A Canadian Conspiracy Theorist Goes to the USA

Well I have just returned from my business trip to the old U.S of A and I have decided to bring to you my experiences over the last few days from my perspective.

Let me begin by stating that I had a very good time and the trip was both productive as well as informative. I traveled to the great state of Pennsylvania and through my brief research on my phone while awaiting my layover flights i discovered it was a open carry state, a swing state politically and home to one of the oldest breweries in the United States produces a delicious local beer name Yinglings.

My journey began in Toronto's Pearson International Airport (YYZ for those who travel often) where my first step to my American excursion was American customs.

The time was approx 5am for my early morning flight at 7am and the American customs agents looked tired and not so eager to review everyone's application for travel. I approached the desk and handed him my passport and said a good morning and a how are you?. My greeting was meet will silence and a sleepy stare as he handed back my passport. Not a single word was exchanged as i was waved through the check and my adventure began.

The relatively quick and silent stop had unnerved me a bit, but the excitement of my trip, seeing as i have not traveled via plane in 5 years, returned quickly once more. Next stop was security and upon my arrival at this check i saw a women being curtly told her large bottle of water was not allowed through the check. By the time i was quickly waved through the medal scanner and my carry on was only scanned via the x-ray machine, i saw the women being escorted to a small side room by 4 security officers.

Next stop LaGuardia Airport New York.

I always found airports to be a interesting cross section of all the people in the world and was surprised to see how busy this airport was. This was a bit of a longer layover in which i had a few hours to kill waiting around. While sitting at my gate the next part of my story begins.

While walking to my next gate i noticed a odd number individuals in Grey sports coats walking the airport in conjunction with the regularly uniformed TSA officers. Men and Women with blank expressions who were scrutinizing everyone they passed. The sensation of being observed hit my like a title wave and i remembered where i was, New York. I passed TSA checks on my travel to my next gate where i observed person after person being subjected to far more thoroughly examinations then i experienced in Toronto. I Saw old couples, I saw young children and many others prostrate against the walls in side stations be examined.

I finally reached my gate and began my wait and begun looking around to ease my boredom. That is when i noticed the middle aged gentlemen across from me with a crew cut and a what appeared to be a travel pack for a solider. I presumed he was a member of the armed forces for either Canada or US and my guess would be proven correct later on in my tale. I watched for almost 3 hours as this individual was repeatedly confronted by the individuals in the grey sports coats to present his ID and destination, which i thought strange as this happened 4-5 times in a relatively short span of time.

When I boarded my next flight i was surprised to see that i would be sitting next to the gentlemen i had just mentioned and eventually struck up a conversation. It turns out that gentlemen was a US solider and veteran of the recent Iraq conflict. He was a very nice individual, returning home to see his family and we shared a lengthy conversation over the flight.

I had felt a little hesitant to ask him about the Grey jacket security, which eventually I asked what their interest in him was, but he initially explained that they were an extra level of security in New York state since 9/11. He then explained that recently he had felt more and more uncomfortable in the airports with the extra level of security but did not link any connection with his military service.

We parted ways and I was off to my hotel to spend the next few days doing work. The locals were very pleasant and i was sad not see anyone using their right for open carry, as being Canadian my view of gun is far in between. None the less, the beer was good, the people friendly, the bars full of smoking and a lovely variety of accents. I to was of interest in return when i unconsciously let some Canadian slang out or said "eh" one to many times. I was also told that i said "houses" and "about" differently that was noticeable.

Another uncommon sight, maybe due to my location, was a large group of young men, probably just out of high school boarding a bus hooting and hollering about the excitement of basic training. I listened for a moment and found that a lot were shouting comments anti middle eastern rhetoric that closely mirrored comments you would find in the MSM. I was concerned because i got the impression that these kids would fight tooth and nail believing some of the garbage we know to be misinformation.

In most of my social interactions that was not related work, i found the topics of Obama care, Gun Laws and Republican policy to be at the heart of most discussion, as well as Hurricane Issac. I was pleasantly surprised that most people i spoke with seemed to believe some kind of conspiracies were taking place in their country, weather they would openly admit to it or not.

My stay was relatively normal and pleasant and soon it was time to once again leave.

The TSA going back was once again appeared very thorough, but once again i was waived through relatively quickly only required to go through a metal detector and not the other more complicated scanners. I am not sure if i was easily recognizable as a friendly Canadian, but i experienced no overtly obvious scrutiny.

I was once again waiting for my next flight for quite awhile as i was advised to always arrive very early because you never know how long security may take and next thing i know i found my self sitting at a bar drinking a Yinglings.

A older gentlemen sits next to me, head full of grey hair and with a military tattoo of sort proudly displayed on his forearm. Again my guess was correct as we began talking and he told me of his time in the service. What was weird was he had slowly but surely start speaking about the state of the country and how it saddened him. I did not ask much, as i felt uncomfortable to do so, but he shared some of his opinions.

This man, this veteran said one thing to me that stuck with me my entire trip home. I wrote them down in my phone to make sure i didnt forget. He said:

"Something is changing in this country, I cant tell you if its for the better or for the worse, but all i know is that I as American that our rights and freedoms will not be taken away without a fight".

Again i may have missed a word or two in my haste to jot this down in my phone when he left, but i found myself thinking of it the entire trip home.

I made it back home safe and sound and decided that though I did not observe much of the conspiracies we discuss daily on this site. I did notice a underlying current of something, that I as a Canadian may not be able to put my finger on, but felt the need to let you guys know.

If you made all the way through my post thanks for reading. I hope to visit America once again very soon.

EDIT: Some may think me naive to post a tale of these relatively benign experiences, but to me they warranted discussion to be consolidate my view point on the American environment

reply to post by MDDoxs


EDIT: Some may think me naive to post a tale of these relatively benign experiences, but to me they warranted discussion to be consolidate my view point on the American environment


Naive..? What the hell are you talkin' a boot..?





Not naive at all....but, what you experienced was only 1 slice of Americana, so don't consider all you saw as American dogma - not that you were.


Enjoyed the read, and glad your trip went well. Hope you come on back some time and maybe check out some other regions of the country, 'cause they all have their pros and (ex)cons.

reply to post by facelift


Thank you for reading!

No i would not take my limited experiences in the USA and apply it to the entire country. The majority of my Travel has been to Buffalo, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

I would love to visit all areas of the US.

their pros and (ex)cons

Haha true anywhere you go.

reply to post by MDDoxs


Good I'm glad enjoyed your visit to Pennsylvania. Best place in the whole US.

reply to post by zonetripper2065


The mountainous terrain and how the city of Pittsburgh is sitting in such a deep valley. It was very beautiful and how you travel through a mountain side to come out over a bridge right into downtown, was amazing.

Yinglings was delicious too!

Thanks for the story. It is always interesting to me how those from other countries view our country when they come here. I have a few Canadian friends I like to chat with about this very thing.

I'm glad your trip went well!

Good thing you didn't come in through Detroit.

Yea I have found that the security and TSA varies from airport to airport and as soon as your in the system they are tracking you every step of the way.

Thanks for sharing

reply to post by TitanBCE


Funny you say that, but i returned through Detroit and that was quite a busy airport and the gate waiting areas were no were big enough for all the travelers.

Nice read..thanks for sharing.

I live just across the border from Kingston and I enjoy going into Canada. Of course it was much easier before 9/11, now you get to play 20 questions with border control coming and going..but for the most part its painless.

I recently drove to Northern Maine and drove through Quebec, I had forgotten how very French they are there and I felt bad when I stopped to eat at a McDonalds and had to put my fingers up to indicate what I wanted to eat haha. But it struck me how friendly everyone was and I think most were even happy to get to practice their English with me.

Oh..and I love Labatts...don't know what I would do if I ever had to move away from here

Thanks for the tale! I left America some time ago to hose and drink maple syrup so I really appreciate the subtleties of your insight.

It breaks my heart, what's happening in America. I'm glad I got out when I did. I hope my dad will always be well. He offered to fly me home for a visit... I'd much prefer to drive (or show him around the rugged wilderness over here, eh?). What's happening with "security" is insane.

It also makes me hopeful... that there are enough people there, still, like that vet you met, to see things for what they really are. I pray to god there are still enough people that believe in the Constitution, despite it currently being used mainly as toilet paper.

But perhaps that's just the young idealist in me thinking, that little kid who grew up watching videos of the war for independence and being taught that America is the best...

*After nearly a decade, I get busted by everyone back home in the states about my accent. After a long enough time away, they all sound different to me, too. Though I still get busted in Canada for sounding like I'm from somewhere else... hybrid!

reply to post by toepick


Well i am glad you enjoy your time visiting Canada. Molson Canadian is my beer. With some of my US counter parts I work with, they have complained that we Canadians have an easier time getting into the US then they themselves.

This close to the border we are pretty much the same

reply to post by manicminxx


Yea, it was a pleasant surprise to see the passion and conviction in the people i met and the fact that the average joe has adopted the policy of denying ignorance was refreshing.

lol hybrid North American, i like the concept. The differences that make both cultures unique are in my opinion a great way to bring us together. This is accomplished by exactly what you have described, with friendly jests and comparing stories of past experiences and how closely they can relate.

My greatest pleasure while visiting the US was speaking with everyone and learning our differences but mostly our similarities.