Random Thoughts

[Beach Runner]

I finally pissed off a Frenchman.

Details! Did you only buy one piece at VC&A when the store was full of people buying a dozen of each item?

It's not hard to pi$$ off the French if you're American. When Beach Jacket was 8, we took her on her first trip to Paris. On the first night there we wanted her to see the Eiffel Tower at night. We jumped in a taxi, and said "Eiffel Tower." The driver said, "Je ne comprend pas." We said it again, and again he said that he didn't understand and motioned for us to get out of the taxi. We were incredulous; certainly every taxi driver in Paris knows the English translation. He was getting really ticked off because we weren't exiting the taxi, and all of a sudden, BJ said, "Tour F L." He said, "Oui, Tour Eiffel," and off we went.

Heck, talk about being smarter than a 5th grader? We're not even smarter than a 3rd grader.

 

[DD]

No.

I am sure you have also realized that you don't know how to raise your own children, and that they can do absolutley no wrong, because they are grandchildren.

Yes, that's right and we will spoil them all we want!! I stay in constant trouble because of this! Oh well. :roll:

I finally pissed off a Frenchman.

Let's hear it!!!

 

[audie]

Do you ever get to be an adult in your mom's eyes?

no

Somehow I doubt it. I know my mom never was an adult in her mom's eyes, and my mother still gives me laundry/cooking/housecleaning tips that a blind toddler would think was condescending...

my dad still tries to give me gas money

I finally pissed off a Frenchman.

score one for the kittay !

 

[scooterbug44]

my dad still tries to give me gas money

Parents and money are hilarious!

I finally got Mom to stop worrying that I was spending "too much" on her birthday/xmas gifts when I pointed out that I made more money than she did! She still fusses if she thinks it was more than $30 so I just tell her it was a great sale :roll:. (Oddly enough, none of those great sales are ever made public or documented). When she visited she wanted to buy me a $200 bedspread (just because) and then selected a $12 embroidered hand towel as her price appropriate b-day gift from me!

 

[ATJoe]

my dad still tries to give me gas money

Parents and money are hilarious!

So true. My father absolutely considers it a mortal sin when I pick up a dinner tab.

 

[ATJoe]

I finally pissed off a Frenchman.

Details! Did you only buy one piece at VC&A when the store was full of people buying a dozen of each item?

Let me add a few guesses. You.....

• mistakenly said Bonjour instead of Bonsoir after 6:00pm? :nono1:
• forgot to greet a shopkeeper upon entering their store then proceeded to actually touch the wares?
• mentioned you reside in Texas?!

 

[Beach Runner]

Let me add a few guesses. You.....

• mistakenly said Bonjour instead of Bonsoir after 6:00pm? :nono1:
• forgot to greet a shopkeeper upon entering their store then proceeded to actually touch the wares?
• mentioned you reside in Texas?!

From my experience since the devaluation of the US dollar relative to other currencies, it's hard to get any customer service when traveling outside of the US if you are not Asian/Middle Eastern, not when they're buying dozens of items at the LV or Baccarat store when you're buying just a few. Even back in the day when the dollar was good, as an American I felt discriminated against in Paris, no matter how well-dressed I presented myself. I make a point when vacationing in a large city to dress appropriately, not looking as though I were at the beach.

The exception is in Germany, where one is treated with great respect.

BTW ATJoe, I know you weren't pointing the finger at me as if it were my bad. I am just annoyed by being treated as a second-class citizen when shopping in some countries outside the US.

 

[scooterbug44]

They absolutely loved me in Europe..............except for in Paris!

I dressed like an European, followed their customs, spoke their languages (albeit like a 4 year old), and had a wonderful smile which broke through any language barrier except when I was trying to get some food in tourist central Paris! I never truly understood what a sneer was until I tried to order a mushroom omelet for lunch!

 

[iwishiwasthere]

Parents and money are hilarious!

I finally got Mom to stop worrying that I was spending "too much" on her birthday/xmas gifts when I pointed out that I made more money than she did! She still fusses if she thinks it was more than $30 so I just tell her it was a great sale :roll:. (Oddly enough, none of those great sales are ever made public or documented). When she visited she wanted to buy me a $200 bedspread (just because) and then selected a $12 embroidered hand towel as her price appropriate b-day gift from me!

Okay, I have been guilty of that. As a parent, I want my child to spend/save the money on herself. Just a smile and a little time is enough of a gift for me.

 

[Bob]

That's me. Of course, I never inhaled.

sure you didn't....................man