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You’re a nicer man than I am.

You didn’t travel to Canada, you travelled to commieland.

We in the west don’t even go that way much. Once you get past Manitoba going east all bets are off. There is no end to the lack of common sense and depravity. Of course all the people aren’t like that there, but most end up moving west that don’t like it. There’s some multigenerational families in those areas that are stubborn to leave though.

Canada customs has a long history of being absolutely useless and a bunch of kids who were picked on too much. I’ve had several run ins. I can go from Abbostford BC, cross at Sumas going south, there can be no traffic because it’s 0400 and the US border guards and I will have a 30 min BS about commies and Clinton’s idiocy etc. I’ll go get some diesel and what not, and be away for 20 mins and then come back. The Canadian guy will ask me the purpose of the trip and I say to breath the free air. He then gets mad and asks what I mean, and I say if you can’t figure it out you have no business sitting there. He then proceeds to get mad and tells me to get lost before he does something he’ll regret. That’s about how it usually goes when I deal with Canadian uniforms. I have zero respect. US side is different. I’ll sit in Denny’s in Washington, PA and sit down with 4 other uniforms state trooper types and we’ll BS about guns, the lack of common sense in Canada, the crappy healthcare in Canada etc.

I went to the Phillipines in 2011 because it was cheap and I was still an apprentice. I was only 2 years out of the military. My buddy was high up in the Air Canada world, so he is able to get me on for almost free, then when first class doesn’t fill me up, he just goes on his laptop and moves me up. When I came back in landed in Vancouver, I had to make a connecting flight to Edmonton, but my parents where there for a short visit in between flights. I didn’t buy anything and said as much to customs and they flagged me red. Next thing you know I’m pulled off into the side room for a detailed search. Some young girl trying to flex her authority. My mother had called and I said hang on mom, some female with a power trip is trying to harass a Canadian infantry vet. She didn’t like that and said if I felt harassed just wait for it. She started getting into harder and I asked if she joined just to harass men because she looks like a man hater. We’re going just about as well as you can expect when I hear my name yelled out from behind me. I turn and see a family friend of my parent’s who had previosly been RCMP and now it turns out he runs the customs in Vancouver as his retirement gig. He scolded the now very upset female and used his card to get me the fast way to my folks. If Mel hadn’t shown up right then, I’d probably still be there.

It’s not just Americans they harass. I’ve had several occasions though where I do interfere. If I’m driving down the highway and see Americans on the side of the road I’m always stopping. I usually do for a few reasons. If they’re in trouble, they are far from home with limited resources, or if a cop pulls over because someone forgot miles isn’t kms or things like that. I once brought an 82nd Airborne guy home to my land in Alberta because he was so lost. I took him home, built a fire outside, we roasted some hamburgers and hotdogs while I devised his plan with him. He couldn’t call his wife or something because of his phone, so he used mine as I had free US calling with my plan. He was leaving Alaska posting for Raleigh area or something like that. NC anyways, I forget exactly and that’s a long drive. Pulled out the old fashioned map and advised where to cross, I said Manitoba go south and then miss Chicago etc. It’s just an example of how we treat our southern brothers despite what media says. If you ever come back up, you make sure to come west, it’s night and day difference.

"... My mother had called and I said hang on mom, some female with a power trip is trying to harass a Canadian infantry vet. She didn’t like that and said if I felt harassed just wait for it. She started getting into harder and I asked if she joined just to harass men because she looks like a man hater. We’re going just about as well as you can expect when I hear my name yelled out from behind me. I turn and see a family friend of my parent’s who had previosly been RCMP and now it turns out he runs the customs in Vancouver as his retirement gig. He scolded the now very upset female and used his card to get me the fast way to my folks. If Mel hadn’t shown up right then, I’d probably still be there..."

That's an awesome story! I am going to take your advice-I have never been up to Canada west of Quebec City...so that is a destination.

One of the things I hate in our modern culture is that it is now difficult to stop to help people on the side of the road, though I will still do it on occasion. And sometimes, it makes for memories that last. And, it is good for the soul! Can't get enough of that.

If you are ever coming out to the New England area, you give me a ping...:)