TAC's

I've lived elsewhere in the world before, and have done my share of traveling. Everywhere I've been, Canadians have an excellent reputation. However, I've learned something new since moving here. We are known as "T A C's, and that stands for "Tight Ass Canadians". For whatever reason, everyone (including locals and expats) think we're cheap. I strongly disagree. I prefer to think of it as frugal.

When I ask for an explanation, I'm always given the same example. When dining in a restaurant with others, it's custom here to split the bill evenly between everyone—no matter what you had. The people telling their story always seem to have once had a Canadian at the table who says, "But I only had a salad".

This, to me, seems to be more of a cultural thing rather then a "being cheap" thing. When dining in groups in Canada, we usually scan the bill and see what we had, then throw that amount into the table (adding tax and tip). In Bermuda, like I said, you just divide the bill up. You don't sweat it if you only had a salad, because you know that next time you may have had the steak, and it will even out. So in the case of the Canadian who whined about contributing an even portion, I think they are just not picking up on the custom here. They're not necessarily cheap.

But as the saying goes, "When in Rome...". You've got to be perceptive on how things are done in the country you're in. You've got to suck it up and go with the flow.



This photo was taken at the beginning of April. Our team had just won the quiz night, so we are holding our prizes of cash and shots.