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How Two Canadians See the U.S. [1]

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Date: 2022-08-15

For our summer vacation, my wife and I camped first at Banff and then at Jasper in the Canadian Rockies. While camping at Jasper, we got to know the two Canadians in the site across the road from us. Randy, in his late sixties, is a retired disc jockey. Heather, a retired kindergarten teacher, is in her mid to late sixties. They hail from Prince George, which, as they said, is just about in the geographical center of British Columbia.

Over the course of five days, we shared a number of conversations with them about our respective countries. Both of them are alarmed at what has been happening in the States. Heather said that at one time they saw racism as our biggest problem. Now they’re seeing something even worse in our country. Heather said that the rise of Trump and his followers is the most frightening thing they’ve experienced in their lifetimes. They worry about their influence coming across the border. The trucker blockade is an obvious example, but they’re also seeing their influence in the increasingly vulgar rhetoric of their fellow citizens. “Canadians used to be known for their politeness,” Randy said. “Not anymore.” Heather said that people were losing respect for each other.

Heather and Randy made a decision a couple years ago to stop watching television news. They couldn’t take what they were hearing about the States. Heather said that the impression of us that they’d been getting from the news was scary. “But then,” she said, “we meet nice people like you and we realize that many people in the States are not like that.”

Heather hoped that the people in our country would come to their senses, that they’d listen to their consciences. I’m skeptical that many of the fanatics among Trump’s followers will come to their senses, but I do hope that enough of our conservative fellow citizens begin see Trump for what he is that we can restore civil order and a measure of trust in the democratic process.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/15/2116817/-How-Two-Canadians-See-the-U-S

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