April Fool's Jokes: the good and the bad

It's April Fools Day, and it's great to play tricks and practical jokes on people, but what is appropriate and what isn't?

The good: involve cute little gags such as tying someone's shoes together or placing saran wrap over the toilet. All the small gags create an "I got you" feeling and all is forgiven, but some things go too far. Things like putting fake bugs in a salad or switching names on some cans is all good clean fun.

Even companies play tricks on their employees on occasion, like my boss did once by convincing us that the store would close early.

The bad: serious gags are not appropriate when stress is involved. Some people can't handle stress very well, have a medical condidtion, or may even hurt you. These types of incitements should be avoided.

Examples of this would be: telling someone you have cancer or another serious disease, telling your boyfriend you're pregnant, spraying things on people's cars, throwing eggs at people, etc.

Company's who have gone a little too far but creating a panic include: a Cincinnati radio station called Q102, broadcast a modern version of Orson Well's War of the Worlds radio play when they reported that aliens had landed at the local Lunken Airport.

And then there was one......

So I guess I should introduce myself properly based on the terms of my blog title.

My name is Magda, short for Magdalena. This is not my legal name. It is however, my Polish name and more times out of not I prefer it to Meghan.

I do not hold a Canadan passport, driver's lisence, or birth certificiate. Some would call me an expatriate or expat, and that is entirely true. I am, in fact, one of those dreaded "American creatures!" I know, eh, the horror!! I hail from Newark, New Jersey originally, but moved when I was four to a small town in Northern Kentucky called Burlington. If you want to picture it on a map, look for Cincinnati, Ohio and go about fifteen miles south to Florence, Kentucky, then hang a left, go west on Route 18 for about 4.5 miles, and you'll hit Burlington (a town of roughly 12,000 souls).

I started this blog because I have a different experience of Canada than the average Canadian. I wasn't born here, so I'm not personally connected to Canada unless you count my relationship. I don't have relatives here, but I am starting to put down my own roots. The fact of the matter is, although I'm an outsider, I've felt more at home here than I have in my entire life, even while living in Kentucky. I just never felt I belonged. Basically, I never allowed myself to feel like I belong in Kentucky because the values that I have are not compatible with the majority of people from the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area. I'm a hardcore liberal, non-compliant, agnostic, diversity-loving, half-Pollock, cold loving, weirdo. Somehow I don't think that fits well into a place that has more churches in a town of 12,000 that I can count on two hands. Canada seems to fit perfectly. For one, I started connecting to fellow Polish people in Canada. Finding a Polish person in Cincinnati is next to impossible. And if a person is Polish, they've been so far removed form their culture that it almost doesn't count. I love connecting with my roots because I've never felt "American." I feel that I have a more European attitude. So I connect more with being Polish than American. That may seem werid to people, but I think I can partially blame that on Canada. =)

So this is my blog: A Polish/American/Wannabe Canuk's view of Canada while living as an expat. I'll offer my view of American politics from an American living in Canada, diversity, human rights, news events, and anything that I find interesting.



Hope people enjoy my point of view as Magda living in the Great White North.





P.S. It's sooooooooo cold!!!!!!