Very late into this conversaiton....
Shanks, it seems like such a sad thing to have these thoughts going through your head whenever you meet people (nazi jerks aside where you are absolutely right that they are thinking bad things about you). I can see where you would get rankled when peoples say "your people". Here it is so commonly used as a pride thing "Canadians are my people" that I did not see it any other way.
I'm very troubled by your example though. I am very friendly by nature, I love meeting new people and feel that new and old friends are a blessing. When I meet someone new who is evidently not from Montreal I eventually get around to asking from whence they came. Not to belittle, or categorize negatively, but to get to know the whole person. I can’t imagine anyone being embarrassed about their country of origin (I’m not saying that you are here) so I have never hesitated to ask. I’ve never seen anyone be offended, perhaps it’s all in the way a person asks.
I don’t know what to say. It just seems so sad.
