Monday, February 23, 2015

The Parisian Reputation

I've been known to complain a time or two about the French, like trying to *gasp* order coffee at a cafe or the time a taxi driver and a midwife made me cry.

The Parisian Reputation

But... if you force me to say it (like, by threatening to withhold my daily 6 cups of coffee) I could admit that Parisians are actually not as rude as their reputation. Like in any big city, there are d-bags, that's for sure. But a few nice ones save the day:


  • Little old ladies who stop me and my children in the street to say, "Those are literally the cutest kids I've ever seen in my entire life." Thank you, but tell me something I don't know!
  • The 9 out of 10 people who will hold a door open for you, no matter how rushed they are. The one who won't is typically a 20-something dude listening to some obnoxious music so loud I can hear it through his headphones.
  • The 9 out of 10 people who will give you a seat on the Metro if they see you're pregnant or holding a child. The one who won't is the same douchebag who won't hold the door open for you.
  • Total strangers who say "Bonjour" simply because they caught your eye. You've never seen them before and you'll never see them again, but they still wish you a nice day.

And anytime I've ever asked for directions, someone has always helped me. Parisians may still need to work on picking up their dog's feces and not laying on the horn, but they're not all bad.