"Excuse me," he said, "your husband looks important, is he important?" asked the young guy to my right when B had left our table to chat with one of the conference presenters at the recent Friends of the Canadian Crown gathering. "He's a nobody," I replied. "Well, there are a lot of people in here tonight who look important, who are you all?"
B may have looked "important" because he was wearing a bow tie and a dark blue pinstripe suit. The chap introduced himself as "John" from South Carolina, a tomato farmer. "I'm up here hunting," he said. When I told him what we were doing, he was amazed. I think many Americans forget -- or don't even know -- that Canada has a Queen, The Queen, as head of state. Very interested, he then asked me to explain our Parliamentary system of government, which I did happily.
The conversation then switched to American politics. "I've already voted Republican," he said. "Obama was hopeless." I asked him if it was difficult for families to have to be either Republican or Democrat for generations; he hadn't really thought about it. When I explained that we have many parties in Canada and that people vote differently in elections at different levels, he was again amazed. And the fact that neither our judges nor crown prosecutors are elected was another puzzle to him. "And we have an appointed Senate, so no gridlock. Legislation actually gets passed." An eye-opener to someone from the US who lives with a no-legislation form of government.
Americans know practically nothing about their neighbour to the north, but John now knows a smidgen.
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What a great read. That story was so interesting. Yes, they know positively nothing about their greatest trading partner. I wonder what they teach them in School!!!!I was surprised you did not say one word about Romney!!
ReplyDeleteI would have!! This was a wonderful read thanks so much. Tuesday will be very interesting!!!!!
Any bets on whose the next President of The United States of America??