I’m from Canada so everyone except for the indigenous originally came from somewhere else. I love it when people ask my about my roots, but someone told me it was rude.
I’m from Canada so everyone except for the indigenous originally came from somewhere else. I love it when people ask my about my roots, but someone told me it was rude.
Depends. If they are white and middle class probably not an issue. Otherwise it might not be received in the ‘get to know you way’ it is intended. I lived in Vancouver for 40 years but didn’t live there as a child. As the joke goes, no one is from there everyone just moves there at some time in their life. If you ask a white person about it, they will tell you where they came from or if they are one of the few born there. If you ask anyone else they will complain that you are racist. Don’t even try to ask about ancestry or language or accent because it is all considered racist. So ask about the weather instead and if they are friendly they will add more to the conversation and if they don’t, they probably don’t want to get to know other people anyway.
I’ve had that very same experience and on the coast. I’m an Ontarian and ask people all the time, where they live, where they’re from, what they do… It’s just conversation. When I went out west people, took offense and gave me shit for asking! I figured it’s because a lot of people in BC are searching for an identity because they don’t have a community or something. Or at least the traveler types I met fit that bill. I did learn pretty quick that if they were an ethnicity or sounded like they were from Ontario, you shouldn’t ask them where they grew up.