My father used to speak his mind face to face with everyone. My mother would say the same things but never face to face. She would moan to me about someone but would be nice to their face. She did a lot of fretting whereas my father seemed quite content with himself. Being up front seemed, to me, to be the better option. Of course, it's got me into scrapes sometimes, diplomacy not being my strong point,  but never anything that bothered me. You have to stand up for your rights.

Exactly!

Carol.... if crossed... anything goes. Anyone can be a doormat. These days you have to stand up for yourself because if you don't, you'll be trampled on.

Lol, I am nice but I can be a rude, aggressive, forward B**** if crossed. : )

Carol.. I'm sure you're not rude or aggressive but I'm unsure about the "very forward." I can't picture you as a shrinking violet..... and neither am I!   LOL

Lol, it is true. Compared to Canadians, Americans are more rude, aggressive and very forward.

I have to admit... I've noticed that, in films, Americans always seem to shout more than Canadians. If there are 2 films being shown at the same time... if one is Canadian - that's the one I'll watch. More restful to my ears. LOL

Canada is beautiful. The people there are soooo nice. They make us Americans look like the Devil himself, lol.

No.... my grandparents emigrated to Canada and then moved about. They lived in California and other places but I never visited them, they always came back to the UK to visit us. Since I've been looking at places on Opentopia, I regret never visiting them. There are so many beautiful places in Canada and the US.

Have u ever been to the States MD?

You are soooo lucky!! 

Carol, I've stayed in this area... it's lovely.

Wish I was under one of those umbrellas now.

And if you were feeling energetic you could always find an orange tree and go scrumping, they are just  right at this time of year!

I nice camera to visit if you feel the need to vicariously sunbathe along with the guests.  :-)