Canada is not a state of the USA ... RE: [Ailist] Examining mental models

[LMLiz0810 at cs.com]

Please excuse me for continuing this tangent, but I culdn't resist.

You mean Canada's not just another northern state, (she typed with more than 
a hint of sarcasm in her fingers), I just go there all the time.  I've lived 
on the border my whole life - first in the metro Detroit area and now in the 
greater Buffalo area.  Things have changed some starting in late '99, I take a 
passport these days, but we really do just go to Canada -- for lunch or dinner, 
for a better view of the (Niagara) Falls, a winery tour, and as a short-cut 
to visit family and friends in Detroit.  

In the early 80s we went to buy gas in Windsor; until about 18 months ago we 
would go shopping in St. Catherines or Toronto - even though the prices were 
higher the exchange rate made up for it (and if you spent the night you could 
get your sales tax rebated) -- ah those were the good old days (again, sarcasm 
dripping from my fingers).

Now Canadians just come here to shop.  The weakened US dollar has really 
helped sales tax revenues in my county.  They also seem to be helping local 
charities.  It seems that these shoppers are leaving so many of their old clothes 
behind, wearing their new purchases to avoid the duty, the malls have put in 
bins so the old clothes can be donated to charities (instead of littering the 
parking lots).  The benefits of a weak US dollar!

That's just life on the border.

Again, I'm sorry for continuing this tangent.

-Liz McGough

In a message dated 1/9/2008 5:45:08 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au writes: 
> I like Bobbi's idea a lot.  I will likely give it a try.
> 
> On another matter, in the interest of preventing misinformation from 
> becoming established fact - and being a Canadian by birth - I feel obliged to remind 
> her about the Sovereign demarkation that distinguishes Canada from USA. That 
> is, Canada is not a state of the USA (as is implied by the text below).  
> That will be made clear if if you do try to "go to Canada" from the USA, as you 
> need to go through customs to get there and again to get back to the USA.
> 
> Of course I realise this confusion is simply a discursive slip and I am sure 
> that you realise my sense of humour is at work again.
> 
> We experienced the customs issue in 1980, when we left Toronto to attend an 
> industrial engineering university conference in North Carolina State 
> University.  We drove down in a pickup truck - 3 of us in the cab and 3 others in the 
> back asleep.  When we stopped in Washington for breakfast our Hong Kong born 
> team member (who owned the pickup truck) remembered that he left his 
> passport at home (at that time Canadians just needed to show their drivers licence). 
>  So, two weeks later, after attending the conference and diverting to Fort 
> Lauderdale for Spring Break, we put him in the back of the pickup under 
> sleeping bags and dirty laundry and the Customs guard had one look (smell) as he 
> opened the lid of the pickup and passed us through.  So, what does that make me 
> ...?
> 
> Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
> Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au
> Graduate School of Business
> What's up?: http://intergon.net/events.html
> The Sustainable Way: http://intergon.net/tsw
> >>>"Bobbi Bilnoski ~ Concinnity" <bilnoski at swbell.net> 10/01/08 3:09 AM >>>
> Hi everyone,
> 
> Close your eyes and take 1 minute to imagine a map of the US, laid out in
> this room. Visualize the west coast, the east coast, the Canada and Mexico
> borders, how about Hawaii? 
> 
> Now, stand up. Got your mental map in mind? Everyone go stand on California,
> now go to Washington DC, now go to Canada, how about Texas, Idaho, etc ?
> (Pick any state you like)
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