kids stuff that is just crappy versions of adult stuff
yes, I know kids grow out of clothes and adults often don’t. but when they do, other kids can wear them, assuming they hold together that long.
yes, I know kids genuinely don’t like the variety of foods that adults do
it still doesn’t mean kids stuff needs to be crappy. see: nonsense kids media
the representation of Canadian culture/identity as a grab-bag of hollow stereotypes that everyone knows are hollow but clings to anyway because we are so dissociated from our own history that we don’t know what else to think, e.g.
politeness
moose hunting
lumberjacks
bear claws (pastry)
beavers
how we spell colour and centre
I mean I know all countries to some extent mythologize themselves in a way that’s not factual, e.g. the US still say they’re the land of the free where anyone can make it if they work hard, while all US governments in my lifetime have eroded personal freedoms and economic mobility, but at least that idea is a real part of their culture and something citizens genuinely value. Canadians don’t actually care about beavers or spelling in our day to day lives but we bury our sense of emptiness under empty symbols anyway. Not having the language to even talk about our values is a national syndrome described by John Ralston Saul in his book A Fair Country and in this wonderful talk.
the sound of any but the most assiduously silent chewing of food. It’s not personal, I have misophonia. It’s not as bad if I’m also eating at the time. It’s worst if I’m trying to concentrate on something else. I sometimes manage it with headphones.