Has it occurred to you that many Europeans are absolutely frightened at the thought of a holiday

[laundry_queen]

8. I must say

it factors into my decision on where to vacation. Not that I have money at the moment, but for us Canadians, US shopping trips are quite common. I used to go on them a lot. Now...not so much. Last time I went to the US with a friend, we were sitting in a mall, and as we were watching people go by, she asks me, "I wonder which ones are carrying a gun?" Yeesh, I hadn't thought of it. We both breathed a sigh of relief when we crossed back over the border. It didn't dominate our whole trip, but it was in the back of our minds the entire time and we hardly realized how bad it was until we crossed back over.

Many older Canadians become snowbirds (Canada in the summer, US in the winter). My great-Uncle and aunt used to spend their winters in Arizona (too old now). My parents were thinking about buying a winter home there. Now they are reconsidering, solely because of the whole gun issue. My parents grew up near the US border and think most Americans are scary - at least the ones they used to play baseball with, lol.