"But Canada and USA are the same!"

[bigjimaz]

I sell on eBay. I ship to Canada. Most people there are polite and quite smart. They understand that it costs more to send stuff to the Great White North. Every once in a while though I'll get someone wanting to know why it costs $9.00 to ship something 2500 miles to California and it only takes 3 - 5 days and it costs $22.00 to send it 350 miles to Toronto and it could take 2 weeks or more. After I explain the best I can about the two different countries and the recent price increase by the USPS and the fact that the USPS only delivers it to the border and Canada Post takes it the rest of the way, duties, tariffs, etc., they have the balls to ask me to mark the customs form as a gift. (Illegal and costly to do if caught) to save them a couple dollars.

I love my Canadian customers but I mean, come on. I'm not going to risk a couple years of jail time and a $5,000.00 fine to save you a couple of loonies.

[Gurndigarn]

Yeah, you better run

You can have Quebec. We'll take New Mexico. Even trade. Really.

Why are you trying to dump your liabilities on us? What did we ever d... never mind.

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

Why are you trying to dump your liabilities on us? What did we ever d... never mind.

We tried to invade in 1812. They still blame us.

[Shironu-Akaineko]

You can have Quebec. We'll take New Mexico. Even trade. Really.

Oh, go to hell!

[Fawn]

We tried to invade in 1812. They still blame us.

Have every right to blame you

[Dips]

Oh, the joys of exporting.

We once had a reseller in Mexico threaten to reject a >$1000 order because the duties were $5 more than he thought they should be. It was cheaper and more sensible for us to pay it ourselves than to have the stuff shipped back, so we paid it.

Not to worry, we increased the handling charges on his subsequent orders to make sure we covered the hassle and cost of dealing with him.

[tollbaby]

Canada. A relativley decent place to visit, although most of it is very much like home, so visiting is kind of pointless.

That, and I apparently attract every idiot and nimrod associated with the country, no matter what I am doing. Even when I am fixing an error by some dimwit(s) in my company, I manage to attract Canadians of lesser intelligence. (That story at a later date, when thinking about it does not tempt me into going on a rampage through our warehouse staff with a tire iron.)

Okay, give us a break here... there are idiots in all countries, and there are more in the US than there are in Canada (statistically, it's true! There are more PEOPLE in the US than there are in Canada, thus...)

Don't hate me, I just kind of got rubbed the wrong way by the dumb Canadians comment, and decided to have a bit of fun with it

Edited to add, I hadn't seen THIS part of your post:

Me: *Audible snap in the back of my brain* I am sorry miss, but last I checked the US was still a seperate sovereign nation from Canada. Not for a lack of effort on the part of the Canadian government I am sure. Out of spite they have raised a customs agency that is meant primarily to reduce the amount of business we recieve from Canadian citizens, in hopes of reducing us and our economy to ruins, so that they can one day assume control. Until then, you will have to suffer under the burden of high shipping and duties charges for really big merchandise.

That was not only entirely uncalled-for (and factually TOTALLY incorrect), but if I'd have had the audacity to say that to one of my customers, I'd have been fired.

[Broomjockey]

Oh, go to hell!

I'm in Alberta, I'm already there

[LifeCarnie]

I spent quite a few summers living on the border in Vermont and it's true that you couldn't really tell where one country ended and the other began. The local businesses even accept the currency of both countries on par with each other.


But, I've also found that Canada is completely different from province to province. The people are even completely different in their behavior. While it's true that Quebec/Nova Scotia/New England are all similiar, Nova Scotia and Alberta are completely different experiences from each other.

She's probably one of those morons who thinks New Mexico is a different country...

Shortly after I first moved from Southern Massachusetts to Southern California, I had a girl comment on my accent and ask me where I'm from. The following exchange occured.

Me= Duh

CBD = Cute But Dizzy Girl

MF: My Friend

CBD: You have an interesting accent, where are you from?

Me: New England.

CBD: Ohhhhhh, cool!!! How far from London did you live?

Me: 50 Miles

CBD: Oh, you were so lucky.

MF (as we're walking away): you're such an ass.


How dumb can you be? A New England accent sounds nothing like any British accent that I've ever heard. And, I gave her the distance in MILES, England users the metric system.

I think I wound up getting her number, but I never called her, too dumb for me. This wasn't the only moment that made me think that she was dizzy.

[wagegoth]

I'm in Northern California, and I would really appreciate it if Canadialand would make us part of their wonderful country.

I already complained in another post about the Canadian buyer on eBay who couldn't understand that I had to now deal with a five-part customs form to ship a sewing pattern to Canada, thanks to the new, fascist border laws we have, and that it was going to cost extra to ship across the border.

There's definitely stupid on both sides of any border, unfortunately, as the numbers game attests, we have ten times the population, therefore, ten times the stupid. Actually, California has about the same population as all of Canada. Weep for us.

[Broomjockey]

Heh. Alberta has a population of 3.5 million people. New York CITY has us outclassed.

[Qaeria]

Not to put a negative comment on it, but that Canadian Ignorance stems from the fact that there is supposedly a North American Free Trade agreement. The next time you have a silly asshat of a canuck do that to you again, have them contact 1-800-O-CANADA and they can gripe to our illustrious beaurocracy about the duties. That way you can save your head from any more trauma.

I always thought that NAFTA would allow for easier trade between nations, instead has given politicians more money, and the US another set of international agreements to ignore. She was dumb, yes for thinking we are the same, and we did have the chance to "Canadianize" you guys way back in 1812, but burning the Whitehouse was good enough for us. However, keep in mind this stupidity is not restricted to the dumb suzy homemakers out there. If memory serves, Dubyah is on the public record asking what state Norway was in .

The actual country does not matter with these people. it seems to affect a great number of people in both countries. Maybe we need to come up with an acronym for these types of idiots. something North American. N.A.W.I. would be my suggestions. NAWI = North Americans Without Intelligence. Mods? would this make it into Definitions?

[Rapscallion]

And, I gave her the distance in MILES, England users the metric system.

Um, officially we've been metric since 1972 or so, but roadsigns and speeds are still in miles. We can still buy pints of milk and beer.

Fuel being in litres was mostly, in my opinion, so petrol companies could appear to be cheaper, and a rise per litre seems less than over four times that per gallon.

/culturelesson

Rapscallion

[IHateStupidCustomers]

When I worked for a lingerie catalogue we got a fair amount of Canadian customers.

And I have to say....they were the NICEST, SWEETEST, BEST people to deal with on the phones. I would breath a sigh of relief when a call beeped in and I saw on my screen that it was a Canadian customers.

I'm damn tempted to move. Nice people, and healthcare! Now if only it weren't so cold....

[Xieg]

Don't hate me, I just kind of got rubbed the wrong way by the dumb Canadians comment, and decided to have a bit of fun with it

Don't get me wrong. Outside of work, any Canadian I deal with seems reasonably intelligent. But when I step in these doors, I attract the dregs of the Great White North. Must be some natural phenomenon.

As far as getting canned for that, without some sort of solid proof, the lady at the top is unlikely to touch it. Spineless and all that. My immediate boss (She finds me indispensible by the way) is the one who would do recordings and she alerts me to when she is doing it. As long as I avoid doing that to big customers, I can get away scott free.

Me: New England.
CBD: Ohhhhhh, cool!!! How far from London did you live?
Me: 50 Miles
CBD: Oh, you were so lucky.
MF (as we're walking away): you're such an ass.

And mayhaps she was referring to New London, New Hampshire