medium sized chip on a reputedly large shoulder

[Michael Eisenstadt]

Jon Ford wrote:
> 
> Mike-- Here's what I did: Each day I kept track of the most outrageously
> rude French guy I encountered and gave him (or her, as the  case sometimes
> was ) a little card for the "rude French waiter of the day award."  Some
> just shrugged their shoulders at this (americain stupid!); others were
> rather offended. At least it helped me keep track of the subtle varieties of
> French rudeness. The worst fellow I encountered was the ticket seller at a
> theater in Montparnase who rejected my "student card discount" (perfectly
> valid, as I take courses at the Stanford  Extension) because the discount
> was for "real students, who are desperately poor." I commented that ten
> other theaters in Paris had accepted my card; he just shrugged his
> shoulders.
 
Jon,

Tres interesting. I trust you missed the August heatwave that killed 
so many oldsters.

Did you really provide yourself with rude Frenchman cards for the 
trip? Does this perhaps suggest that you had a prior "attitude"? As 
you are said to be significantly larger than your dad, my next door 
neighbor, who is a few inches over 6 feet, you must have made quite 
an impression. I wish someone had taken videos of your encounters.

As for the student card ploy, that is irresistable. But i have
a question about your use of the Stanford U Extension School card. 
As you say, 10 Frenchmen/women at 10 theaters "accepted" your 
student card (and your persona as needy student -- which must have
been quite a stretch). The Montparnasse theater ticket seller 
who didnt represents 9% of the sample. So your mathematics is
suspect.

In a sense with your cards you were playing the role of the ugly
American. In a recent flight to Paris my roommate and I sat next
to and made the acquaintanceship of a very large gentleman who was
a roughneck on an offshore oil rig off off west Africa. He and 
his wife had recently moved to Austin from west Texas and there
was plenty of time for him to tell us all about himself, wife, 
kids and the trouble he had in finding a suitable Creationist 
church in Roundrock.

He expressed much disdain for the French based on his experiences:
he said the French roughnecks on the rig slept in their clothes
and never washed -- reason enough it seemed to him to form a
fixed opinion of the overall worth of their countrymen. As the Air 
France plane came to a stop and turned off the engines, he
raised his voice and commenced making very rude remarks about 
the French. Shh I said many of our French fellow travellers 
understand English and could hear him. I know that he said, 
that's why I'm doing it.

One has so many amusing experiences when travelling. If you're
up to it please consider sharing with us other amusing 
vignettes of your trip positive or negative.

Mike