I'm Canadian, eh!

Most who know me are clear that my roots are firmly planted in my "home and native land". Yes - I AM CANADIAN. That sounds rather like an ad for a Molson's beer commercial. Now any of you who take interest in Canadian culture have much to learn. We are not a quick study and have habits befitting our unique & colorful culture. For whatever reason, we seem to breed fabulous comedians. We like our beer, are well know as peacekeepers, have a great affinity for Eskimos and Indians (yeah, I know - not politically correct in the States), worship SCTV and live for Hockey Night in Canada. We also use coins like Loonies and Twonies instead of your typical paper bills. And the word EH is akin to your American UH-HUH. Something else that's cool is that after years of having a crappy economy, Canadians have George Bush to thank for raising the bar on their dollar. The US economy is so bad that the Canadian dollar is worth more consistently than it ever has been! That makes it just the right time to take that much needed northern excursion. We have provinces, not states. We kind of like the Queen (Princess Diana was much more popular) and are forced to learn a second language (that would be French if you live anywhere other than Quebec). Now if you live in Quebec, you are subject to the language police (yes - this is true!) if you don't show everything in both languages OR francais! It makes for a great case study in keeping the United States uniligual.

So I only mention some of our finest cultural aspects because on CBS Sunday Morning, they featured Tim Horton's Donuts and their interest in capturing the American market. There isn't a Canuck that doesn't know about Timmy's. With morning 'til noon drive-thru lines that circle the block for fresh donuts and coffee, it is an icon that started with Tim Horton - quite a famous Canadian Hockey Player. Unfortunately, Tim met an early fate in a motor vehicle accident but his legend lives on. Now Tim Horton's is set to to take on Dunkin' Donuts; strategizing it's takeover as we speak. So you Dunkin' fans... look out. Today Buffalo... tomorrow the world!

As quoted from CBS Sunday Morning... "Tim Hortons CEO Don Schroeder describes the donut shop as a "modern day pub" with a loyal following. "We have people, wedding parties that wanna visit Tim Hortons the day of the wedding because that's where they met. We even had a funeral go through the drive-thru once. That, that was the last request. But, it's amazing the stories." But don't let all this folksiness fool you. This is business, big business. Revenues in 2008 exceeded $2 billion. That's lot of Boston Cremes, and it makes Tim Hortons the fast food king in Canada. "Yeah, there are more Tim Hortons than McDonalds," said Schroeder. "Our total sales are greater than McDonalds. And McDonalds does a great job, but they look at Tim Hortons in Canada as a unique competitor."

So now you get it... Tim Horton's is big in Canada. In the US, well it hardly amounts to a "hill of coffee beans!" There is nothing better than Tim's & I think you will be one step closer to actually being Canadian when you experience that love at first bite!