Ha ha ha. Sting those Canucks.

So, my wife and I were playing “spot the Canadian” downtown this weekend. The NHL All-Star game was held in Raleigh this year, and we went downtown Saturday night to check out the festivities.

I’m a hockey fan (though not enough of one to pay $400 a ticket to see the All-Star Game), so it was a lot of fun. But something that struck me while I was down there — and was only reinforced by reading Doug Coupland’s City of Glass last night — is just how polite Canadians are. It’s fairly easy to spot them in a crowded downtown street fair, because they’re the ones who stand aside, smile, and let you through while the guys in the Jersey Devils shirts are the ones who try to knock you down.

So, I’m coming out as a huge fan of Canada. I’ll even go so far as to say we should probably be a little more like them — I mean, how many wars have they gotten themselves into recently? The answer, of course, is zero. They’re too polite, too live-and-let-live.

My advice to you, friends, is to be more Canadian today.

Well, except for the poutine. We already have enough of an obesity problem in America, thanks.