Cultural Differences Explained
This is to help my Asian American and Chicano friends better understand the cultural differences among Anglo cultural groups. We aren’t all alike! There are basically four types: Aussies (Australians), Brits (Great Britain), Canadians (And don’t you DARE call them anything else!) and your typical, everyday Milpitan (American mutt.)
Aussies: Believe you should look out for your mates.
Brits: Believe that you should look out for those people who belong to your club.
Milpitans: Believe that people should look out for and take care of themselves.
Canadians: Believe that that’s the government’s job.
Aussies: Dislike being mistaken for Pommies (Brits) when abroad.
Canadians: Are rather indignant about being mistaken for Milpitans when abroad.
Milpitans: Encourage being mistaken for Canadians when abroad.
Brits: Can’t possibly be mistaken for anyone else when abroad.
Aussies: Are extremely patriotic to their beer.
Milpitans: Are flag-waving, anthem-singing, and obsessively patriotic to the point of blindness.
Canadians: Can’t agree on the words to their anthem, when they can be bothered to sing them.
Brits: Do not sing at all but prefer a large brass band to perform the anthem.
Milpitans: Spend most of their lives glued to the idiot box.
Canadians: Don’t, but only because they can’t get more American channels.
Brits: Pay a tax just so they can watch 4 channels.
Aussies: Export all their crappy programs, which no one there watches, to Britain, where everybody loves them.
Milpitans: Love to watch sports on the idiot box.
Brits: Love to watch sports in stadiums so they can fight with other fans.
Canadians: Prefer to actually engage in sports rather than watch them.
Milpitans: Will jabber on incessantly about football, baseball and basketball.
Brits: Will jabber on incessantly about cricket, soccer and rugby.
Canadians: Will jabber on incessantly about hockey, hockey, hockey, and how they beat the Americans twice, playing baseball.
Aussies: Will jabber on incessantly about how they beat the Poms in every sport they played them in.
Milpitans: Spell words differently, but still call it “English.”
Brits: Pronounce their words differently, but still call it “English.”
Canadians: Spell like the Brits, pronounce like Americans.
Aussies: Add “G’day”, “mate,” and a heavy accent to everything they say in an attempt to get laid.
Brits: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island.
Aussies: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island.
Milpitans: Cross the southern border for cheap shopping, gas and liquor in a backwards country.
Canadians: Cross the southern border for cheap shopping, gas and liquor in a backwards country.
Milpitans: Drink weak, pissy-tasting beer.
Canadians: Drink strong, pissy-tasting beer.
Brits: Drink warm, beery-tasting piss.
Aussies: Drink anything with alcohol in it.
Milpitans: Seem to think that poverty and failure are morally suspect.
Canadians: Seem to believe that wealth and success are morally suspect.
Brits: Seem to believe that wealth, poverty, success and failure are inherited things.
Aussies: Seem to think that none of this matters after several beers.
Canadians: Encourage immigrants to keep their old ways and avoid assimilation.
Milpitans: Encourage immigrants to assimilate quickly and dump their old ways.
Brits: Encourages immigrants to go to Canada or America.
Canadians: Endure bitterly cold winters and are proud of it.
Brits: Endure oppressively wet and dreary winters and are proud of it.
Milpitans: Don’t have to do either, and couldn’t care less.
Aussies: Don’t understand what inclement weather means.
Aussies: Have produced comedians like Paul Hogan and Yahoo Serious.
Canadians: Have produced many great commedians, like John Candy, Martin Short, Jim Carrey, Dan Akroyd, and all the rest at SCTV.
Milpitans: Think that these people are American!
Brits: Have produced many great comedians, but Milpitans ignore them because they don’t understand subtle humor.
Brits: Are justifiably proud of the accomplishments of their past citizens.
Milpitans: Are justifiably proud of the accomplishments of their present citizens.
Canadians: Prattle on about how some of those great Americans were once Canadian.
A Milpitas Mom’s Favorite Joke.