Feb
24
– Why nice keeps your ears warm
A few true statements…
Shayne Koyczan said this in his gorgeous spoken word piece:
and some say what defines us
is something as simple as please and thank you
and as for you’re welcome
well we say that too
Zack of Lost Angeles said:
the exact reason it is really hard to make fun of canadians. you are all so fucking likable.
I also had this conversation today in reference to the way I act at a hockey game:
S: Wait, so you’re that girl who always yells SHOOT THE PUCK!
A: I would never yell at someone to shoot the puck, unless I was on the ice and I thought the person on my team wasn’t doing their job.
A: I tell the goalie to get back in the crease because they make me nervous when they wander out into the ice…
A: And I encourage the defense to ‘get it out of there’
A: I will always applaud a good goal regardless of the team, and I stay seated during fights
S: Oh god, I wish you did sit by me at games
S: I have these puck bunnies who know nothing about hockey and think Sid skates for all 60 minutes
A: And they tell the guy with the puck who is BEHIND the net to shoot it… right?
S: OMG YES!!!!!!!!!
Politeness is in my blood. It was the way I was raised. I say please and thank you, I pick up other people’s trash, I tell people that they have toilet paper stuck to their shoe (unless you are deserving of the shame – Yes, I’m talking to you 6′ tall lady who cut in and ducked into the stall before me. I will let you walk into the bar with that TP trailing behind you… that’s called KARMA).
Now that doesn’t mean I can’t be rude or snarky. There is a time and place for everything and sometimes it comes out in full force. But I think Canadians really have a good idea of what it means to contribute to a civilized society. We’re old school like that…
Photo via @alex_ruiz
Now here’s where I make my point, as a whole we rejoice when we win and of course it stings when we lose. Just like any other group of people on earth…
What I don’t understand is that when the US won the hockey game last weekend how many went out of their way to be mean, snarky, and rude to those who lost. It’s very strange and foreign to me. I can say with certainty that if Canada won the game, we’d all say ‘WOW that was a great game’ and Canadians would raise their pint of beer to celebrate. I don’t think they’d spend the fun and amazing energy coming off of that game to make snide remarks about the Americans. Especially when it was such an all-out rocking game such as it was. We’d all just hold our breath and try to remember the excitement around us.
But that’s what sets us apart.
As Canadians, we celebrate the winner, we congratulate the loser on a game well played, we encourage those who tried, and extend a helping hand to those who fail. Of course, that isn’t always the case, but we’re gracious winners and hardly ever poor losers.
We may be ‘America’s hat’ but I sure as hell would rather be a nice hat than the mean person wearing it.
