Wannabe Canadians

There is a company trying to cash in Anti American sentiment abroad by selling Canadian flag t-shirts to Americans.  This bothers me for many reasons.  Taking advantage of what it means to be Canadian so as to avoid being an American is quite insulting to me.  It’s one thing to wear one of these shirts, but it’s another to buy a Canadian flag shirt/patch/badge from an American outfit to be a poser Canadian.

As a Canadian, I take pride in the fact that our flag/passport travels well.  In fact when I traveled throughout western Europe I put a Canadian flag on my pack.  Lots of other Canadians came up to me in train stations and hostels to chat etc.  I met some great people by doing this.  Next time I go to Europe will I be seen as an American poser trying to look like a Canadian?  Or even worse will fellow Canadian travelers see me and think, faker?  Do we actually have to start carrying around our plastic Timmy Ho‘s mugs to prove authenticity like the commercial? 

"Sylvia Dawson’s boyfriend has been joking that she needed to find
him a Canadian flag for an upcoming trip to Spain. That’s after his
daughter, who is studying there, warned that he might be questioned
about politics when he comes to visit.

So she bought a package.

"I
said, ‘What are you going to do if someone asks you about the prime
minister of Canada?’ And he said, ‘I’ll study up,"’ Dawson said."

It scares me that people would openly admit they’d have to "study up" to know who our prime minister is.  WE ARE YOUR NEIGHBORS!!!! HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW?

"The "Go Canadian" idea sprouted after one of Broadbent’s colleagues
heard of someone being harassed about U.S. politics during a recent
overseas trip."

I love how its like such a hardship to talk politics for these people.  Heaven forbid you have to talk about your government and how they’ve been killing lots of folks.

I just went to the SorryEverybody website and now they’re selling a book about it!  I guess its just the American way.  Sell anything and everything if you can make a quick buck.  Sorry for these sweeping generalizations but I can’t help but be a little weirded out by this stuff.  (look at me being a nice Canadian isn’t that cute)

Why should I care?  After all, imitation is the highest form of flattery.