1. If you grew up along the border, you made frequent visits to the States.
2. You might even have family or friends over there, so you sometimes felt like a dual-patriot.
3. You got a first-hand taste of American fast food that had not crossed the border yet.
4. And spent all of your money at American outlet stores.
5. You still have nightmares about the border lines.
6. But you had a lil' secret weapon..
7. Because the faster you get there, the faster you get the good sales.
8. You shopped at Target long before they opened (and then closed...) stores in Canada.
9. Although your mom always insisted you stop at Sam's Club first.
10. And hit up Duty Free on the way home.
11. For all of these cross-border shopping trips, you always knew the exchange rate.
12. And because if you worked retail, you were constantly asked if you accept American money.
13. Of course you do, but if one more person asked you again...
14. You had to deal with every tourist making fun of Canada's "Monopoly money."
15. You were also subjected to jokes about igloos and moose and every other Canadian stereotype in the book.
EVEN IF they were true.
16. You got to dial and choose between both American and the Canadian radio stations.
17. And when your favourite band or sports team didn't come to your town, there is always a chance they'll play across the border.
18. You hated that you couldn't drink over there until you were 21, and that the folks on the American border used Canada as an underage paradise.
19. You know that nothing compares to a Tim Horton's Iced Capp.
20. But hey, sometimes the good outweighs the bad.
All-in-all, it was always nice to know your neighbours were close by!
