They shoot Canadians, don't they?

[CanadianHippie]

;) I am fond of Edmonton and Edmontonians, and have no stake in this rivalry, myself. Except, of course, when it comes to hockey! :mrgreen:

None of that matters; not Toronto, or Edmonton, or Calgary. Because we all know that Vancouver is the best city in Canada.

[Lainey]

Vancouver is a wonderful city. ;)

[CanadianHippie]

Vancouver is a wonderful city. ;)

It is. :D It feels especially friendly when you get that contact high from walking down the street. :lol:

[Cherokee2000]

None of that matters; not Toronto, or Edmonton, or Calgary. Because we all know that Vancouver is the best city in Canada.

I always liked Vancouver, but I totally fell in LOOOVVVE with it during the 2010 Winter Olymipics. :banana-skier:

Too bad I only experienced it through the magic of television, but wow, what a party!

[VintageJen1984]

I can only assume that this guy would die of fright if he ever visited the Lone Star State. People are very friendly and smalltalky and most people you don't know are "Ma'am" and "Sir."

Agreed, and Houston during the Rodeo is, from descriptions here, EXACTLY like Calgary during Stampede. Of course, I dread Rodeo because traffic goes crazy, and I dread this coming year's even more becuase I work at a hotel a block from the event now, but. I'm not afraid of an offer of free tix!

[Cherokee2000]

I know a Canadian policeman who went on a ride-along with a Michigan police officer. The Canadian policeman said the Michigan officer pulled his gun more times in the first four hours of the shift, than he has in 20 years as a Canadian officer. He said it was wild and scary, and he was very,very glad to get back to Canada.

I'm glad we don't do guns here and think nothing of making small talk to strangers. The two dudes probably looked bewildered because of the weird answer the American guy gave them to their question.

Mais, c'est la vie.

Glad I live in socialist, uni-ver-sal health care, Ca-na-da,

despite Ste-phen Harp-er.

Creaky Mom, are you the astute, awesome "notoharper" on Josh's Instagram?

[Maul the Koala]

Victoria is where it's at. :banana-stoner: :banana-stoner:

I may or may not know people that moved there for that particular reason. ;)

[LadyBlue]

;) I am fond of Edmonton and Edmontonians, and have no stake in this rivalry, myself. Except, of course, when it comes to hockey! :mrgreen:

ETA: There are no cowboy hat smileys. :( Sadcat. And yes, the only acceptable thing to do during Stampede is: leave town, or join in the fun! I'm getting to the point in the last couple of years that I'd just as soon leave town, lol, but everyone else beats me to it. So I suck it up and eat free pancakes and enjoy the camaraderie. It's a difficult life... :whistle:

I've lived in Calgary & Edmonton & many points between. I can't say I noticed much difference in friendliness levels. lol We used to live on the parade route for the parade. That was fun...the first year. lol

Burris, it's funny you should mention that whole situation with the murders. Do you know if they ever caught him? The reason I ask is around that time, we were living in Grande Cache & a co-worker was arrested for beating a prostitute & leaving her for dead (I'm still in shock about that) & I've wondered since if he was the killer.

[Burris]

Burris, it's funny you should mention that whole situation with the murders. Do you know if they ever caught him? The reason I ask is around that time, we were living in Grande Cache & a co-worker was arrested for beating a prostitute & leaving her for dead (I'm still in shock about that) & I've wondered since if he was the killer.

Caught him? I don't believe so. In fact, the police never so much as admitted all those murders - those bodies all dumped in a similar place - were even the work of a single individual rather than of several different killers. And frankly, I'm not sure which prospect is worse: That one guy was responsible, or that more than one was.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Slightly OT, but we are actually driving from Victoria to Calgary, with stops in the Nanaimo area (Yellow Point), Vancouver, Kelowna and Canmore. Suggestions on what to see and do are appreciated, although this will be a trip with kids so no drinking or drugs.

[ElphabaGalinda]

We're actually planning to be in Calgary in a couple of week. I'll be packing....good conversational skills. [it's a bit of a culture shock, albeit a nice one, to someone from Toronto. Unlike other parts of Canada, folks in Toronto never talk to strangers, unless one of the following situations applies:

1. Temperature dips below -20 degrees, at which point it is acceptable to say "cold enough for ya?"

2. You are stuck on a bus for 4 hours due to an ice storm. After the first 90 minutes spent sitting in completely silence, conversation may commence.

3. We have just won the World Series, in which case it is acceptable to cheer in public and yell "Way to go!"

4. There is a life and death emergency.

5. You notice that someone is obviously a tourist.

6. You are the parent of a small child, in which case you may strike up a conversation with the parent of another small child. It is also acceptable for anyone to comment that a baby is cute.

I totally relate to all those reasons that are acceptable for talking to strangers in Toronto :lol: I've also found that if you're with a dog, you're allowed to talk to other people with dogs. If someone in Toronto starts talking to you outside those parameters it feels so awkward, because it's simply not done. When i was visiting Guelph and people in line at the store, or bus drivers, or just strangers passing on the street, started making conversation it was definitely a culture shock.

[mkitten]

I used to live in Arizona, where it is not uncommon to see some random person carrying a gun in a holster on their trip to buy a slurpie at the local 7-11 ('cuz that's when the shits gonna hit the fan, some random Tuesday when it's 118 degrees outside.) Lived in the same neighborhood for 4 years and no one ever talked to anyone else...just ran from their air conditioned house to the air conditioned car and vice versa. Fast forward and now I'm living in Pennsylvania where I have yet to see anyone openly carry a weapon and I knew all of my neighbors within 2 months of moving here. People actually stop to say hi and chit chat on the street..... Coincidence or......

[Lainey]

I had no idea that Torontonians were so much more reserved than the rest of us. :? I wonder why that is?

[ElphabaGalinda]

I had no idea that Torontonians were so much more reserved than the rest of us. :? I wonder why that is?

Too big of a population maybe? Or too urban? I actually have no idea. If I moved somewhere else it would be so hard for me to learn to make conversation with strangers because I was always taught that was a bad thing. Maybe we don't trust anyone and assume there are crazies all around us? Someone making conversation with a stranger would make people uncomfortable here. Even if that is the case, people don't carry guns around casually. :lol: I know we have a reputation for rudeness, but I don't think that's true. If you ask someone a question they'll respond politely and if you make random conversation the person will be totally polite, they'll just think you're weird because that's not considered normal. But you'd be allowed to talk to strangers in Toronto because you'd be a tourist and talking to strangers would be what would give that away :D

[Lainey]

Or they would just think I was weird. :lol: Ah well, wouldn't be the first time. ;)

[ElphabaGalinda]

Or they would just think I was weird. :lol: Ah well, wouldn't be the first time. ;)

Or they might think you're crazy depending on what you start talking about and how you approach it :lol: Especially if you start talking to someone on public transit.

[singsingsing]

I feel like there's just a different vibe in Toronto that discourages randomly chatting with strangers. It's not that the people who live there are more rude per se than anyone else, it's just that it's such a huge city, with so much going on, and you have to really focus to navigate it without losing your mind or getting run over by a streetcar. :P I'm from a smaller city in southwestern Ontario and yeah, it's a lot more common to strike up conversations or even just say hello to strangers here, but the whole atmosphere is a lot more relaxed because it's not nearly as gigantic, busy, and congested as Toronto.

[Creaky Mom]

Creaky Mom, are you the astute, awesome "notoharper" on Josh's Instagram?

No, I'm not. Anything Duggar gives me upset stomach. I'm a Maxwell Gurrl. :dance:

[Lainey]

Or they might think you're crazy depending on what you start talking about and how you approach it :lol: Especially if you start talking to someone on public transit.

Well, tempted as I might be to start talking about aliens or conspiracies, then :mrgreen: (I could use some ideas from that blogger who thinks the gov't is watching people through their TVs! :dance: ), I would probably start with a question, which would immediately give away my tourist status. ;)

[Cherokee2000]

Glad I live in socialist, uni-ver-sal health care, Ca-na-da,

despite Ste-phen Harp-er.

Creaky Mom, are you the astute, awesome "notoharper" on Josh's Instagram?

[jaynie]

I feel like there's just a different vibe in Toronto that discourages randomly chatting with strangers. It's not that the people who live there are more rude per se than anyone else, it's just that it's such a huge city, with so much going on, and you have to really focus to navigate it without losing your mind or getting run over by a streetcar. :P I'm from a smaller city in southwestern Ontario and yeah, it's a lot more common to strike up conversations or even just say hello to strangers here, but the whole atmosphere is a lot more relaxed because it's not nearly as gigantic, busy, and congested as Toronto.

I think there is also the fact that once the whole not-speaking-to-each-other thing starts, it's really hard to break because it's so awkward to strike up a conversation at that point. Though I suspect having a huge population in a big city is the catalyst. (I once had someone complain to me that people in London didn't say hi when you walked past them. In LONDON. Can you imagine how tiring that would be?)

I have to say Victoria is the friendliest city I've been to in Canada (and probably one of the friendliest I've been to in the world). Probably because we have that student/retired thing going on, and it's a very laid-back sort of place anyway.

[fundyfunland]

We're actually planning to be in Calgary in a couple of week. I'll be packing....good conversational skills. [it's a bit of a culture shock, albeit a nice one, to someone from Toronto. Unlike other parts of Canada, folks in Toronto never talk to strangers, unless one of the following situations applies:

1. Temperature dips below -20 degrees, at which point it is acceptable to say "cold enough for ya?"

2. You are stuck on a bus for 4 hours due to an ice storm. After the first 90 minutes spent sitting in completely silence, conversation may commence.

3. We have just won the World Series, in which case it is acceptable to cheer in public and yell "Way to go!"

4. There is a life and death emergency.

5. You notice that someone is obviously a tourist.

6. You are the parent of a small child, in which case you may strike up a conversation with the parent of another small child. It is also acceptable for anyone to comment that a baby is cute.

Really? I can't believe you dropped your opinion about Toronto twice in the same thread.

People make small talk all the time here. You must walk around with a scowl on your face.

[tropaka]

'nother Torontonian here....small talk is situational....on the subway during rush hour it is standard to avoid eye contact and wait it out....but on the local bus to the subway conversations strike up because of familiarity. Generally older (40 plus, which I am now) are more friendly. Downtown people are always rushing unless you're in a tourist spot. It is a more friendly, slower pace out of the city, which I imagine is the same anywhere; just spent a week in small towns in SW Ontario and definitely people are more open, less rushed, less suspicious if you say "hi". Someone honked at my parents' place (middle of nowhere) and I was like "who is that?" and my Mom's like, "oh just someone saying hello".

[ElphabaGalinda]

Really? I can't believe you dropped your opinion about Toronto twice in the same thread.

People make small talk all the time here. You must walk around with a scowl on your face.

I'm from Toronto and people don't make small talk with me, and I've never seen anyone making small talk with anyone, and I certainly don't walk around with a scowl on my face. Perhaps your experience is an anomoly? When my friends and I have gone to smaller towns where making small talk with strangers is teh norm we all thought it was strange, so does our experience not count? That list was funny. Perhaps there are more exceptions but living here my whole life small talk between strangers is not something I witness. You'd think I'd at least see some of it if it was really happening all the time.

[ElphabaGalinda]

'nother Torontonian here....small talk is situational....on the subway during rush hour it is standard to avoid eye contact and wait it out....but on the local bus to the subway conversations strike up because of familiarity. Generally older (40 plus, which I am now) are more friendly. Downtown people are always rushing unless you're in a tourist spot. It is a more friendly, slower pace out of the city, which I imagine is the same anywhere; just spent a week in small towns in SW Ontario and definitely people are more open, less rushed, less suspicious if you say "hi". Someone honked at my parents' place (middle of nowhere) and I was like "who is that?" and my Mom's like, "oh just someone saying hello".

My local bus to the subway doesn't have much small talk but that's because it's always so crowded it's impossible to even remember who's on the bus every day. Another place I've never seen small talk here but have seen in other places...with random people waiting at a bus stop with you, in line at a store, or people you pass randomly on the street...never seen it. Some people make small talk with people working at a store they're in I guess, but even that's not standard.