Dear Canadians,
I owe you an apology.
A very serious apology.
For the past few years, since my family and I moved to Canada, I have been silently judging some of you.
Yes, judging.
And I think it’s finally time to confess.
You see, there is something about Canadians that I have never fully understood.
YOU DRINK COLD BEVERAGES IN WINTER!
Not just cold beverages. Beverages with ICE!
Iced coffee. Iced tea. Drinks with enough ice cubes to build a small igloo.
In the middle of winter!
Sometimes I see someone walking outside, wrapped in a thick winter coat, wearing a hat, gloves, and a scarf, holding a giant iced coffee.
And I wonder:
Are you okay?
Do you need help?
Should I call someone? 😂
Because where I come from, winter means HOT drinks.
Hot coffee. Hot tea. Hot chocolate.
Something that warms your hands, your stomach, and possibly your frozen soul.
But here in Canada?
Apparently, when it’s freezing outside, the logical thing to do is make sure your drink is freezing too.
I’ve never understood it.
Until yesterday.
Yesterday, I went grocery shopping and discovered that one of my favorite Christmas traditions had officially returned.
MY CHRISTMAS ICE CREAM!
Oh, yes!
Every Christmas since we’ve been living in Canada, I buy this particular ice cream.
It’s vanilla ice cream with crushed candy canes and little pieces of real crushed chocolate mixed inside.
Not chocolate chips. Actual crushed chocolate.
It’s delicious.
It’s wonderful.
It’s Christmas in a container!
And yesterday, when I saw it sitting there in the grocery store freezer, I was happier than a child discovering that Santa had arrived early.
I grabbed one immediately.
I brought it home.
And, of course, I ate some.
Because Christmas traditions must be respected.
But then something happened.
Something that made me question everything I thought I knew about myself.
I was sitting comfortably at home, enjoying my Christmas ice cream, when suddenly a thought crossed my mind.
Wait a minute.
It’s November.
It’s cold outside.
I’m eating something frozen.
And then came the terrible realization.
I HAVE BECOME ONE OF THEM! 😂
All these years, I’ve been looking at Canadians drinking iced coffee in winter and wondering whether they were completely crazy.
Meanwhile, I’ve been sitting at home every Christmas, happily eating frozen vanilla cream filled with candy canes and chocolate.
The only difference is that they drink their frozen happiness through a straw.
I eat mine with a spoon.
That’s it.
That’s the entire difference.
Dear Canadians, please accept my sincere apology.
I judged you unfairly.
I questioned your winter beverage choices.
I even worried about your mental well-being.
And now I realize that we are not so different after all.
You have your iced coffee.
I have my Christmas ice cream.
And apparently, neither of us believes that winter should interfere with our happiness.
Although I must admit one thing.
I still think you’re a little crazy.
But now I have to include myself in that category. 😂
If you’ll excuse me now, I have some Christmas ice cream waiting in the freezer.
It’s a tradition.
And I take my traditions very seriously.
GK
