TSA - American Officers and Canadian Officers

Just prior to going on vacation a friend at the office and I were talking about various issues within the division. He asked if there was much of a difference between officers in America and in Canada. My response, “If we had seven Corps Officers sitting around a table wearing civies, and three were from Canada, I could tell you which were the Canadians by asking one question.”

He looked at me with a puzzled look. I went on, “All I need to ask is, ‘What is the size of your Corps?’ The American officers will immediately talk about the size of their budget, number of employees and possibly the size of their building. Canadians will talk about the number of soldiers and adherents, their average attendance on Sunday morning, and possibly the average size of their Sunday School.”

He agreed that the COs he has known over the years would focus budget and employees, and doubts that any would get to membership and worship matters unless prodded in that direction. I cannot imagine a Canadian officer talking about budget or employees unless prodded specifically in that direction.

He made an interesting observation that the different responses would likely reflect how each handles Corps resources as well as measure success.