Well, I'm just dandy. Thanks for asking.

I met some very pleasant Canucks tonight. They overheard me talking and detected my Texas accent. "I ain't got no stinkin' accent," I said, "I'm a Texan, gawl darnit." After I politely corrected them as to who has the "accent", we became immediately cordial. This kind family thanked me for the warm hospitality my home state offered their daughter while she attended veterinarian school. I tried to explain to them that I had no idea who their daughter was nor had I ever attended said animal doctor university. As a matter of fact, that was my rival school some 20 years ago. They laughed off this bit of info as irrelevant. I shrugged and said, "Okay, your welcome. Anytime." True story.

The family was from Vancouver, Canada. I never asked them; I didn't need to. This fact was written on every exposed item of clothing they wore. I figured they were either from Vancouver or a truck loaded with tacky silk-screened Vancouver merchandise bound for a Wal-Mart in British Columbia had just been hi-jacked and the culprits fled to Las Vegas to avoid apprehension. I considered this possibility for a wink and let it go. Plus these Canadians were way too affable to be hardened criminals. And did I tell you they were nice, 'Mr. Rogers Neighborhood' nice.

Anyway, the point of this silly look into my bizarre life is to bring light to a simple cultural nuance this Canuck family presented. I, a perfect stranger standing in the middle of a casino in Las Vegas, was considered kind and hospitable because of where I was raised.

I know you've seen that Budweiser commercial when that Texan winds up in a New York bar and the bartender asks, "Wassup?" The Texan answers with this long, slow, overly-friendly ramble about his flight to New York and cab ride over to the bar. The New Yorker's question was rhetorical and wasn't looking to be answered, but the Texan, taught to answer every question completely exhibiting demonstrative respect to the questioner, is made to look foolish and dimwitted. The commercial is comical, stereotypical and not far from the truth.

These British Columbians found Texas culture endearing and chose to embraced it instead of spurning it as unusual or different or worse, wrong. That is the lesson. When introduced to a foreign culture, embrace it. Don't try and isolate yourself from new experiences. Your travels will be rewarded.

Blaze a trail,
Al, the Travel Valet

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