Hep 'em, Lawd, hep 'em!
I know very well that the quote came from the Simpsons, but it stoped being funny the day after the episode was aired.
Please. Explain this to me. Please. How is this moronic French typecasting any different from the (justly) loathed Jewish or say, Latino typecasting?
You had to deal with bad service? Then flame the stupid employees, the god-forsaken store, but for crying out loud save us the fucking lame stereotypes.
Please explain to me why in this shrine of knowledge, in the very midst of the War Against Ignorance, spouting gross historical shouldn’t be frowned upon? 'Twas merely a joke! Thou sayeth! Well as a butt-end of this particular joke, let me just say. . .
Oh damn, what was that word again. . .
Oh. . .
I remember. . .
Fuck you.
[sub](I’m not sure I like this BBQ tone thing, I think I’ll go back to my usual style.)[/sub]
With all the pampering and royal customer treatment I get around here, I’m always shocked at the amount of (relatively) bad service in the US. People seem sloppy and friendly in a bad way, i.e. I sense a lack of respect. It’s all relative of course. It’s only jarring and somewhat annoying because I’m not used to these kinds of attitudes anymore. French temperament tends to be snappy I guess which is what makes ass-hole attitudes stand out even more to United States of Americans.
BTW, I’ve travelled quite a bit and I’ve learned one thing at least, you always find what you take with you. (To paraphrase Yoda). Stereotypes are the very, very last thing you want to pack in your suitcase.
Guys, enough of the French hating already. sure, I’m no fan of their Government (its a Europe thing, you wouldn’t understand 
) But it dosent mean that we should be suggesting that we test nukes on them.
The snooty employees of a bookstore != The entire population of France.
You know, I have been to Paris a couple of times. My parents have visited Paris a couple of times. They and I have traveled in France. My younger sister spent an entire summer with a family in southern France in a student exchange program. Not one of us ever encountered unfriendly people in our travels there.
I have heard repeatedly how the French hate everybody, and won’t talk to you, and are unfriendly, etc. I can’t agree at all.
I like cheese.
well, you eat everything. 
FWIW, I’ve got a bit o’ French in me (grandmother was born there) and didn’t find the OP/er insulting at all. This, however:
was just ||this much too much.
Oh, and Oxymoron, I think you’ll find in France that if you try to speak the language (which you certainly seemed intent on doing, given that it was the reason you went to that bookstore) French people will fall over backward accomodating you. I know that was my experience in France (and not just confined even to one province). If, on the other hand, you make no attempt whatsoever to speak the language, you’ll get exactly the reaction of so many Americans when they see tourists (in America, just so’s we don’t get confused) who can’t speak the language and don’t give two shits.
Um, I’m a Scot…
Wait, wait, so Oxy gets shat upon in his attempt to y’know, buy books that a store actually sells, and it’s his fault that he’s pissed at the French?
Please. I’m frequently in Kinokuniya, I hardly speak a word of Japanese, and yet I get no attitude – are they doing something wrong?
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Mr. Oxy’s idignation at the less than proper treatment he fell victim to is quite acceptable.
Less so is his, and others’, extending the flame to a whole nation. It’s called bigotry and, even in the context of a rant, is abject and unexcusable.
I know satire has been used and abused recently on these boards, but please, what if someone had said:
(coding fixed. – Uke)
Ah, yes, I fixed up Ace0Spades’ VBscript but screwed up mine…
Please, could a moderator be kind enough to fix up this mess… Sorry.
I’m pleased to hear that. It is a given that experiences vary for everyone, and thus far, all I’ve heard from those who’ve visited, or are familiar with, the area is…well…along the lines of the OP. It is what I’ve heard, but not necessarily what I believe. I still have hope that my various European and/or well-travelled friends just fell into a bunch of unfriendly folk.
I promise, my symbolic suitcase will not be packed with stereotypes whenever, and should I ever, visit France. It would be untrue to say I will not have the opinions of my French-disliking friends in mind, but I would be hopeful to prove them wrong. It can happen.
I would say, if you don’t want to get whacked with a stereotype, don’t be like the stereotype. If you push people’s buttons, don’t be suprised when the rail against the type of person you’ve shown yourself to be.
I think Twist O’Fate had the nice separation between individual action and gross sterotyping. Of course, we knew that.
I would say sublight’s reaction was the least understandable, and has the amazing twin action of blaming the victim (oxy), and playing the victim card for himself. Amusingly, he thinks that we were “talking shit about him and his family,” since, of course, we knew him from shinola.
Luckily for Sublight, I like the French, and tolerate assholes quite well. But it’s an acquired taste, and I certainly can see how they get that reputation. If you’re an asshole, occasionally you’re going to be flamed for being an asshole. We actually did bomb Japan and Germany, yet they are both wonderful guests and visitors – and if they can, certainly the French can work harder on their rampant insecurities. Maybe stage a successful war?
And I would understand if Oxy had posted a historically accurate poking of any culture if they’d treated him this way in what is supposed to be a foreigner-friendly situation. It’s pretty inexcusable assholery, IMHO.
And from what I have heard from friends who went to Paris, the French are an… odiferous people. They are the inventors of 3-day deodorant for a reason.
The posters who are getting on the OP’s case for mocking the French need to get a serious grip, as do the idiots who are getting in on the French-bashing.
A. Getting personal. Sublight, if you are mhow do you say, French, a citizen of ]i]la belle France* or a French-Canadian, then you might have a right to get offended. Maybe. If you get red-faced about every little bit of hyperbole you encounter, I predict a massive coronary in your future.
B. Historical accuracy. Actually, the Scots and the French were hisotric allies against the English. Witness the French alliance between Mary of Guise and Mary Stuart. Witness the aid the French gave the Scots in their several rebellion against English rule before the Act of Union.
C. The French do deserve some of the bad press. Oh, not the silliness about being unfriendly to tourists, but more how the French government props up its petty remnant of empire by toying with the politics and economies of Francophone African nations, as in the mid-90s devaluation of the CFA. And their craven surrender to the Germans and the large portion of the French who actively collaborated in the arrest and deportation of French Jews to the death camps in the east. And how they have used the inhabitants of French territories in the Pacific as nuclear guinea pigs. And how the French have made a bestseller out of an insane book that accuses the US government and Israel of staging the WTC/Pentagon attacks. There’s a lot to dislike about the French government.
Still, the US owes its independence to the intervention of the French. The French gave us the Statue of Liberty, as well. They founded New Orleans, and sold us the Louisiana Territory at very reasonable terms. (Of course, that’s because Napoleon had given up on his plans to use Louisiana as a staging ground for the conquest of North America.)
So the French are both good and bad, and their government has some questionable bits on its resume, not unlike the US, or Great Britain, or any other nation.
The French people, OTOH, are nice enough (except for that one bitch at the ticket booth in the Chartres train station)
“France got the bomb
but don’t you grieve
'cause they’re on our side
(I believe)…”
reddragon_60, yer gonna find stinky people anywhere you go. You could just as easily make the assumption that because there are stinky people in, for example, DC, all of America smells like shit and that’s why we have commercials for deodorant so often. I will say this: I did not notice any general foul aroma specific to France (I mean, sure, things smelled bad occasionally, but it was nothing I’ve never encountered before) when I was there other than the cows who lived on the farmland where I stayed for a few weeks. Cow damage indeed:)
This has got to be one of the single fucking stupidest things I have heard in recent memory.
Because? Oh, never mind…
Good luck with the crank-of-the-month award.
-Ace
Thanks.
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