Yes, in Canada you have to wait ages for your knee replacement, but at least it doesn’t cost the earth and eventually they do get around to you. Things are iffier if you're one of the multitudes without a family doctor — or primary care provider, if that’s the correct term these days. I still say general practitioner, and people still know what I mean. But get hauled to hospital by ambulance and you’ll find out that urgent care is far more efficient, even if you have to do time on a gurney in a hallway.

When I travel south of the border, I’m struck by how many apparently middle-class people I see with medical issues that would either have been corrected or at least significantly improved if they lived in urban Canada. The best way of picking poor folks out of the crowd here is missing and broken teeth; dentists aren’t covered by provincial health plans. With doctor fees and hospital expenses largely off the table, middle-class families can afford all the routine dental maintenance and often extensive orthodonty. My crossed eye and snaggly front teeth mark me as a member of the pre-socialized medicine generation.

Canadian coin change can run as high as 15 percent American, depending on where you live and whether it’s a tourist-rich environment. Don’t try using US coins in Canadian vending machines and parking meters, though; odds are better than negligible that the machine will eat your money and give you nothing in return. Laundromat dryers used to be particularly sensitive that way.