Culturally rude
- 10 oct. 2016
- 2 min de lecture
Only in Paris do you get terrible service simply for not saying bonjour! And only in Paris do you learn that you are not as friendly as you thought you were!
It started when I first moved to Paris, a few years ago. I come from a small town in Wi
sconsin, where people are usually overly nice. I think I am one of the nicest people ever haha and that’s not just my American side speaking. Apparently, though, we are not as nice as Parisians!! Or so I thought.
Anywho, my first job here was as fille-au-pair and I would use my limited budget to shop in order to fit in with the Parisian style.
And man, were the salespeople always SO RUDE!! I found it quite distressing any time I asked for a size or for help. I had no idea that Parisians could be so angry!
I finally asked a French friend why Parisians were so rude, especially at stores. And what she said blew my uncultured mind - the reason people were being so rude to me was because I wasn't saying “BONJOUR.” In fact, I was being rude, not them. By not saying ‘bonjour,’ I came off as pompous and pretentious, as though I thought these people didn't even deserve the common politesse of saying 'hello' – not at all the super friendly Midwestern American I thought I was!!
I then realized I had been saying “excuse-me” whenever I needed a different size or sometimes I would simply just ask for a different size without preceding it by anything. And then it hit me – in America, one of the countries where people are thought of as the most friendly (although sometimes fake, according to the French), people are not necessarily used to saying ‘hello’ before asking somebody to do something for them. But it should be a common courtesy to say ‘hello’ before asking somebody to do something for you… and only in Paris did I learn how to truly be polite!! From then on, I learned to say ‘bonjour’ all the time! And if you didn’t know this before, now you do!! BONJOUR BONJOUR BONJOUR!!!
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