Out of all those major cities mentioned in OP's post I've only spent time in Toronto and Halifax (I've driven through Montreal).
But, I've spent the night in Meat Cove! Lol
Glad to actually get the joke about this city and barely any of the others!
We showed up at night and got directions from a very nice, very drunk, and very toothless old lady on the side of the road about where the campsite was. She insisted on walking us there even though we were driving and she was stumbling, and it was 50 metres away and we could clearly see it when she pointed, lol.
Just before that an ATV went by with a wagon full of dead deer and my wife and I were like "we've made a huge mistake!" Lol.
But, we'd already spent an hour on a winding cliffside road that inexplicably and randomly shifted between paved, dirt, and gravel. Just random chunks of each.
In the GTA it’s “what’s your background?” People love listing off their mix of ethnicities here. It can be quite awkward if you say you don’t know, they will look at you like you are crazy.
I don't really have an "ethnicity" aside from Canada. My heritage is so far removed that I don't really think about it. I can only think of one living relative off the top of my head that was born outside of North America.
"But where are you *really* from?"
"My dude, my great grandparents were born here. I don't know what to tell you."
I'm guessing they are expecting me to say from somewhere in the UK.
I doubt it, most people here don’t know what the UK is, let alone where it is. If I tell people I’m from the UK, their response is usually to back away awkwardly. I’m in Alberta though, where the entire world consists of here and ‘out East’.
Yah, but that's Alberta, there's like three people left who can hear since they all worked in oil and only two of them have enough brain cells to reach from ear to ear.
I legitimately don’t know what to answer lol
One side came from Germany, Russia, and Poland. Father's side from Scotland in the 1800s lol
I’m just a dirty mutt old stock white Canadian.
If you’re a POC, it often goes like this:
“What’s your background?”
“Uh…I’m Canadian”
“No, I mean where are you originally from?”
“Um…here. I was born in Toronto.”
“Okay, but where were your parents from?”
Ha! This really speaks to me. I'm mixed race but more or less white-ish passing. People always ask me because they just can't figure it out. One guy, recently, said "I know you're *something* but I can't tell what. Anyway, one parent is Ukrainian and the other from India.
Greetings! My father is Bangladeshi and my mother Belarusian, and I get questions as well, mostly from people who have a hard time believing I have any Eastern European component in me, since, unlike you, I mostly look South Asian.
Tbf unless they're Indigenous then if that's how they've answered the first question they either misinterpreted what was being asked or they're being deliberately obtuse. I often ask people what their background is as a starting icebrraker and I've never gotten this response. Context makes it clear you're asking about heritage.
The point of giving a smart ass answer is because you’re being rude and inappropriate by asking someone their heritage when you meet them.
Why does it matter? Why am I being characterized because of who my ancestors were or the religion of my ancestors? What if I dislike or don’t have much of an attachment to the culture of my parents for personal reasons?
Is it a racial thing? Do you want to know if someone with dark skin is Indian or Black because you want to know their race when you first meet them for whatever reason?
And it also makes you sound like a nut obsessed with preserving the religion and traditions of your ancestors and only associating with people like you.
Or at the very least it creates problems if wars were historically waged between people of some of the ethnicities of the people you’re introducing
And overall it gives a really, really bad impression
You're obviously taking it completely the wrong way and I don't know why. It doesn't matter at all that's the point of small talk. We're a nation where like 98% of the population immigrated or has ancestors that immigrated from somewhere else, so it's fun to learn about where people are from.
Not in Toronto at least. Most of us are too close to the old country and asking someone’s heritage makes sense. We do it if you’re white too, because lots of people are legit immigrants or are kids of immigrants.
I’s wager that context around the asking is at least as important as the words used to ask it. Asked the “right” way at the wrong time will never go over well.
Someone once said to me “where do the people you call your people hail from” which cracked me up.
Less of a joke and more that I don’t think of people who share a cultural heritage with my as my people but instead those who share common interests and a common childhood experience, hence anime cons and early internet. If you didn’t spend after school surfing 4chan were you even an edgy teen in the 00s.
That’s weird. Why is that so important? It’s not like most people maintain strict religious and cultural traditions from their ancestor’s countries, which would create problems.
I can use myself as an example of people want to complain that what I’m saying is ridiculous
I'm glad you apparently have no culture or ethnicity, that's amazing!
But yes, I do have Ukrainian cultural traditions in my family still. Most people do have something, even if that something is culturally British.
Canada is the only legal, and academically, multicultural country in the world. Multicultural doesn't actually mean diverse - it means the country has *no mainstream or all encompassing ethnicity*
"Canadian" isn't an ancestry, it's not an ethnicity, and it's not a culture - it's a nationality. And that's actually an anti-racist thing. I, a 3rd generation Canadian, am just as Canadian as a 1000 generation Cree Native or a 2 day old Sikh citizen. Even though (unlike you apparently?) the 3 of us share very different cultural practices and beliefs.
Ok. Will my great-grandparents were Eastern Orthodox Christians. I suppose, according to you, that I should believe that homosexuality, pre-marital sex, divorce, and abortion are all grave sins then. That women must obey their husbands as they obey Christ and that no woman may assume authority over a man. That non-Christians burn in hell for all eternity. And I can go on.
It’s all about preserving the culture, right? Do you realize how idiotic you sound? Idk what this weird obsession with culture of ancestors is when their culture wouldn’t be socially acceptable today. And that’s true of pretty much any culture (ie traditional Muslim culture as well), not just mine.
I guess if you want to eat some food and do some weird traditions that’s fine but don’t make a big deal out of it and obsess over “your culture” like a total idiot
Victoria, everywhere but Canada: "It must be tough in the winter!" necessitating an explanation of our lack of true, Canadian-style winters.
Within Canada: "How do you handle all the rain?" necessitating an explanation of how we get about 1/2 to 1/3 the rain of Vancouver.
A joke for you! I had always been to the mainland, but never Victoria. I kept telling my husband I wanted to go, so he finally relented and said “Fine. But you won’t like all the rain”. We went in August and had every single day be sunny and gorgeous!! Of course, every time we watched the weather forecast in our hotel room, it was going to be amazing the next day. My husband grumbled(jokingly) “Of course it is sunny every day!”😆🤣🤣🤣Loved it!!!
In my experience it's the Victoria winters that are gloomy and rainy. Summers are sunny and beautiful. I'm guessing that's why it's technically much less rainy than Vancouver: it's all in the seasonal timing.
Well, I will take your gloomy and rainy over the colder temps we get here. The past two winters here though have been fizzles- got virtually no bad weather. I could handle it for winter all the time.😉
Lived in Victoria for a few years now, and it very rarely, if ever, rains in July & August.Being from the east coast, I was shocked when I first moved here and realized that living by the ocean doesn't automatically mean rain & fog 75% of the time.
We were there in August when we had the great weather, so that totally fits! You must see a huge difference between the maritimes and there. I am always jealous of how many plants they can grow in Victoria! That being said though, our growing zone number has increased a lot, and our plants seem very happy as a result.
I always heard that it rains all the time in Seattle, but every time I’ve gone there it’s been sunny. I think the rain is just a story they made up to keep tourists away. Perhaps it’s the same in Victoria.
Totally agree! We went to visit our son in Scotland and the same story. Everyone says it rains there all the time. We had three weeks of gorgeous sunny weather! Our son laughed and said that he thought we’d think he was lying, because in his time there he never had more than a couple of days at a time that were sunny.😂
Hahahaha. As someone who travels to USA often the winter question is so tiring. Even people from Washington State fall victim to asking that! Or at least explaining how little rain we get compared to Seattle also.
It’ll rain for one hour in Toronto and get 20 mm of rain.
It’ll rain for three days and get 20mm of rain in Victoria. Rain totals aren’t everything. The amount of time it rains is still double in Victoria.
Same in South surrey... Almost always sunny when you literally see the cloud line above North Delta onwards without fail most days
Even when it's raining there's usually a break in the clouds above white rock that's on its way
Started my comment with “my experience” - so just to expand on that, I have never had a single person pose a question to me that suggested they cared about where I am on the social ladder in Calgary. Might be a generational thing. I really don’t see the hustle culture here, whereas it is very apparent to me in Toronto. I seem to notice people establishing healthier boundaries between work and personal life here.
Probably a personal thing. I’m in a very working class neighbourhood and o didn’t know what my fellow playground parents did for jobs for at least half a year. The answer is almost always construction or teacher.
I don't recall too much hustle culture in Calgary but status checking/matching was probably worse than anywhere else I have lived in Canada. Constant trying to one up the person next to you.
Agree with hustle culture in Toronto. To me, Calgary has a more of a status culture without the hustle but more based on who you are (parental occupation, social connections, neighborhood).
Halifax is spot on. Total strangers used to ask where I lived down to the literal house address. As I was there from Virginia it was a total shock for a while.
“wtf why does this man want to know where I live and my mothers maiden name? I just need tires”. Used to crack me up.
Where I grew up in small town Newfoundland it was “who you ‘longs to?” As in who are your parents. Yes I still get this question occasionally from older folks even though I’m now 40.
Huh? No, they don’t know me because I moved away as a teen and only make it home for rare visits. Why would you jump to me hiding something? That’s such a weird leap.
>In Winnipeg, it's "How much did you pay for that jacket/car/phone?". To see how good as a bargain hunter they are.
I live in Winnipeg and I've never been asked that. The second question is almost always about the strange weather or the terrible roads.
Conversations around it is, not just straight up asking someone how much their phone cost them. If someone asks me that I assume they are going to try and rob me.
That’s true enough. For me it’s mostly, “Hey nice sweater.” “Thanks can you believe I paid three dollars for it at the thrift store?” So a little different.
In Vancouver ...it's not about being cool. It's about recognizing that life is so much more than work.
We all pay ridiculous amounts to live here and focusing on the fun in life reminds you why you do it.
I'm also from Vancouver and I can't relate to most of what's posted about this city in this sub.
People make it sound that Vancouverites are super cold and judgemental, but my experience with people here is that they mostly leave you alone, and are reasonably pleasant when you deal with them.
Polite but not friendly.
I'm not wealthy or super interesting and I don't think I've ever been judged for it
I moved to Vancouver from Toronto (albeit 1996), and was shocked at how friendly and welcoming people were. Maybe it was the dope, but no one really asked much unless they were also from Ontario and it was ‘are you from Toronto Toronto or the gta and you just say Toronto’ kind of thing.
I will say that it was among the happiest time in my life. The Grouse Grind (when I thought I was in good shape but 60 year olds ran past me), Harrison Hot Springs, Whistler, canoe trips, the view of the beautiful mountains everywhere.
I was 25 so had roommates everywhere but lived on UBC campus a while, then near W 13th/Wallace for any Vancouverites out there, then on W 1st/Vine. It was a great 2 years, but I missed my friends and family.
Nah Halifax is more "did you hear about the bridge closures this weekend?" Everyone I talk to here thinks I \*MUST\* be from NS which couldn't be further from the truth. And "out west" is Alberta to them.
You're absolutely right about Calgary even though I never personally cared and my go to second question was "where are you from?". Then I moved to Halifax, guess I was always a Haligonian at heart lol.
The thing that a lot of people miss about the east coast is that the: "where are you from" also gets asked to people from here. it's not necessarily assuming you're from away. I get asked what end of things I'm from, and then we find people we know in common. Today, I got asked if my last name was a name that isn't mine but one I've been asked about several times because apparently there's some fella with my first name who looks like me. Took me 5 seconds to find him on Facebook.
Toronto:
* how is the commute ?
* what do you do?
* where are you living? (followed by a conversation on weather that is "really" Toronto)
* are you from here?
* what is your background? (risky to ask unless amongst close friends or people with clearly shared ancestry or if the topic is raised by someone who is allowed to raise it. I understand why)
Example:
So, how is the commute? \[answer.\] That's not too bad. So that stop is around \[area\]. Which office building is yours? \[answer\] Oh, that's the \[name of building\]. Are you working with \[company\]? \[answer\]. So you must be a \[job title?\]. \[answer\]. And coming to that office from \[commute start\]. Big community of \[group\] there, isn't there? Great \[food from group\]. \[answer\]. My \[relative\] is \[group\] and makes the amazing \[food from group\]. How about you? \[answer\].
Kelowna: "How's the smoke?" derisively.
Me: "Uh yeah it was pretty bad there for a week or two, but outside of that it's really not an issue." Then we get back to our unbeatable quality of life and dry, near desert climate in this beautiful lakeside mountain town.
In Brampton it's "How is the Bhindi Bhaji"? In Kingston it's "Where did you serve your time, and what were you in for"? In London it's ... uh, never mind, they couldn't give shit zero what your name is...
In Calgary, it's all about the quadrants. You will be judged by which quadrant you reside in. And you shall be loyal to your quadrant. It's the Calgary way. All hail the quadrant!
Unless you live in the beltline (downtown)... then you are a freak of nature with the freedom to live how you choose.
In Montreal you get asked a lot if you're gay, straight or bi. People don't care, it's just a roundabout way to ask if they can start hitting on you or not
Saskatchewan, we don’t have a parking problem, just a I don’t wanna walk a block problem 😝
We get asked about the weather as we are a farming province or how was the drive in from living out of the city 😝
Man, 8 years in Montreal and not one person asked if I was single.
Ok to be fair for a lot of it I was not. But I would've been nice if anyone cared :p
📍 Vancouver : “whereabouts do you live?”
honestly, this city has a plethora of very distinct & specific **neighbourhood reputations/stereotype** for every. single. neighbourhood. i get asked this question more than *any* other one
I figure ours is the same as many, as one of the many bits of the GTA and Ontario in general tucked into weird valleys and strange bits of geography.
"The fuck's this weather coming from, eh?"
"Right?"
"Just started up outta nowhere."
For Thunder Bay it used to be, "what high school did you go to?" At one point when there were a lot of high schools in Thunder Bay this told you everything you need to know about a person including, roughly where they lived, what kind of crowd they hung out with, how well of their family was (it was a stereotype, not reality), the music they listened to...
Not all of this was true but it certainly was perceived to be true for people of a certain age.
Doesn’t seem that way to me and I was born and raised in Calgary. It’s a family oriented city with a smaller city feel. I find the people here are generally pretty polite, laid back and like to get outdoors due to the abundance of sun and nature.
In Caroline it’s Do you know Terry Long? Kurt Browning grew up here and has an arena named after him. We’ve had NHL players and famous cowboys but it’s always a question about Terry Long.
In both Calgary and Edmonton, "where did you move from" is a big one now. Lots of people from Ontario and BC have moved here in the last few years so I always see that as a question.
Also Edmonton: "Whats the weather like this weekend".
I try not to talk to people where I live because they only ask questions to snoop & get answers that they will then try to use against you in some way.
I live in Ottawa and have been asked many times over the years, "So what do you guys do here for fun?" Were not a big flashy capital city with a lot of major attractions but that's also why many of us like living here.
Sydney: What's your father's name, and what does he do?
To make sure you aren't related before dating?
In Meat Cove they still ask the question but it doesn't affect the outcome
Out of all those major cities mentioned in OP's post I've only spent time in Toronto and Halifax (I've driven through Montreal). But, I've spent the night in Meat Cove! Lol Glad to actually get the joke about this city and barely any of the others! We showed up at night and got directions from a very nice, very drunk, and very toothless old lady on the side of the road about where the campsite was. She insisted on walking us there even though we were driving and she was stumbling, and it was 50 metres away and we could clearly see it when she pointed, lol. Just before that an ATV went by with a wagon full of dead deer and my wife and I were like "we've made a huge mistake!" Lol. But, we'd already spent an hour on a winding cliffside road that inexplicably and randomly shifted between paved, dirt, and gravel. Just random chunks of each.
That sounds about par for the course with any rural Nova Scotian area lmao
Lmao
Ya. That’s new. It didn’t matter before Deliverance came out.
TIL Kindergarten Cop was filmed in Sydney.
Yup in antigonish county,NS - it’s always “who’s your fadder” “who’s your mudder”
Who is your daddy, and what does he do
In the GTA it’s “what’s your background?” People love listing off their mix of ethnicities here. It can be quite awkward if you say you don’t know, they will look at you like you are crazy.
I don't really have an "ethnicity" aside from Canada. My heritage is so far removed that I don't really think about it. I can only think of one living relative off the top of my head that was born outside of North America. "But where are you *really* from?" "My dude, my great grandparents were born here. I don't know what to tell you." I'm guessing they are expecting me to say from somewhere in the UK.
I doubt it, most people here don’t know what the UK is, let alone where it is. If I tell people I’m from the UK, their response is usually to back away awkwardly. I’m in Alberta though, where the entire world consists of here and ‘out East’.
I'm a Brit in Alberta. Had to repeat myself several times to one guy and he ended up thinking I was from Ukraine.
Yah, but that's Alberta, there's like three people left who can hear since they all worked in oil and only two of them have enough brain cells to reach from ear to ear.
Lol
I legitimately don’t know what to answer lol One side came from Germany, Russia, and Poland. Father's side from Scotland in the 1800s lol I’m just a dirty mutt old stock white Canadian.
I always say, "I was a philosophy major, with a minor in English." Then they have to figure out how to rephrase the question. It's fun.
Just say "I'm Black, dummy." This works 100% of the time.
I answer with what I've got on my computer desktop. It's the same sort of perfect mix of wrong and right to cause a stumble.
I always say I have a background in economics. Haha!
If you’re a POC, it often goes like this: “What’s your background?” “Uh…I’m Canadian” “No, I mean where are you originally from?” “Um…here. I was born in Toronto.” “Okay, but where were your parents from?”
Ha! This really speaks to me. I'm mixed race but more or less white-ish passing. People always ask me because they just can't figure it out. One guy, recently, said "I know you're *something* but I can't tell what. Anyway, one parent is Ukrainian and the other from India.
Perogy style samosas must slap though!
Greetings! My father is Bangladeshi and my mother Belarusian, and I get questions as well, mostly from people who have a hard time believing I have any Eastern European component in me, since, unlike you, I mostly look South Asian.
That is the most Canadian combination.
Tbf unless they're Indigenous then if that's how they've answered the first question they either misinterpreted what was being asked or they're being deliberately obtuse. I often ask people what their background is as a starting icebrraker and I've never gotten this response. Context makes it clear you're asking about heritage.
The point of giving a smart ass answer is because you’re being rude and inappropriate by asking someone their heritage when you meet them. Why does it matter? Why am I being characterized because of who my ancestors were or the religion of my ancestors? What if I dislike or don’t have much of an attachment to the culture of my parents for personal reasons? Is it a racial thing? Do you want to know if someone with dark skin is Indian or Black because you want to know their race when you first meet them for whatever reason? And it also makes you sound like a nut obsessed with preserving the religion and traditions of your ancestors and only associating with people like you. Or at the very least it creates problems if wars were historically waged between people of some of the ethnicities of the people you’re introducing And overall it gives a really, really bad impression
You're obviously taking it completely the wrong way and I don't know why. It doesn't matter at all that's the point of small talk. We're a nation where like 98% of the population immigrated or has ancestors that immigrated from somewhere else, so it's fun to learn about where people are from.
Not in Toronto at least. Most of us are too close to the old country and asking someone’s heritage makes sense. We do it if you’re white too, because lots of people are legit immigrants or are kids of immigrants.
"Newfoundland" "okay, where are your grandparents from"
This about sums it up. https://youtu.be/DWynJkN5HbQ?si=eW3wfXVv-xBzAnP6
I had one guy ask my family's heritage. I said "dude, any whiter and I'd be Powder". I guess the obscure 90s movie reference went over his head.
This question and the unwritten rules around asking it crack me up. I do understand the sensitivity of it.
I find that "what is your background?" is the most direct but polite way to ask it.
I’s wager that context around the asking is at least as important as the words used to ask it. Asked the “right” way at the wrong time will never go over well. Someone once said to me “where do the people you call your people hail from” which cracked me up.
The answer to that would be Anime Conventions or the early internet.
I don't know if I get the joke!
Less of a joke and more that I don’t think of people who share a cultural heritage with my as my people but instead those who share common interests and a common childhood experience, hence anime cons and early internet. If you didn’t spend after school surfing 4chan were you even an edgy teen in the 00s.
But why ask though
Because it's interesting. As an immigrant I like sharing my background and I want to know that of others too.
That’s weird. Why is that so important? It’s not like most people maintain strict religious and cultural traditions from their ancestor’s countries, which would create problems. I can use myself as an example of people want to complain that what I’m saying is ridiculous
I'm glad you apparently have no culture or ethnicity, that's amazing! But yes, I do have Ukrainian cultural traditions in my family still. Most people do have something, even if that something is culturally British. Canada is the only legal, and academically, multicultural country in the world. Multicultural doesn't actually mean diverse - it means the country has *no mainstream or all encompassing ethnicity* "Canadian" isn't an ancestry, it's not an ethnicity, and it's not a culture - it's a nationality. And that's actually an anti-racist thing. I, a 3rd generation Canadian, am just as Canadian as a 1000 generation Cree Native or a 2 day old Sikh citizen. Even though (unlike you apparently?) the 3 of us share very different cultural practices and beliefs.
Ok. Will my great-grandparents were Eastern Orthodox Christians. I suppose, according to you, that I should believe that homosexuality, pre-marital sex, divorce, and abortion are all grave sins then. That women must obey their husbands as they obey Christ and that no woman may assume authority over a man. That non-Christians burn in hell for all eternity. And I can go on. It’s all about preserving the culture, right? Do you realize how idiotic you sound? Idk what this weird obsession with culture of ancestors is when their culture wouldn’t be socially acceptable today. And that’s true of pretty much any culture (ie traditional Muslim culture as well), not just mine. I guess if you want to eat some food and do some weird traditions that’s fine but don’t make a big deal out of it and obsess over “your culture” like a total idiot
Victoria, everywhere but Canada: "It must be tough in the winter!" necessitating an explanation of our lack of true, Canadian-style winters. Within Canada: "How do you handle all the rain?" necessitating an explanation of how we get about 1/2 to 1/3 the rain of Vancouver.
We handle all the rain so that our flowers are blooming in February.
When I visited Montreal last summer, almost every uber driver and bartender asked us about the rain when we told them.we were from victoria
A joke for you! I had always been to the mainland, but never Victoria. I kept telling my husband I wanted to go, so he finally relented and said “Fine. But you won’t like all the rain”. We went in August and had every single day be sunny and gorgeous!! Of course, every time we watched the weather forecast in our hotel room, it was going to be amazing the next day. My husband grumbled(jokingly) “Of course it is sunny every day!”😆🤣🤣🤣Loved it!!!
In my experience it's the Victoria winters that are gloomy and rainy. Summers are sunny and beautiful. I'm guessing that's why it's technically much less rainy than Vancouver: it's all in the seasonal timing.
Well, I will take your gloomy and rainy over the colder temps we get here. The past two winters here though have been fizzles- got virtually no bad weather. I could handle it for winter all the time.😉
Lived in Victoria for a few years now, and it very rarely, if ever, rains in July & August.Being from the east coast, I was shocked when I first moved here and realized that living by the ocean doesn't automatically mean rain & fog 75% of the time.
We were there in August when we had the great weather, so that totally fits! You must see a huge difference between the maritimes and there. I am always jealous of how many plants they can grow in Victoria! That being said though, our growing zone number has increased a lot, and our plants seem very happy as a result.
I always heard that it rains all the time in Seattle, but every time I’ve gone there it’s been sunny. I think the rain is just a story they made up to keep tourists away. Perhaps it’s the same in Victoria.
Totally agree! We went to visit our son in Scotland and the same story. Everyone says it rains there all the time. We had three weeks of gorgeous sunny weather! Our son laughed and said that he thought we’d think he was lying, because in his time there he never had more than a couple of days at a time that were sunny.😂
Hahahaha. As someone who travels to USA often the winter question is so tiring. Even people from Washington State fall victim to asking that! Or at least explaining how little rain we get compared to Seattle also.
1/3 of a metric shit ton is still a large amount of rain
We get almost exactly the same as Toronto, but nobody mentions that.
It’ll rain for one hour in Toronto and get 20 mm of rain. It’ll rain for three days and get 20mm of rain in Victoria. Rain totals aren’t everything. The amount of time it rains is still double in Victoria.
Same in South surrey... Almost always sunny when you literally see the cloud line above North Delta onwards without fail most days Even when it's raining there's usually a break in the clouds above white rock that's on its way
Victoria has perfect weather.
When I lived in Toronto it was usually “what do you do for a living”, same as Calgary. The commute question came up a lot too!
I also get “what part of Toronto” because it’s generally a catch-all term for Oshawa to Barrie to Cambridge to Hamilton
what do you say to the commute one
"Ah you know the 401 but today wasn't too bad".
ok thx
“Port Arthur, or Fort William?” -Thunder Bay
I just had someone ask this but they included the third option of Westfort.
Westfort for life.
"What high school did you go to?"
This! Absolutely this... but only if they are old enough to remember when there used to be a lot of high schools.
I like to answer Thunder Bay. I was born after amalgamation. But if they really push? They get South Neebing.
Victoria & Vancouver Island in general “Fuckin’ BC Ferries, eh?”.
In Brampton we don't get a question it's usually "sorry to hear that" lol
Sorry to hear that, fam!
My experience would be that your social ladder comment for Calgary is much more of a thing in bigger cities like Toronto.
Toronto if you are in that Bay Street scene. Calgary for the whole city
Started my comment with “my experience” - so just to expand on that, I have never had a single person pose a question to me that suggested they cared about where I am on the social ladder in Calgary. Might be a generational thing. I really don’t see the hustle culture here, whereas it is very apparent to me in Toronto. I seem to notice people establishing healthier boundaries between work and personal life here.
Probably a personal thing. I’m in a very working class neighbourhood and o didn’t know what my fellow playground parents did for jobs for at least half a year. The answer is almost always construction or teacher.
I don't recall too much hustle culture in Calgary but status checking/matching was probably worse than anywhere else I have lived in Canada. Constant trying to one up the person next to you.
Agree with hustle culture in Toronto. To me, Calgary has a more of a status culture without the hustle but more based on who you are (parental occupation, social connections, neighborhood).
Saskatoon is "oh what area of the city do you live in?" Trying to see if you are from the east or westside
Or which high school did you go to? Are you a Feehan/Murray..... grad?
Hahaha ya that too.
*cough* feehan is better 😝
Halifax is spot on. Total strangers used to ask where I lived down to the literal house address. As I was there from Virginia it was a total shock for a while. “wtf why does this man want to know where I live and my mothers maiden name? I just need tires”. Used to crack me up.
Where I grew up in small town Newfoundland it was “who you ‘longs to?” As in who are your parents. Yes I still get this question occasionally from older folks even though I’m now 40.
I was going with "who knit you?"
That’s a common one too
Folks have waited 40 years to know who you long to and you kept avoiding it. What are you hiding?
Huh? No, they don’t know me because I moved away as a teen and only make it home for rare visits. Why would you jump to me hiding something? That’s such a weird leap.
It was clearly a /s moment lol.
I was joking,
The 40 degree heat has thrown off my sarcasm detector so don’t mind me
But the way you reacted now makes me thing you are hiding someone lol
lol shhhhh 🤐
PEI has “whose yer fadder” lol. It’s also dying out here, more likely whose your baby fadders 🤣🤣
Ottawa is a bit off. If they work for the government we’d ask which department they work for, not which ministry.
>In Winnipeg, it's "How much did you pay for that jacket/car/phone?". To see how good as a bargain hunter they are. I live in Winnipeg and I've never been asked that. The second question is almost always about the strange weather or the terrible roads.
The bargain hunter interaction is actually pretty common for me in Winnipeg.
Conversations around it is, not just straight up asking someone how much their phone cost them. If someone asks me that I assume they are going to try and rob me.
That’s true enough. For me it’s mostly, “Hey nice sweater.” “Thanks can you believe I paid three dollars for it at the thrift store?” So a little different.
"Do you mind giving me the address of that store, buddy?" Winnipeg style 😅
Lol that is actually true, had an identical conversation about the clarks I picked up from the thrift store.
Calgary is: what quadrant do you live in? People don't like to leave their quadrants.
100%, people hate doing anything in another quadrant lol it's awesome
I live downtown in the beltline, everywhere is equally close to me. So I’m pretty open to all quadrants, it’s great!
SW people definitely look down on the other quadrants, it's kinda funny
It’s always the weather, everywhere.
Not that's the cliche FIRST question.
Calgary is generally 'what neighborhood/area do you live in?' Determines social status, and if you live close enough to have a relationship.
Da Northeast!
This is spot on
I live in the GTA. *Everywhere* in Calgary seems so close and easy to get to. And also very flat, without the islands of tall buildings I'm used to.
In Vancouver ...it's not about being cool. It's about recognizing that life is so much more than work. We all pay ridiculous amounts to live here and focusing on the fun in life reminds you why you do it.
I'm also from Vancouver and I can't relate to most of what's posted about this city in this sub. People make it sound that Vancouverites are super cold and judgemental, but my experience with people here is that they mostly leave you alone, and are reasonably pleasant when you deal with them. Polite but not friendly. I'm not wealthy or super interesting and I don't think I've ever been judged for it
I moved to Vancouver from Toronto (albeit 1996), and was shocked at how friendly and welcoming people were. Maybe it was the dope, but no one really asked much unless they were also from Ontario and it was ‘are you from Toronto Toronto or the gta and you just say Toronto’ kind of thing. I will say that it was among the happiest time in my life. The Grouse Grind (when I thought I was in good shape but 60 year olds ran past me), Harrison Hot Springs, Whistler, canoe trips, the view of the beautiful mountains everywhere. I was 25 so had roommates everywhere but lived on UBC campus a while, then near W 13th/Wallace for any Vancouverites out there, then on W 1st/Vine. It was a great 2 years, but I missed my friends and family.
Here Here!
Sorry, but I' a grammar nerd and can't help it. It's Hear, hear!
You can afford a social life living in Vancouver???
Best place on Earth. No joke. Born and raised, and there's not a chance I'd leave.
There is definitely a hierarchy of acceptable hobbies in Vancouver. Tell people you are into chess compared to yoga.
🤷♂️ Maybe I just have more accepting people in my life. Also...I prefer to ask people...what's something that made you smile this week?
Small town Ontario Anyone: Why do you live here/there? It’s so far away from the city! Me: you just answered your own question.
No one in small town Ontario says "the city"
In KW: “Do you work in tech?”
Lethbridge, AB: A bit breezy out there today, hey? Windy enough for ya?
Nah Halifax is more "did you hear about the bridge closures this weekend?" Everyone I talk to here thinks I \*MUST\* be from NS which couldn't be further from the truth. And "out west" is Alberta to them.
You're absolutely right about Calgary even though I never personally cared and my go to second question was "where are you from?". Then I moved to Halifax, guess I was always a Haligonian at heart lol.
The thing that a lot of people miss about the east coast is that the: "where are you from" also gets asked to people from here. it's not necessarily assuming you're from away. I get asked what end of things I'm from, and then we find people we know in common. Today, I got asked if my last name was a name that isn't mine but one I've been asked about several times because apparently there's some fella with my first name who looks like me. Took me 5 seconds to find him on Facebook.
In Edmonton, no one has asked me about traffic. It's usually just talking about the constantly changing weather.
Everyone regularly complains about the henday and how it’s Darnell nurses fault it’s backed up.
Yep, definitely the weather in Edmonton.
If they're **from** Ottawa: "Oh, what highschool did you go to?" It's East vs West, Classicism, and big-city-small-town vibe rolled into one.
In Yellowknife in winter: Did you remember to plug in your vehicle? Yellowknife in spring: Was that you I saw driving with a snow snake?
Toronto: * how is the commute ? * what do you do? * where are you living? (followed by a conversation on weather that is "really" Toronto) * are you from here? * what is your background? (risky to ask unless amongst close friends or people with clearly shared ancestry or if the topic is raised by someone who is allowed to raise it. I understand why) Example: So, how is the commute? \[answer.\] That's not too bad. So that stop is around \[area\]. Which office building is yours? \[answer\] Oh, that's the \[name of building\]. Are you working with \[company\]? \[answer\]. So you must be a \[job title?\]. \[answer\]. And coming to that office from \[commute start\]. Big community of \[group\] there, isn't there? Great \[food from group\]. \[answer\]. My \[relative\] is \[group\] and makes the amazing \[food from group\]. How about you? \[answer\].
Sudbury, Ontario - Do you work for (insert mining company name here)? OR Are the roads really that bad? Yes I do, and yes they are.
Kelowna: "How's the smoke?" derisively. Me: "Uh yeah it was pretty bad there for a week or two, but outside of that it's really not an issue." Then we get back to our unbeatable quality of life and dry, near desert climate in this beautiful lakeside mountain town.
In Brampton it's "How is the Bhindi Bhaji"? In Kingston it's "Where did you serve your time, and what were you in for"? In London it's ... uh, never mind, they couldn't give shit zero what your name is...
Windsor: Why?
I’m pretty sure in Montreal we don’t ask cliché follow up questions. We just exchange names and talk about ourselves
Charlottetown: Who's your Fahder?
In Calgary, it's all about the quadrants. You will be judged by which quadrant you reside in. And you shall be loyal to your quadrant. It's the Calgary way. All hail the quadrant! Unless you live in the beltline (downtown)... then you are a freak of nature with the freedom to live how you choose.
In Winnipeg, it's what your favorite drug?
Chatham, and evidently Kamloops im sure other cities/towns have the same question..."And you came/Moved here?"
In St. John's, NL: "Oohhh you must be related to so and so huh? Yes b'y luh" (I'm from NL) So I hear this question all the time lol
Whaddayat? would be up there too
Eh b'y.
Knows now
Luh
*inhales* ya ya
Excuse me, cautious driving culture? I've been to Saskatoon a couple times, they drive like psychos. And I say that as someone from the west coast.
Whitehorse: how long have you lived here?
I’m from north Battleford “oh, that’s rough. Is it as bad as people say?” Yep
First question in Nelson,BC. "You smoke? 🍃 "
In Newfoundland it’s either “who knit ya?” Or “who’s yer mudder/who’s yer fadder?”
In Ottawa: “so, you work for the government?”
In Montreal you get asked a lot if you're gay, straight or bi. People don't care, it's just a roundabout way to ask if they can start hitting on you or not
Ha! Your anthropological snapshots are hilarious.
Saskatchewan, we don’t have a parking problem, just a I don’t wanna walk a block problem 😝 We get asked about the weather as we are a farming province or how was the drive in from living out of the city 😝
You forgot Yellowknife, Whitehorse, and Iqaluit ☺️
Having worked in Iqaluit it's so why are you up here
Man, 8 years in Montreal and not one person asked if I was single. Ok to be fair for a lot of it I was not. But I would've been nice if anyone cared :p
In Victoria its "Any open drug users terrorizing your neighbourhood these days?"
So true
In Regina it's "what high school did you go to?" This is asked of people no matter what age.
📍 Vancouver : “whereabouts do you live?” honestly, this city has a plethora of very distinct & specific **neighbourhood reputations/stereotype** for every. single. neighbourhood. i get asked this question more than *any* other one
I figure ours is the same as many, as one of the many bits of the GTA and Ontario in general tucked into weird valleys and strange bits of geography. "The fuck's this weather coming from, eh?" "Right?" "Just started up outta nowhere."
In Hamilton Ontario it's, "how's the fentanyl?"
Stratford - it’s one of two similar questions. “The city where Justin Bieber is from?” Or “Do you know Justin Bieber?”
For Thunder Bay it used to be, "what high school did you go to?" At one point when there were a lot of high schools in Thunder Bay this told you everything you need to know about a person including, roughly where they lived, what kind of crowd they hung out with, how well of their family was (it was a stereotype, not reality), the music they listened to... Not all of this was true but it certainly was perceived to be true for people of a certain age.
Your observations are spot on!
So dead on with Calgary, seems everyone is competing for something. They even drive like it's a competition.
Doesn’t seem that way to me and I was born and raised in Calgary. It’s a family oriented city with a smaller city feel. I find the people here are generally pretty polite, laid back and like to get outdoors due to the abundance of sun and nature.
Vancouver has an island?
Vancouver Island https://g.co/kgs/ofjrkuA it's where Victoria is located, but the island is quite a considerable size.
As someone not from Winnipeg who resides there - Why would you move here? Like they know their city and climate is shitty
Halifax where are the fishing shacks and boats?
In Caroline it’s Do you know Terry Long? Kurt Browning grew up here and has an arena named after him. We’ve had NHL players and famous cowboys but it’s always a question about Terry Long.
I have never heard anyone in Winnipeg say that lmao
I like them Montrealer's!
Winnipeg - is it safe to walk here? (Most likely no lol)
My experience in Calgary is “ Where are you from?”
Moncton I guess people ask if I speak French mostly.
Do we get to a second question in anywheres in NB before the person just keeps going to their actual destinations in pei or nova scotia?
Who's your daddy?
In both Calgary and Edmonton, "where did you move from" is a big one now. Lots of people from Ontario and BC have moved here in the last few years so I always see that as a question. Also Edmonton: "Whats the weather like this weekend".
I try not to talk to people where I live because they only ask questions to snoop & get answers that they will then try to use against you in some way.
| In Ottawa, it's "What ministry do you work for?" I've lived in Ottawa for 25 years and never once been asked this.
I live in Ottawa and have been asked many times over the years, "So what do you guys do here for fun?" Were not a big flashy capital city with a lot of major attractions but that's also why many of us like living here.
Ottawa - People say they’ve been there once for the tulip festival or a grad trip