Ridiculous Things Americans Have Said to Canadians | American Reacts

Once I was in Canadian Tire and a man was screaming at the customer service people because they would not honour his military service for a military discount. The man had handed over a US navy ID and could not understand that Canada was not America. He kept saying how his service kept us free and did not seem to follow that Canada was a separate country. I was crying. I was laughing so hard.😅

An American lady was very upset to learn that Canada celebrate Canada day on the first of July. She actually said that America should be first to celebrate because America was the biggest country in the world. Lots to digest.

When I was a kid we drove from BC to California to go to Disneyland. Along the way, people would ask where we were from, so at first my parents would tell them, but nobody had heard of our small town. So they would ask "Where is that?" My parents would say, "It's in British Columbia." Most Americans would respond with, "Where is British Columbia?" (Some would ask if it's in England, some thought South America.) So my parents would say "It's in Canada, it's actually just a short drive north of here." In Anaheim we got a hotel a couple blocks from Disneyland so we walked there from the hotel. Along the way we stopped at a diner for breakfast and the waitress asked where we were from. My parents both sighed, and my mother just said, "Canada." (To get my mother to stop talking is a minor miracle.) The waitress asked, "Where about in Canada?" My mother said, "BC." The waitress asked, "What town?" My mother says, "It's a small town, you wouldn't have heard of it. It's called 'X'." The waitress then says, "Oh, does Jane Smith (name changed) still live on Blah-blah street?" My mother is suddenly shocked and says, "That's our neighbor, three houses up the hill." Then the waitress says, "Oh so you live in the white house with the brown trim under the windows and that big tree in the yard?" Nobody in America knew where Canada was, except this one waitress who knew where our exact house was located.

A couple were waiting at the Miami airport for some friends to arrive. The woman notices a family carrying winter coats and boots waiting to board a flight. She says to her husband “I wonder where they’re from?”. “ Go ask them” he says, so she approaches them and asks “excuse me but my husband was wondering where y’all are from.” The father turns to her and in a very proud voice declares “Saskatoon, Saskatchewan”. She goes back to her husband who asks her what they said. “I don’t know” she says, “they don’t speak English”.

I'm not sure what is more sad, Americans lack of knowledge of things outside of America, or their lack of willingness to learn.

"Do you have hockey in Canada?" when hockey was INVENTED in Canada is definitely an insult, because Americans seem to assume everything good is because of them.

I was a Canadian snowbird to the USA for ten years We couldn't get any Canadian news on tv and even weather maps ended in the 49th parallel NOTHING was ever pictured north Most of Canada's population and large cities are not that far from the border I once asked an American about their passport and he replied he didn't have one ... he had no wish to travel outside the best country in the world Canadians roll our eyes a lot when in the US 🙄

My former boss (an American company) didn't want to believe that our laws were any different from theirs. She fired an employee based on American laws. Her mistake cost the company over $100,000. I had informed her, but it seems the Americans know our laws better than we do.

I have a similar story about Americans thinking Canada is part of the U.S. A friend of mine who is Canadian went to Penn State for a research project during the time just prior to U.S. federal election in 2012. They had a voter registration drive going on at the campus. My friend was asked if he was registered to vote yet. He replied that he couldn’t vote in the U.S. because he is Canadian. The two people at the registration table insisted he should register because “Canada is part of the U.S.”. He tried to explain to them that Canada is not part of the U.S. and they just did not want to believe it. Yikes. 😮😮😮

Canadian here, I was hiking the Appalachian Trail - at camp one American kid said Canada was just an “annex” to the U.S. and he believed passports weren’t needed and the laws were the same. He also claimed he went to college. I weep for your dismissal education system. 👎🏼

If you're at a house party in Canada that has hit a lull and gotten boring, just say, "Anybody got any stories about dumb Americans?" and the conversation will explode. We've all got tons of these stories and love to tell them.

True story: waiting for a flight in Toronto, reading the first Harry Potter book, and a woman asked if it was the newest (this was back in 2005). I said no it's the first, "Philosopher's Stone" and she said "No it's called Sorcerer's Stone". I explained that the book was called "Sorcerer's Stone" for the US market and "Philosopher's Stone" in every other English speaking nation, because the publisher felt that if it had "Philosopher" in the title it wouldn't sell as well in America. She had to read parts of my book for herself to realize I was being truthful. And the look on her face when this realization hit was a mixture of shock, confusion, anger, and disbelief. I actually wound up feeling bad...but I managed to get her laughing about it.

An American commented that I sounded funny, meaning I had an accent. He then asked where I was from. I challenged him to guess. He started guessing with southern states and I kept saying to no, North of that. He got to Minnesota and I again said more North and he looked puzzled. He then said “there is nothing north of Minnesota.”

In this little village, an hour from the border, we met some American tourists on our walk. They said hi to us, and we did the same, but in French. The looks on their faces showed how uncomfortable they were being responded to in a language that wasn't their own. I think that's when they realized they were no longer in the USA.

In 1971 I was in Florida for the Daytona 500 and stopped for lunch at a restaurant not far from the track. I was 21 and my waitress was an older woman, lets say about 55 or 60. She asked where I was from and when I told her Canada her face turned red. She stood there silent for a short time and then said that she didn't know much about Canada since she was born and raised in Florida. She said that her shift was over soon and would I discuss a few things with her. Out of curiosity I said sure! We had a 3 hour conversation. She was very nice but asked some dumb questions. I answered her the best I could and in the end she thanked me for giving her a basic education about Canada. She said that, I guess we live in different countries but after all we are very much the same. She laughed and said that at least we both speak English. After I returned to Canada, we kept in touch for several months until one day her daughter answered the phone and told me her mom had died from cancer a few days before. I was really upset! She wasn't my perception the typical American, as even though I could have made fun of her stupid questions, I respected her for being open minded and we both learned several things about both of our countries as well as each other. How things have changed.

My best American exchange was the following... I was walking the street window shopping, (mid summer 28C/82F) and a car stopped next to me with a trailer loaded up with 2 snowmobiles and ski gear on the roof. The asked me how much longer till they got where the snow was. I responded that if they drive due north for about 2 days they MAY reach enough snow to use their toys. They looked dumb stuck and stated they were on a day trip and thought all of Canada was a winter wonderland. I mean come on guys you are burning up in the sun, and you expect snow?

I was dating a guy who was trying out a SUV when it ran out of gas. He used the STAR system to ask for a tow truck driver to bring us some gas. He gave the small village Ontario address. We waited and waited. He phoned back again and the same gal answered and replied that the gas had been delivered. My date said not to me, he repeated the address and as an after thought said Canada. The operator said, Sir I'm sorry we don't deliver to Europe and hung up.

Anyone still not certain WHY Thanksgiving is on different dates in the US vs Canada? It's actually quite simple. The theme of gratitude aside, it's a harvest festival (and pretty much every country that experiences seasons has one of those). We're at a higher latitude on the planet. Our summer is shorter, our winter longer, and the main harvest season comes earlier. That's it.

In Grade 5, we studied US geography with every student also researching a different state US. Years ago, I lived near the US border in central BC. Biking along a major highway connecting US and Canada one hot summer day(90F), a US tourist pulled up and asked where the igloos were…..I responded, drive a 2 miles further north and turn left!!

I would hate to think if I grew up in the USA that I would be this uneducated as to other countries. At least in Canada we are taught geography.