I'm pretty sure the bilingual lane at Canadian border crossings is a ploy to trap unwary English speakers who mistakenly think "bilingual" means "French and English."
If you don't understand Bonjour, votre passeport, s'il vous plaît, don't try the bilingual lane. Your involuntary stuttering while you try to explain you speak only English is quickly interpreted as "I have 10 lbs of cocaine my trunk" and you'll spend the next two hours in Canadian customs feeling like a criminal.
I know because I traveled to and from Canada weekly for a couple years. First time this happened, I thought it was just a simple misunderstanding. Second time, "fool me twice, shame on me."
There was no third time.
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| Top - Quebec sign for 'Mandatory Right Turn Ahead'; Bottom - US sign for 'No Left Turn' |
On another occasion, I was grilled by a Quebec policeman for an illegal turn. He was kind enough to let me go with a warning after telling me that he'd been to the United States and the road signs are the same in both countries and there is no excuse for what I did.
I had misunderstood the blue sign you see on the right; it means "Mandatory Right Turn Ahead," even if you can turn left. I turned left.
I thanked him, apologized, and assured him I wouldn't repeat the error.
But he was wrong about the road signs, of course. If the same intersection were in the US, it would have had a "No Left Turn" sign, but I wasn't about to argue with him.
c0
Interesting distinction, don't you think? A French sign saying what you must do, and an English sign saying what you must not do. I suspect there is a socio-linguistic reason behind this that would have all sorts of parallels in politics, religion, etc.
[2014-05-22]
c0
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