At 20:03 -0500 2000/03/08, Bram Dov Abramson wrote:
>now Judyth, not to accuse you of nitpicking, but it sounds like
>you're saying that the error committed ranks on an egregiousness par
>with a politician not knowing the head of state of a neighbouring
>country ...
Well, Bram, I'm a nitpicker by profession so that accusation would
stick if you cared to make it. Your experience of substandard
poutine aside (and heaven knows there are plenty of places that
make lousy food, many of them frequented by reporters, we all
know that the United States doesn't give a damn who holds what job
up here in Canada since they figure they should run the place
anyway ... to which most of our politicians are gutless enough to
concur.
>But I'm pretty convinced that the newswriter's purported gaff is
>somewhere between nil and pretty infinitesimal. The inability of
>the guy who is thought will occupy the White House 5 km south of
>where I'm sitting right now to name his counterpart north of the
>border -- Canada is, after all, the U.S.'s largest trading partner,
>telephone traffic partner, etc. -- on the other hand, seems
>definitely weird.
Not to labour the point, that's why "Talking to Americans"
provides such easy laughs for the "22 Minutes" crew -- it's
guaranteed that an afternoon on any American street or campus
with a camera will yield more than enough to fill the segment.
Whether they're leaders of government, university professors or
"just plain folks", Americans generally think of us as a minor
branch-plant located where the weather isn't too good and the
people are dumb enough to use Monopoly money instead of real
dollars. I've never met ONE yet who really understood why Canadians
prefer to have their own country and do things a little
differently, rather than plead to be admitted as one more
state. Not even the historians or current-events junkies!
Regards,
Judyth
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Judyth Mermelstein "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, Quebec <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Canada <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
http://www.openface.ca/~ppm/jmindex.html
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