Why is it Canadians are always so polite? While obviously a stereotype, there is still some truth in the general assumption that Canadians are polite people. Canadians will often say sorry if someone bumps into them, as if it was their fault for ever existing and being in someone’s way. Everything from ATM machines to receipts in Canada say thank you, and all this just because you used them.
I was part of an alumni soccer tournament this weekend, featuring two boy’s teams from my college as well as a team of past graduates, hence ‘the alumni tournament.’ During one of the games, two players from opposite sides vying for the ball in the air happened to knock heads. The student was fine and seemed completely unhurt, but the alumni, we were told later, had broken his cheek bone in three places. Immediately he started to bleed out of his nose. He will actually be undergoing surgery tomorrow because of it. However, despite the fact that the man had just broken his cheek bone into pieces, he walked off the field past the spectators saying, “Sorry if I bleed on you.” It still makes me laugh to think of how polite and considerate he could be despite being in pain and bleeding so profusely.