Forum Cliques

My reasons for being in Canada and my lifestyle here are very different to those of most of the Brits on an ex pats forum I frequent.

Many of them are extremely well off, it being their well paid employment that brought them here. Some of them seem to disbelieve a decent life is possible from or on modest means. Maybe they resent or envy what can be had without that high paid work; who knows? What I do know is that this sometimes brings ridicule for me on some subjects.

The subject of house size came up - relating to a heating costs question from someone considering a move.

In the UK, people speak of a 2 or 3 bedroom house or 3 up/2 down. I've never heard anyone say how many square foot/sq metres/whatever.

I'm aware that the listing sites in Canada show size as x,000 sq foot but they also show room sizes. Clearly people have different needs when house hunting - they may need a large kitchen, formal dining or they do a lot of "entertaining" and want a large room for that. Maybe even the shape of a room would be important - rectangular rather than square for example.

For such requirements, the overall size becomes meaningless.

I commented that I didn't have a clue how many sq foot my house was and that room size and number was more important. In response I had lots of little digs - "you don't know how big your own house is?" and "if a 2 bed house is 2000 sq foot and a 3 bed house is 1000 sq foot which has the roomier rooms?"

I responded "the 2000 sq foot one. But the roomier rooms might not be the ones you want roomy" and I asked which of those two houses had the bigger kitchen. No answer.

Someone even told me I was being obtuse and I was a twat. lol. Another said I must be living in seclusion because "it is the only way I have heard or seen a home described by realtors, home owners, the MLS and Real Estate papers."

I pointed out that our research was based on listings that did show size and number of rooms and the realtors involved were also describing properties similarly. Again I asked if this was the only way they are described and there were two properties of interest, both x,000 sq foot, which would be the one with the kitchen of the size desired?

Then a major player of the forum clique - who I shall call The Briterati - came on and said he actually agreed with me. He had no idea of the square foot (or metric measure) for his house, knowing only that it was good enough when they moved in and it still was now.

Miraculously all the antagonism towards me stopped dead.

It's funny. But also quite pathetic.