Moncton ... the nicest city in Canada

Mr Bostock,

More polite. Cleaner streets. No JDV. Proveably.

YHS, etc

 

Huh ... down in da Shed-yack where dey speak da Shiuck, da mix of francais and Anglash.

 

You need to get out a little more. And put that superiority mouse in a box someplace.

 

I didn't give a fuck what kind of mish-mash English they were speaking. When half the bar offers to drive two overserved Toronto boys home so they don't get killed walking on the road you know you're in a good spot. (In the end, a cop took us home as he was going that way anyway.)

 

Mr Bostock,

FYI I've covered off the Continental U.S. Alaska, Hawaii, PEI and the Territories are all I'm missing (Delaware I just made a U-turn in after missing my exit in Philly, so I get 48 on a technicality). As for getting out more, well, from other threads on this site, I'd say that I've seen as much of the U.S. as anybody. I've driven T.O. to Mexico three times, six different routes on the trip out and back (crossings in Texas and Arizona). To Florida a half dozen times. To California right through Flyover America that many of your citizens have trouble picking out on a map.

I've stayed good long spells too. I'd say New Mexico folk were the nicest I met in the U.S. based on a month there, but they're not a patch on the Newfies and Nova Scotians. Genuine hostility to outsiders in small-town Utah and Missouri (not as bad as hostility to Torontonians in Sask. or anglophones in bluet country, mind you.). Mixed bag in Ohio and Pa. New Englanders (not Bostonians) are pretty chilly. Folks in Portland struck me as nice. Like coastal NC, Wilmington and towns much smaller (spent a week in Sneeds Ferry where, outside of a stoned Vietnam vet poking me with a loaded rifle, locals were friendly).

Thank you so much for your advice about getting out and your time and consideration, as always, in posting. I mean that sincerely. You are quite correct. I should make it a point to see the two states I haven't and revisit the 48 I have (and get quality time in Dover). Heartfelt apologies. Best wishes to you and your family.

YHS, etc

 

Dey good personnes der.

 

If

If that's the case, you should know a little better than to make such a generalization. My American city is clean and friendly, too. And I've traveled a fair amount in your country, too (how many Yanks have been to Kelowna?). Friendly, certainly. But not more friendly than, say, Nebraskans.

I also lived in Missouri, not in St. Louis or Kansas City, and have not met nicer people. Couldn't stand the weather, but that wasn't their fault. And the New Englanders I've encountered over the years aren't necessarily heartwarming, but they're OK in their own way.

Point is, there are friendly and unfriendly people everywhere. Some of that also depends on how you carry yourself. To make a statement like "Is there an American city that would crack the top 10? Blah blah blah" is ignorant. But then again, it appears you were born with the Canadian superiority gene, so it doesn't surprise me.

And you definitely should check out Delaware. The 3 Little Bakers Golf Course/Dinner Theater outside Wilmington is not to be missed. They might even crack a smile at the counter as you're paying your greens fee/ticket to see Robert Goulet in "Camelot."

 

Mr Bostock,

In simple terms of saying please and thank you, there might be the odd American town that would be up there. I don't know how "nice" any city could be if it is in a country where children and the mentally challenged are tried (and convicted and sometimes executed) as adults. And if the Ugly American stereotype prevails around the world (with some cause though not without exception), Canadians don't really face the same thing (ditto). A warriors-peacekeepers thing at one level, a difference in volume at another. Not that I think of Canadians as superior at all. Far from it. We're just quieter. More soft-spoken. Deferential. Some might consider it stand-offish, but there's no vein of arrogance that runs through it. We never run the risk of being over-familiar (say, like a head of state sneaking up and giving a neck message to another leader when she doesn't expect it). Would Lester Pearson do that? No. I think the charm of the eastern Canadians is the fact that there's a measure of guilelessness thrown into the mix.

But I do thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns and keep the level of discussion at an appropriately civil level. I would not be so forward to suggest even for a moment that you should be mindful of tone if you wish to avoid proving my point. Thanks for your time and consideration Best to your family.

YHS, etc

 

Outstanding.

 

Mr Bostock,

An oversight on my part: When you countered me on Mo., it was in small town Missou, an "ex-urb" of Jeff City, where I listened to a long racist jag from a relative of a major-leaguer's uncle on a hunting trip. The major-leaguer was a great guy but it put a damper on things.

I hope you're not going to tell me with your handle that Gary, Ind. is on that list of nice places.

Thanks for taking the time and consideration to read this footnote to my previous post. I offer it up only to further the understanding we each have of our long-time allies on the other side of what used to be the world's longest undefended border.

YHS, etc

 

Brilliant work, Mr. Friend.

 

Well, you certainly showed me, eh?

Thank you for proving my point. If you look in the mirror, "vein of arrogance" might very well be staring back at you.