the first time I thought about visiting Seattle, I felt a lot of guilt.
Wanting to leave my beloved country and contribute my hard earned money to some crazy freaking Americans?
But the more I thought about it, and the more I thought about the people I know who are citizens of the US, both residing in Canada, and in the US, the more I realized that it's stupid to feel guilty about it.
And I'm glad I came to that conclusion. Had I not, I never would have figured out these things:
1. Homeland security at the Peace Arch border crossing are nasty. I'm sure they're told to be - really, they give a horrible first impression of the US. Whoever trained them to be and told them to be nasty? Fire them.
2. Bellingham and Seattle are beautiful. Barnes & Noble is like Chapters was before the crazy Indigo bitch stole the chapters we loved away from Canada. In my opinion, the crazy Indigo bitch is a festering cunt, and should be pissed on by rabid cows (ever smell cow urine?) for destroying the best bookstore chain around.
Anyways - B&N still has the comfy chairs, and you can get books 10-30% cheaper (including exchange) than you can most places in Canada.
3. Americans actually take pride in their fast food jobs for some reason. The result of this is, the food is generally pretty damned good. I'm a fan of Jack in the Box, and Taco Bell is actually somewhat edible south of the border. Taco Bell in Canada sucks arse, to be quite frank... and Taco Time is still better either way, but the deals you get at an American Taco Bell are unreal.
4. Gasoline is significantly cheaper in NW Washington than it is in SW British Columbia. like 30 cents a liter cheaper, after you break a gallon into litres and add exchange. This is a sick reality, considering much of the oil you get at the US pumps is from Canada.
5. The people are nice. There is this worldwide perception that Americans are jackass idiots, and sure, some Americans are... just like anywhere else. It just so happens that their president is one of those Jackass Idiots, but why punish an entire nation for the idiocy of it's leadership? Come on - if leaders were representative of their people, Canadians would be in deep shit... after years of Jean Chretien (biggest Jackass to ever come out of Quebec, and that's saying something), and now Paul Martin (wishy washy fuckwad)... hell, we haven't had a leader worth the price of the ink on their birth certificate since Trudeau, and he was a serious jackass. He was also honest and had cojones. And then there was Brian Mulroney... the biggest fucking crook to ever call himself a Canadian, who threatens massive lawsuit against anyone who dares impune his pristine reputation (who the hell is he kidding - everyone thinks he's a crook, he HAS no good reputation, unless you consider being a fuckwad a good thing.)
Honestly, I can't think of any good reason not to visit our southern neighbors - in fact, I have no idea where the perception came from. In reality, there are a lot of very cool places to explore, and a lot of very cool people to meet. As far as living - I'll keep Canada any day of the week, but from one fuckwad to another... it's doesn't make a lick of difference where we buy the same shit, we're still getting shit. At least south of the border they tell you it's shit, and charge you less for it.
6. Cherry Vanilla Doctor Pepper. nuff said.
7. A & W Cream Soda. I think I may have mentioned this before.
8. I just like the number 8 - I'm pretty much done now
Just a quick note to go with mentions of people: these are my opinion, and not statements of fact. I say this because I realize many of them are rich, and like to sue people for defamation, when in fact, I'm only expressing an opinion. While I really have nothing worth suing for, I also don't think I should be entitled to present my opinions as fact. I think the facts speak well enough for themselves without my help.
Wanting to leave my beloved country and contribute my hard earned money to some crazy freaking Americans?
But the more I thought about it, and the more I thought about the people I know who are citizens of the US, both residing in Canada, and in the US, the more I realized that it's stupid to feel guilty about it.
And I'm glad I came to that conclusion. Had I not, I never would have figured out these things:
1. Homeland security at the Peace Arch border crossing are nasty. I'm sure they're told to be - really, they give a horrible first impression of the US. Whoever trained them to be and told them to be nasty? Fire them.
2. Bellingham and Seattle are beautiful. Barnes & Noble is like Chapters was before the crazy Indigo bitch stole the chapters we loved away from Canada. In my opinion, the crazy Indigo bitch is a festering cunt, and should be pissed on by rabid cows (ever smell cow urine?) for destroying the best bookstore chain around.
Anyways - B&N still has the comfy chairs, and you can get books 10-30% cheaper (including exchange) than you can most places in Canada.
3. Americans actually take pride in their fast food jobs for some reason. The result of this is, the food is generally pretty damned good. I'm a fan of Jack in the Box, and Taco Bell is actually somewhat edible south of the border. Taco Bell in Canada sucks arse, to be quite frank... and Taco Time is still better either way, but the deals you get at an American Taco Bell are unreal.
4. Gasoline is significantly cheaper in NW Washington than it is in SW British Columbia. like 30 cents a liter cheaper, after you break a gallon into litres and add exchange. This is a sick reality, considering much of the oil you get at the US pumps is from Canada.
5. The people are nice. There is this worldwide perception that Americans are jackass idiots, and sure, some Americans are... just like anywhere else. It just so happens that their president is one of those Jackass Idiots, but why punish an entire nation for the idiocy of it's leadership? Come on - if leaders were representative of their people, Canadians would be in deep shit... after years of Jean Chretien (biggest Jackass to ever come out of Quebec, and that's saying something), and now Paul Martin (wishy washy fuckwad)... hell, we haven't had a leader worth the price of the ink on their birth certificate since Trudeau, and he was a serious jackass. He was also honest and had cojones. And then there was Brian Mulroney... the biggest fucking crook to ever call himself a Canadian, who threatens massive lawsuit against anyone who dares impune his pristine reputation (who the hell is he kidding - everyone thinks he's a crook, he HAS no good reputation, unless you consider being a fuckwad a good thing.)
Honestly, I can't think of any good reason not to visit our southern neighbors - in fact, I have no idea where the perception came from. In reality, there are a lot of very cool places to explore, and a lot of very cool people to meet. As far as living - I'll keep Canada any day of the week, but from one fuckwad to another... it's doesn't make a lick of difference where we buy the same shit, we're still getting shit. At least south of the border they tell you it's shit, and charge you less for it.
6. Cherry Vanilla Doctor Pepper. nuff said.
7. A & W Cream Soda. I think I may have mentioned this before.
8. I just like the number 8 - I'm pretty much done now
Just a quick note to go with mentions of people: these are my opinion, and not statements of fact. I say this because I realize many of them are rich, and like to sue people for defamation, when in fact, I'm only expressing an opinion. While I really have nothing worth suing for, I also don't think I should be entitled to present my opinions as fact. I think the facts speak well enough for themselves without my help.
simba_gibson:
yesss... chapters was awesome before!! goddamn indigo.. 