Grass and Fences

As I am preparing to move back to the Toronto area, I have been amazed at the kinds of remarks I've gotten from some of my American colleagues here in New York. Many of them seem a bit jealous: any of them who have visited Toronto said it is a wonderful city, and a few said they would love to live there. Some common things the Americans like about Toronto is the cleanliness of the place, the beautiful architecture, the low crime rate, the healthcare system, and the cost of housing. One senior executive I talked to said I was very lucky, and he "would move to Toronto in a second" if he had the opportunity.

The ironic thing is the sentiments of my American colleagues here sound so much like the jealous feelings my Canadian friends seem to have had towards me when I'd come up and visit. They'd look at me living in New York and think of all the bright lights in Times Square, and all the lifestyle here. Oddly enough, six years ago, before I moved to the United States, I was like that too - enough so that I packed up and moved.

There is an old saying: The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. This is particularly true when this fence is the Canada/US border. In looking at other countries, we always seem to look at society there through rose-colored glasses while looking more harshly at our own.