YES WE CAN!
On dogs, etc.
One of my anglo neighbours had me laughing out loud this week.
He had been really shocked at how rude and disrespectful someone in the french administration had been to him...surprise, surprise.
He said,
After nearly 20 years living in France I have become somewhat immune to the french "attitude rude." In fact I would go as far as to say it's not as bad as it once was.
I remember being so shocked myself that I often couldn't reply. I then moved on to " bite back" mode, which got me nowhere fast.
My way of dealing with this cultural difference now is to simply wrinkle my innocent forehead and say, " Excusez moi?"..feigning miscomprehension, needing repetition. This achieves 99% positive results - usually a smile and an explanation, even the odd apology. Rudeness repeated always weakens the offender...and by the way, this method also works with snotty teenagers.
All that aside, I did have my own rude experience this week....
Our dog, love of our lives, dislocated his knee cap, thereby needing an operation which not only had a fee of 4 digits before the decimal point but cost more than the dog himself! I asked the fee over the phone and took along a bank cheque ( which cost me 13 euros!). When I passed over the cheque, the receptionist didn't even say thank you. She looked at it and said,
He had been really shocked at how rude and disrespectful someone in the french administration had been to him...surprise, surprise.
He said,
"Do you know why the french are so outrightly rude and why dogs lick their balls?
Simply, because they can."
After nearly 20 years living in France I have become somewhat immune to the french "attitude rude." In fact I would go as far as to say it's not as bad as it once was.
I remember being so shocked myself that I often couldn't reply. I then moved on to " bite back" mode, which got me nowhere fast.
My way of dealing with this cultural difference now is to simply wrinkle my innocent forehead and say, " Excusez moi?"..feigning miscomprehension, needing repetition. This achieves 99% positive results - usually a smile and an explanation, even the odd apology. Rudeness repeated always weakens the offender...and by the way, this method also works with snotty teenagers.
All that aside, I did have my own rude experience this week....
Our dog, love of our lives, dislocated his knee cap, thereby needing an operation which not only had a fee of 4 digits before the decimal point but cost more than the dog himself! I asked the fee over the phone and took along a bank cheque ( which cost me 13 euros!). When I passed over the cheque, the receptionist didn't even say thank you. She looked at it and said,
Where's the 40 centimes? The fee is one thousand, three hundred and thirty eight euros AND FORTY CENTIMES, Madam!All this said rather loudly with about 10 other people in the waiting area.I hadn't heard the 40 centimes when she had given the fee over the phone I explained. She muttered something under her breath. That was it! I took out my wallet and painstakingly counted out of my smallest change possible the forty centimes. I passed over the wee fistful of mostly 1, 2 and 5 centime pieces and said with a smile, Would you mind verifying that it is the right amount?
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For me the french are still really really rude. Is it cultural or simply lack of manners? Great post.
ReplyDeleteYou know, that might qualify for the Rude Experience of the Week Award over at A Taste of Garlic?
ReplyDeleteBear in mind, though... It's a very competitive award!
All the best
Keith
@ Keith..haha could fill a book with like experiences! Surely my experience this week is pretty tame. Cheers, thanks for your comment. Hope you survived the long-john change over!!
ReplyDeleteI will say it. YES the french are rude, very rude. NO they have not changed. As for public servants, they get ruder and we are paying their salaries.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you that the rude attitude in France has actually abated somewhat. Especially so in shops and restaurants in Paris. Now just waiting for the public service to follow...
ReplyDelete@Jen, many thx for your positive comment. Things ARE a lot better and, regardless of everything, I do love my life in this country and appreciate all the good things. I guess for anglosaxons manners are just such a big part of our makeup that certain cultural differences are really hard to swallow...even after all these years. My poor suffering French husband is always telling me that there are far too many pleases and thank yous in my vocab, that I should be more direct..another cultural difference?
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your diplomacy Suzy but you and I both know that customer service in France is non existent!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant blog. Great find.
ReplyDeleteGod you are so funny. Bring on the book.
ReplyDelete