MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Emotional Support Canadians: Neighbors comfort Americans amid election haul, say 'Ryan Gosling might be available'

The joke was initially started by a Twitter user called Canadian Fletchy, who made a pun on 'emotional support animals', which provide comfort to help relieve a symptom or effect of a person's disability

As a running joke, a number of Canadians are offering emotional support to the people of the United States who are going through a tense time right now as they wait for the result of one of the most contentious elections in the history of their country on November 3. Even late into the election night, no clear winner emerged as incumbent President Donald Trump prematurely tried to declare himself the winner, further adding to the confusion. 

The joke was initially started by a Twitter user called Canadian Fletchy, who made a pun on "emotional support animals", which typically provide comfort to help relieve a symptom or effect of a person's disability. "Dear America: Emotional Support Canadians are on standby. If you have not yet received your Emotional Support Canadian, one will be assigned to you shortly," he wrote. Soon his tweet went viral, with many of the users coming up with hilarious responses and queries which he patiently replied to.

"Do we get care packages?" one user asked, to which he replied, "Timbits and maple syrup should help." Another said, "I am still waiting" and Canadian Fletchy responded, "Sending house hippo now" When one of them wanted Ryan Reynolds as their emotional support Canadian, he replied, "There may be a waiting list on that Ryan. Gosling might be available though."

The joke soon turned into a trend on Twitter with a number of Canadians offering themselves up to provide emotional support or making memes out of it. One of the memes was captioned, "Clearly I may not be an ideal emotional support Canadian" with the meme reading "Regardless what happens, you are still our neighbors. But if you need us to burn the White House down again, we would understand." This was ofcourse a reference to August 24, 1814, when after defeating the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg, a British force led by Major General Robert Ross set fire to multiple government and military buildings, including the White House. The attack was in part a retaliation for the recent American destruction of Port Dover in Upper Canada. 

Another tweet read, "American friends: If you need an Emotional Support Canadian: I’m available. I’ve had a couple edibles, and I’m sipping some rye and water, so expect me to listen more than advise. Just know I’m here for you." One Canadian wrote, "Your emotional support Canadian is sending you calming pictures of Canada right now" The next posted, "Your Emotional Support Canadian is reading other tweets but your tweet is important to them. We are receiving a higher volume of tweets than normal. Please stay online and your tweet will be read in priority sequence."

The mockery did not end there. One of them wrote, "Dear US Army, Maple Army are on standby, ready now and in the coming days to be your Emotional Support Canadian We've got whisky, beaver tails, poutine, edibles, snow banks to shovel to help make the stress and worries go away... if it doesn't work, we're sorry, eh" Another said, "No matter what happens tonight, I’ll be your emotional support Canadian and send you a care package of ketchup chips and coffee crisp chocolate bars" One more tweeted, "We are ready to be your personal emotional support Canadian if you need us! Nothin but love here!"

One of the users wrote in multiple tweets :"AMERICANS: There are apparently 37.6 million Canadians standing by to help with your anxiety. Please take advantage of this service. They may say 'sorry' a lot, they're fine. Consider self-care at a moment like this. If you find rodeos soothing, ask for an Emotional Support Canadian from ALBERTA. If you find lighthouses soothing, ask for an Emotional Support Canadian from NEW BRUNSWICK. If you find lighthouses REALLY soothing, ask for an Emotional Support Canadian from NEWFOUNDLAND."