Posted on 07/29/2012 9:35:11 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
Edited on 07/29/2012 10:12:17 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
PARIS (AP) - It's a July evening on the terrace of the legendary Cafe Flore. A coiffed woman sips chilled wine, another savors her chocolate eclair.
The one thing to complete a perfect picture of Parisian life? A dash of French rudeness.
(Excerpt) Read more at komonews.com ...
Funny enough, the people were nicer when I visited way back in the early 80s; young girls would say «pardon» rather than push past you. The elder folk who were manning the public restrooms weren’t so nice; you’d hand them the money and they’d say «là» (“over there”) while pointing at an empty stall.
and "they didn't build that." Really, they didn't, that was a different France. I think the French are realizing that people don't have to go to France. They can go to, say Asia. And if they go to Asia, they are usually treated with more respect.
I didn’t find the French to be any different than Americans.
People in Paris were often rude. That is true of any big city. How is this any different than the rude people in DC or LA or San Francisco? Big city people are stressed out and defensive.
I found French people in rural France to be warm and friendly.
I toured the Normandy beaches for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. We had someone on our tour fall terribly ill. One of our group took them to a house in the rural town of Caen, which was the first town liberated on D-Day, by the Canadians I believe.
They knocked on a door only to ask for a hospital location. The French resident not only told them, he took them to the hospital, waited while the member of our tour received treatment, and then drove them back to our hotel.
FWIW, I found even the French city people were less rude when you made a strong good-faith attempt to speak French, and not be the ugly American acting like the waiters and clerks are your house slaves just because you are throwing US dollars at them.
You want rude? I am 53 years old born and raised in San Francisco. That city is RUDE! Massed immigration and years not teaching children manners results in a city of people that are just rude, opportunistic, selfish, self-centered takers. I lived in San Francisco from 1996 to 2007, and in all that time MAYBE 10 drivers waved to me when I let them in my lane or let someone in a street from a parking lot. Seriously. This used to be standard fare in the 70s. Now they act like they deserve to be let in rather than acknowledging a courteous act.
I think the people of San Francisco are at least as rude as those in Paris. At least.
Well, I sympathize, and I understand that of course you weren’t rude, but look at the bigger picture - if you had experienced an onslaught of abusive rudeness from, say, New Yorkers, being drunk and rowdy and vulgar in your town for decades, and then I, a New Yorker came along and was perfectly nice - and mystified and hurt by your grumpiness - do you see what I mean? After decades of garbage, one clean thing can’t make a difference.
And even though Paris may no longer be the world capital of art, the fact that it was for so long, and until so recently, is the reason that modern art - painting, dance, literature even came into existence, and is the source and reason for any art we have today. So it can’t be dismissed as “that was last year”, because just as Greek philosophy of democracy is the source and reason of Western civilization, and continues in it, the Parisian contribution to modern culture lives on in our culture, and our culture would not exist had Paris not been there.
RE: your height, and I’m going WAY off topic now. Here is some trivia.
Rumor has it that France was near the top of nations for average height until massive number of tall men were killed off in the Napoleonic wars. Who knows? Now France ranks 32nd among nations for average height of men.
http://www.interbasket.net/news/4385/2009/09/average-height-by-country-males-20-years/
The USA used to be #1 for average height of males, mostly due to our superior nutrition being a wealthy nation. Now we rank 17th.
Some blame fast food and poor nutrition. I think when you flood the US with immigrants from Central America and Asia, you are going to see reduced average heights. But that is just my own theory. Who knows?
I have to admit that nutrition plays a huge role.
When I was younger, the bay area had a lot of FOB Asian immigrants who were short, low to mid 5-foot range. Now you see their daughters growing to be 5’-8” because they now have good nutrition instead of the lack of nutrition stunting their leg growth in Asia.
So I could be wrong. It could all be nutrition. I don’t know. I still buy the theory that tall French men were mowed down in great numbers in the Napoleonic wars, although in the closing years, I’m sure a lot of short guys were as well.
They are shorter than we are - like the Italians - as the result of short rations from two world wars. I spent time in Italy as a child, and by age 11 (at about 5 ft) I was taller than many adults I saw.
Napoleon wouldn’t be the cause of Italians being so short when I was growing up and their being up to eight inches taller now. Ditto the Japanese. We distributed massive amounts of food and money under the Marshall Plan.
I was stationed at 6th Army HQ at the Presidio of San Francisco from Oct 1991 to Sept 1963. This was before the hippies, before Harvey Milk, before Nancy Pelosi, and before the invasion of derelicts. SF was a beautiful city with, for the most part, friendly inhabitants. But change does come.
i hear ya...
It was "magical" compared to what I remember.
My wife and I met an unbelievable amount of nice and kind people randomly throughout the city.
At one point we got on a city bus to head to a certain area for touring and shopping. There was a large black woman driving the bus, smiling and greeting everyone who got on. When we saw an elderly woman step on, I noticed the bus was full and offered her my seat. She gave me a big beaming smile and I saw the driving with as big a smile in one of the mirrors. At the next stop there were more elderly and one of the young black men got up next and there was a steady sequence of people doing the same. There was an amazing vibe happening on that bus, maybe it was the driver? Who knows.
The whole trip was like that, though. I couldn't explain it to my wife and she was just loving, so why mess it up by downtalking it?
Anyway, I hear it's nothing like what it was a couple of years ago and bloomingnazi has destroyed all of Guiliani's progress. Very sad to hear.
Oh, screw Paris. They were rude as hell. The folks in the countryside were wonderful however. When Paris falls I hope they seal the borders to the city and leave them to work it out for themselves.
You go on and take that bus to Paris.
Had a meal in France once. Actually it was Monaco, but close enough. Food was very good. The waiter was actually a black from Cuba. Works in France/Monaco for awhile, then goes back to Cuba. Nice fella. Tried to order a Mocha. Big mistake. He told me they do not have Mocha’s in France. What ? Thought the French loved chocolate. Just not in their coffee apparently. Well he tried to make me one, and it was awful. Melted chocolate at the bottom of the coffee cup. Had to keep stirring it up. The moral of the story - Never order a Mocha in France.
No joke. I was in France once when I was in the military. Never again, thanks for steering me right, lousy French. The whole country can go suck an egg.
Hehe, I like that. And yes, the cities here in the states are rude, too. I like Evel Knievel’s quote: “To give this country an enema, you should stick the hose in the Holland tunnel and flush out the New Yorkers.”
Sounds like an Arab city, where the hustlers are all over you. My commiserations regarding you having to live in an environment like that.....
No joke. I’d go back to Taiwan or Singapore any time. France can go suck it.
I thought Montreal was full of a-holes, too. The group of 4-5 that I was with got turned away from a few restaurants when they saw that we don’t speak French. There’s something about that language that rots the brain.
Change comes sadly.
I can’t imagine how wonderful San Francisco was in 1963. I was in the first grade at the time, so I didn’t see much except my front yard, school, and a bit of SF from the back seat of dad’s car.
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