I say tomato and you say tomAto

As I see it, Canadians are inherently rule followers, and Israelis are inherently rule breakers. I'm not talking about the BIG rules like do not kill (that seems like an obvious rule to respect for all decent people). I am talking about rules like do-not-leave-your-groceries-on-the-conveyor-belt-and-go-to-pick-up-a-few-more-things-and-then-expect-your-place-in-line-back! Generally speaking Canadians just don't do those things -- it runs against the collective grain. Israelis, on the other hand, do it daily and can't understand what the fuss is about.

So, for a native born Canadian like me, I spend a lot of time on the verge of blowing a gasket. I recently had to boycott my neighbourhood mini-market because when I tried to explain to the manager that using your Coke bottle to save your place in line is simply not acceptable, he said "what can I do?It's (prime minster) Olmert's fault."

At first I naturally assumed that since my hebrew is nothing to write home about, I must have misunderstood him. I'm sure the perplexed look on my face was screaming: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT????? But when he repeated it in English I just stood there speechless. Where do you go from there? Where do you even begin to look for compromise under the circumstance?

So, I boycotted the store.

Upon hearing the story, my friends and neighbours all agreed that I was right but inevitably they all asked the same question: "How can you possibly exist without the mini-market?" Apparently truer words have never been spoken because after my inital gusto for my cause wore off, I started sending my kids to do my shopping there. I also started hopping in my car to go to the next nearest mini-market where I arbitrarily decided that the employees were more reasonable. That went well until I absolutely needed something the other day and my kids were at school and my husband had the car. I caved.

And as if entering the mini-market wasn't enough crow-eating for one day, the first person I bumped into was the manager. He knows I've been boycotting his store because I told him so and because he sees me every day going into the bakery next door. It's a small neighbourhood and it is difficult to escape notice.

So what does he say to me on THAT day? "Oh hi, welcome back." And where could I go from there?