A cliché I know but Canadians are “nice”, best exemplified in the Michael Moore
documentary Bowling for Columbine.   There are lots of tourists here on Granville Island where I am staying and they too leave with the aforementioned  impression  about
Candians.  Canadians are nice.

There is a knock on effect. Tourists  act politely which is just not normal. I live in London and tourists tend not to be “nice”.   But now maybe the only people shopping in
Granville are  tourists  from less polite places like Paris London and New York. Maybe there are no Canadians on the island at all, except those working in the shops and art galleries.

Maybe  the tourists are acting politely and graciously to each to her thinking that the people they are being polite to are Candian. haha. And they  go back with all kinds of stories of how they were chatting openly in Granville Ilsand Market where the people are “oh so friendly and open”. There’s something in this.

I was master of ceremony at  a portrait of the nation conference a few months back. When asked “what impression do you  want to leave the world after the 2012 Olympics”, an astute black firl put her hand up.  “I want people to see us smile and to leave england thinking what good people we are” she said.  One of the greatest exports of a country, is its people and their attitude.

Cynisism, like bitterness, rots the vessel that carries it. So what gives. Wouldn’t it be great if The Olympics helped people have a root and branch overhaul of our self view. Wouldn’t it be great if we took the opportunity to reconcile ourselves with the past in praise of the future. This would instill a confidence in the present. And maybe in the present a simple phrase could  encapsulate a nations intentions and filter out to the world.  A simple phrase that intends an action of service. Have a Nice Day Now.