hate on america
The longer I stay in Canada the more interactions I have where people are just outright rude when I tell them where I am from. Usually the question comes up in small talk situations. I always try to find something nice to say about someone's country or home when they tell me where they are from. For a country that is so inclusive and protective of foreigners, I feel like people being so openly hateful about the United States in a polite conversation surprises me. I know my country has issues, but what do they expect me to say when they reply to my simple answer "I'm from the states" with how horrible my country is, they would never visit again, and that my husband and I made the right choice to choose Canada, did I vote for trump, etc etc. I usually brush it off because the comments really aren't that bad on their own, but the volume of them and boldness of people is just surprising to me. I had a hairdresser from Lebanon and when she brought up her country I asked her about her family there and what it is like and she said she can't go back because of the war. When she mentioned the weather, I compared it to the state where I am from, and she immediately told me she doesn't like America and feels it is an unsafe country and she would never go to visit. I found it so hypocritical and laughable considering she is from a country literally in an active war zone and she just got done telling me how she is unable to visit her family there. Imagine if I said the same things to her during the appointment? I would probably be refused service. It left me feeling angry especially considering it was supposed to be a professional environment.
I can handle jokes and sometimes make them myself, and I like to answer questions about the US when it is natural in a conversation, but I just find it rude when these comments happen during an introduction. I would never want to make someone feel bad about their nationality and I feel like people here go out of their way to not be offensive to every nationality except Americans.
How do you deal with this if you've experienced it? What can I say in a polite way?