A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with some people and was talking about the process involved in getting here from Canada. I mentioned the day I received my U.K. passport and said, “I was so pleased when it arrived. I was a Brit!” Without missing a beat, one of the guys there said, “No, you’re not; that doesn’t make you British.” He said it relatively quietly and I didn’t respond at the time, as the conversation continued on as we were all chatting and talking over one another.
But I got thinking about it afterwards. Imagine that scenario in Canada. If someone came in and announced, “Hey, I just got my citizenship – I’m a Canadian!”, what would any Canadian say in that situation? We’d say, “Congratulations!” “Yay for you!” “That’s great news – you’re one of us!” This guy wasn’t trying to be mean or rude, he obviously just said what was in his head. And technically, he was right; receiving my U.K. passport didn’t make me British. Being born prior to 1983 to parents born in Scotland made me British the day I was born. In fact, as I am older than this guy, I’ve been British as least a decade longer than he has. But it does make you think about how the Brits feel about their nationality.
Currently there is a race on for the leadership of the U.K. Conservative Party (and therefore the role of Prime Minister). The news has been playing this one video clip over and over of one of the MPs who is in contention for the role, Rishi Sunak. In the clip, from many years ago, he is talking about knowing people of all classes. He rattles off having friends of each of the classes, including working class, then pauses and qualifies his statement, “well, not working class”. Can you imagine any Canadian politician talking about the ‘class’ of friends or acquaintances that they have? Can you imagine having that conversation with any Canadian at all?
I love living here. I like the people I meet here. But sometimes I do miss the Canadian frame of mind.