Sally and I were waiting to be seated for dinner. It was our annual trip to Punta Cana and we were in a short line. The couple in front of us were from a town about an hour north of Toronto. They were talking with another Canadian. I overheard them say that they had planned to take their teenagers to Washington DC this summer. The other guy shot them a look. The wife then quickly explained that no, they weren’t going to go now. It isn’t safe now. The other guy was relieved. They then exchanged stories about the difficulties Canadians had faced at our border. They were particularly shocked that visitors had had their social media reviewed.
We weren’t in an hour-long traffic jam. We were just standing in line. This was just a couple of minutes of the kind of conversations that are happening right now, not just on a resort in the Caribbean, but throughout the developed world.
We didn’t have a single conversation, in two weeks, with anyone from the US. We talked with countless Canadians, several couples from England, and even a guy who was born in South Africa, but nobody from the states. Our conversations all started the same way, cautiously. Canadians from Ontario and Nova Scotia were the most political. At some point we could tell that they wanted to be careful about what they said. I would assure them that they were among friends and that I was part of the leadership of our local Democratic club. They would smile and we would then have a great conversation. When we’d meet someone from Nova Scotia or New Brunswick I would mention that Punta Cana attracts a lot of visitors from the Maritime Provinces. (Using the term Maritime Provinces is like vacationing in the South of France and someone tells you about the great sandwich they had 20 years ago at Corky and Lenny’s.) It was not surprising to hear how many of the people we met had visited the US in the past. Some had vacationed frequently both in the sunny south as well as in our major cities such as New York and Chicago. What was surprising was how adamant they were in their decision to never visit the US again.
Our friends up north feel betrayed. They are offended and a little hurt that we would discard our long-standing relationship. And they have zero interest in becoming part of the US. We were once Fab. We certainly aren’t now.
********** ********** **********
My newspaper column used to end with my wish to one day be rich enough to be considered eccentric. Now I know that I should have aimed higher. I should have dreamt to one day to be rich enough to be above the law.
Dave
Picture – A Brief Respite – David L Cunix