>===== Original Message From Thomas Heide Clausen <T.Clausen@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
=====
>Hey! I may not be born French, but I live in Paris. Being rude to
>people in that special parisian way is an *ART* that I am only now
>learning after 4 years. Show some respect, we - that would be I and
>the real parisians - are working hard to maintain our high standards
>of arrogance and rudeness towards pretty much everyone.... :)
Years ago I spent a "study-abroad" semester in Britain, but the charter flight
home was to leave from Paris. I basically had 36 hours to bum around until my
flight left for home. I called a French guy I'd met in a British hostel, whom
I barely knew and whom I suspected was more interested in the girl I was with
at the time we met, and he arranged to meet me, dine with me, and set me up in
a hostel in Paris for the night.
The cab from the airport had no meter, so I got fleeced, but subsequent rides
on buses and just walking around were miraculous. With no disrespect to my
British brethren (and sustren), the women in France were simply of a different
order of magnitude in terms of physical charm. This is well-known but must be
experienced first-hand. They would make eye contact and often smile. Perhaps
they were laughing at me. I didn't really care. It was very different from
what I was used to in a way that makes a remarkable impression on a
20-year-old.
I had problems remembering French from high school. I had problems working the
pay phones. I felt small and helpless outside all my familiar frames of
reference. Some people in service positions were rude, most went about their
business, but I got some very courteous and much-appreciated help from
strangers as well. The next day, lined up at the ticket counter at the
airport, I was complaining to another fellow about the gypsy cab ride the
previous day. A gorgeous young woman I'd never seen before (and would never
see again) just ahead of us in the line left briefly and came back a bit later
and handed me a Coke with no more than a smile for explanation.
How would a French man, mutatis mutandis, have fared in Chicago (my kind of
town)? Not nearly so well as I did in Paris is my guess. Ben Franklin was no
fool. The French are OK in my book. Vive la France.
Joel W.
P.S. I took a few photos while there, but unfortunately no OMs at the time.
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