As many of you may or may not know, I'm Canadian. I've spent over half of my adult life living in the US (brought here by my husband's profession), but have also lived a number of years in Canada and Germany. There are wonderful things that I have loved about living in all three of these countries, and other areas where I feel there is definitely room for improvement. I'm proud to be a Canadian, but have never felt the urge to proclaim my citizenship from the rooftop to make sure that I'm not mistaken for an American.
I remember when we moved here when my son was a toddler. We were completing the final paperwork for our visas at US Immigration at the airport in Toronto. It was taking a while - as all government paperwork does. At one point one of the border agents turned to me (I think my son was a bit restless) and apologized that everything wasn't all done yet, but that I should remember that I was applying to live in the greatest country in the world.
I said nothing in retort - I don't even think my jaw dropped in actuality the way it dropped it in my head - but I was caught completely off guard by this remark. Neither my husband nor I had been showing any impatience by the length of time the procedure was taking - heck, we had lived in Germany before that, we learned all about paperwork while there. Yes, my son might have been fussing, but he was a toddler who had been confined for longer than he wanted...enough said.
I could understand this agent making a comment about the time-consuming paperwork, whether jokingly or seriously. I could picture an agent from any other country making a similar comment. But to need to be reminded - for what I felt was no reason - that all this paperwork was necessary because we were moving to the greatest country in the world? All governments require time-consuming paperwork when you are preparing to move there for any length of time, the US is not unique there.
I'm not criticizing this border agent, although I did find her "reminder" unnecessary and, for me personally, a little offensive. I think it's also likely that a strong sense of patriotism is encouraged in US border representatives, not surprisingly. But I also would be surprised if a border official from any other country in the world would make a similar comment.
Kathy
