ;)
Now... you have a national animal? And it is not the Yak??? What the heck!? I thought for sure it would be after one of my families all-time-favorite songs to burst into in the kitchen and annoy friends and my husband; "The Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!"
"My country reeks of tree's... our yaks are really large..."
I apologize for not being sorry for missing your party. It's a fault of mine -- not liking parties. Maybe I'm a throwback to my British ancestry.
I would be honoured to attend your May-long BBQ, but what with living in the Wild West and all, it would be a heck of a commute. And think of all the apologies that I would have to make as I attempted to navigate a WestJet flight out east (yes, westerners do refer to central canada as "east" - it is a failing that we just can't seem to escape) with baby in tow.
So have a Canadian on me (while I sip a nice Okanagan merlot in honour of our dearly departed Queen Victoria).
OH-MY-GOSH...you are so right and I never noticed it over my short 30 year existence as a Canadian...and now I miss it now that I live in the US. I hail from Alberta where people incessantly apologize for the cost of oil and gas...hehe. Great post! Have a great bb-q.
K.
Friendly are we down here in the South. Apologetic we are not.
We have the bald eagle, and we all know what that symbolizes.
Sorry about your car.
I agree with the Californians blaming you comment. I have had people bump into me and, good Canadian that I am, apologized. They stared at me like I was the most horrid person. Didn't even apologize even though THEY bumped into me and I was holding a baby.
I miss Canada soooo much. Especially Toronto.
Chantal
This is only too true. It's gotten so bad that I will sometimes apologize to inanimate objects (chairs I bump into, curbs I trip over) out of habit.
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Jen & Co. : May 17, 2007 
