Vancouver pastor Samuel Lee identified as man hassled by rude Seattle residents
It used to be that Canadians were more of a curiosity to Americans than anything else, but as the US loses ground and Canada manages to keep afloat, we may see more of this if only on a more subtle level. Those in US tourism know what’s at stake here, but as the average person there flounders it will be harder for those people to see the forest for the trees.
Blame Canada : Who is next in the United States grab for power?
May Day protestors represent a level of American society which will eventually be easily swayed into invading Canada or other nations as a means to restore benefits to the American people. I’d keep an eye on further incidents of this nature.
I found this incident to be horrifying and fascinating in equal measure. The fact that the May Day protest turned into a riot illustrates the outright rage simmering just below the surface down south. U.S. media outlets report small gains in the number of monthly jobs and lower foreclosure rates, but this kind of spin doesn’t cover up the fact that people are angry. Each time I visit family in the U.S. I see boarded up businesses and empty houses. I thank my lucky stars I am a Canadian citizen now!
If this is what they do to a Canadian pastor who is a tourist, I would hate to think what they might do to a resident American who is rich.
Obama’s constant rhetoric against the rich is probably endangering their lives. Can you blame the rich for buying land outside the country to escape to if things get completely out of hand down there?
@Petros, there is an upside to the US taking over Canada-no more FBARS!
@bubblebustin Silver lining! But No! The Ontario drinking age is 19, we would have no place to go and drink if Canada and the US merge.
@Steve, there’s always hope that they may allow us to keep a few of our customs and laws. In fact, their “slobbering love affair” with British royalty (as one journalist called it) may just result in a sort of hybrid.
Canadians, I think I need a bit of cultural translation – what is a “hoser”?
I don’t understand why these people would be so antagonistic towards someone from Canada? I’ve been to both Vancouver and Seattle and the people seemed overall pretty laid back in both places. I imagine it was just your usual football hooligan mucking about, but still. Very uncalled for.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hoser&defid=1761492
@Chester12
Interesting website! I particulary liked the descriptions of the FBAR entries. Somebody should come up with an excuse to add FATCA to the site 🙂
@Don. The McKenzie brothers stereotyped Canadians to the US. Yes, hosed by FATCA.
Bit harder to get more stereotyped! 😛
http://assets0.ordienetworks.com/images/user_photos/1159405/original_width_640x.jpg
What Canadians see Americans LOL
Commenters on this go-back-hoser incident need to make some distinctions. Sam’s car was not specifically targeted in the trashing. He parked in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the woman who had her car torched in the Vancouver hockey riot. The window-smashers probably did not even look at the license plate.
The personal abuse that Sam suffered (“foreign” country and visible minority) came from sidewalk passersby who almost certainly had no involvement in what went before. Bad Samaritans, if you will.
Unlike Petros, I fear this ordinary person in the street, the silent majority, the average entitled American, far more than I do the protestors who made the May Day news. I have no reason to believe that those demonstrators are the ones who would lead a charge into Canada.
@usxcanada, maybe you’re right, but they might make good cannon fodder in executing the will of those entitled Americans you refer to.
I think it’s important to note that there are people in Seattle who say they want to contact Mr. Lee and apologize to him for what happened.
I also wonder how much of it might also have been a tinge of racism (Mr. Lee is visibly of Oriental descent, from the photo). There are still closet racists wandering around everywhere, including alas in Canada, but one hopes they’re an endangered species. That doesn’t mean one can’t bump into one or two on a sidewalk during a riot …
Let’s not blow this out of reasonable proportions, people …
@Laura – you see angry people… that’s just part of the war-making US “personality”. It was like that when I left there 6 years ago. Since the crashes in 2008 and 2010, I can only imagine that it’s gotten worse. Another “americanism” is to use a jack hammer to pound in a nail.
Strange Brew – my goodness… that brings back some childhood memories! 🙂 I think it was that movie, that ever since I watched that, I thought I could dig a hole to China.
Interesting reading the Twitter hashtag #findSam
I think a lot of Seattlites were very embarrassed by this, so I wouldn’t draw any conclusions from some idiot targeting this car, and this gentleman.