{UAH} If you are from Canada visiting the United States for any reason, what is the first thing you notice? Is there anything in particular that bothers you?

Kevin Tessier

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Updated January 21

Canadian-born, Canadian-raised Canadian

I drove down from the border to the US summer 2019 heading for a martial arts seminar in Pennsylvania, and the first thing I noticed that struck me as out of place was what I was hearing on the radio. No matter which station I managed to tune into, be it country, pop, rap, or whatever, there was always a radio presenter that would comment on or quote the Bible occasionally in the short time between songs.

In Canada, things are generally much more secular. Religiosity is practiced in religious areas and in private, but very rarely is ever practiced, advertised, or discussed in public. I certainly have never heard radio presenters quoting the Bible, though maybe I could if I tuned into a specifically Christian-themed radio station.

The next major thing I noticed that was very different was the gun culture. In Canada, only a small minority of people go through the process to get a license for guns, and shooting ranges are few and far between. In Pennsylvania, there were at least three different ranges being advertised in the area around the hotel I was staying at.

All of the Americans I was hanging out with were also practicing concealed carry, but that's likely a highly selective sample due to them being part of the martial arts/self defense community. They were nice enough to take me target shooting. I have to say, it's fun, but ammunition gets expensive way too fast for me to seriously consider making it a regular activity.

There are more American flags around than I'd see Canada flags back home, but I think I've seen about the same number of flags when I visit family in Québec, but those were Québec flags. Oh, and I think most of the highways were better maintained in what I saw of the US than I've seen in Canada in general.

There were also a lot more politically-charged advertisements on the roads such as pro-gun/pro-life/pro-religion and occasionally the opposite. In Canada, those kinds of ads promoting specific issues without a political target are quite rare even during an election period. Most political ads in Canada are promoting or criticizing a specific party or candidate rather than advocating for a specific political stance on a specific issue.

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"Everyone becomes an expert after the FACT"

Allan

 

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