Why we are getting out of the UK to join you....

[Panick]

Thought I'd change the title as it seems to have generated a variety of posts all of which I found interesting in various ways, but got rather off track, mine included. As this is supposed to be a  forum to discuss your favourite reads, has anyone else, who has actually read the book, got any viewpoints?

Also, to reiterate my first post, is there an equivalent French version?

[Chancer]

[quote user="5-element"]

I would confirm Panda's post word for word.[:D]

I keep hoping that my experience of French rudeness is down to regional variations, and that if I was just to jump on a TGV and go to, say, Nantes, or Lille, or Strasbourg, or Boujan-sur-Libron or Ax-les-Thermes, then I would encounter this French politeness that some people praise so much!

[/quote]

I second your confirmatiuon of Panda's post[:)]

I cant speak for other regions but in my area rudeness  is very evident and in my view down to ignorance, education and isolation from other cultures etc, more like insulation really as the people here are insulaires.

When I travel less than an hour to Lille or even Amiens it is like visiting an altogether different and far more pleasant country.

[Bugsy]

[quote user="Panick"]

Thought I'd change the title as it seems to have generated a variety of posts all of which I found interesting in various ways, but got rather off track, mine included. As this is supposed to be a  forum to discuss your favourite reads, has anyone else, who has actually read the book, got any viewpoints?

Also, to reiterate my first post, is there an equivalent French version?

[/quote]

You can only live in hope Panick, only hope......................[:D][:D]

Mention the very thought of moving to france and out come the feuding armies, rose-tinted glasses on one hand and etc, etc.

I've followed Inspector Gadgets blog for a long time and its so funny and, sadly true. If the book is the same it should be well worth a read.

As regards your 'lost' question, I've never heard of a equivalent one.

Enjoy, and stop counting the pay-packets...................just be grateful you still get one.............[:)]

Gary

[Scooby]

Ditto to JR and Panda's posts from here - and with regard to crime, we experienced our first

forced entry / burglary.....here in rural France.  We also get our

share of boy racers etc.  Whereever you get humans living together you

will get the 'bad' elements - nothing to do with the country just human

nature.   Never make a choice for negative reasons but for positive

ones.

[Kitty]

[quote user="Panda"][quote user="Panick"]  Any country where the waiter gets called Sir is fine by us. Here they just suck their teeth at you!! Politeness means a lot to us as a rule. [/quote] If politeness is important to you I think you should chose again!  French shop staff, restaurant staff  not to mention the airport staff  wouldn't know customer service if it came up and bit them!  After 5 years here I am still amazed about the general attitude to customers, the UK has it's faults but if you compare service levels between the countries, sorry the UK wins hands down for me.  [/quote]

Reading through this thread, when I saw the comment by Panick about liking politeness, I immediately thought 'Crickey, don't come to France then' and found that Panda and others have said the same (subject to regional variations).

Truly, Panick, France is not the place to come to if you want politeness.  I adore my life in France (most of the time) but "French politeness" is an oxymoron.

[babcock]

Ok so what is the french for "rude"? Is ther somthing more specific than "impolite"

[Jonzjob]

Try 'grossier' for rude, or 'grossiére' for the feminine..

We haven't found very much rudeness in shops or eating places. In fact we have commented as to how good the 'service staff' have been in almost all the places we have been to. But then again we have only been here for 4 years so??????

I think attitudes bring attitudes a lot of the time (duck John!!![:D])

[Panda]

Yes you better duck John![:)]

OK what about this one.  I bought a chicken from Intermarche I get it home and put it in the fridge.  I go to cook it 2 days later, well within the sell buy date and it has gone off.  I go back to Intermarche where I approach the customer service desk, I show the chicken to the person at the desk and she proceeds to spout on about how I should have cooked it earlier, I should have taken it out of it's packaging, my car was too hot or I was too long getting home, you name it whatever made this chicken of off it was my fault!  I stood my ground argued for 15 minutes and eventually she practically chucked the refund back at me.

In Tesco last year I had the same thing happen (hmmm, perhaps it is me), they were incredibly and suitably embarrassed and ran off to replace the item and gave me my money back

I was so shocked by my french experience, how on earth can they think that this is the way to respond to their shoddy produce going out, it makes no commercial sense but then that is often the case in France I find.  They don't care what  you think of them or their shop and Intermarche are a franchise not some huge faceless enterprise.

[Bugsy]

[quote user="Jonzjob"]

I think attitudes bring attitudes a lot of the time (duck John!!![:D])

[/quote]

Spot-on JJ....................................................

[plod]

I haven't read the book - I've got a copy of "Wasting Police Time" which is a PC's version, and very dull to read. It isn't true, neither is Gadget's book/blog, although of course there are truthful elements. It is a partisan book written by a cynic. Yes, I know police officers are cynical (I was one for 20 years) but Gadget is a cynic. A clue to his agenda can be found in the fact that his material is published in the Daily Mail.

[Rob]

Probably the worst and most frequent form of rudeness I have encountered in France are those who come to live here in the expectation that the French should be able to speak English, and who make little attempt to learn the language! I know many do make the effort, but we are let down by a large minority who do not.

 

[Bugsy]

[quote user="plod"]I haven't read the book - I've got a copy of "Wasting Police Time" which is a PC's version, and very dull to read. It isn't true, neither is Gadget's book/blog, although of course there are truthful elements. It is a partisan book written by a cynic. Yes, I know police officers are cynical (I was one for 20 years) but Gadget is a cynic. A clue to his agenda can be found in the fact that his material is published in the Daily Mail.[/quote]

One could just as easily say that the view you have expressed above is very cynical.................[:)]

[Bugsy]

[quote user="Rob"]

Probably the worst and most frequent form of rudeness I have encountered in France are those who come to live here in the expectation that the French should be able to speak English, and who make little attempt to learn the language! I know many do make the effort, but we are let down by a large minority who do not.

[/quote]

Not just those who have moved here Rob.

Most of us have encountered the embarrassing 'brit' family in the restaurant, shouting louder and louder because the 'stupid' waiter speaks no english.

They eventually get their meal, of course and usually comment on the delicious tasting 'dressing' that the kind waiter has added to the dish whilst on his way from kitchen to table [+o(][:-))]

[:D][:D][:D][:D]

[Jonzjob]

Crikey BB I thought that YOU would have realised that if the locals don't understand Engliish then by talking slowly, clearly and LOUDER the stupid person/s will understand your rantings. After all, English is the official lang of the EU [:P][:D]!!!

I try to hide when I hear them!

[Dick Smith]

One could say that, but one wouldn't be making a whole lot of sense...

Especially as there is nothing cynical in it. It is actually sceptical, which is generally considered to be a Good Thing. Especially when faced with prejudice and propaganda.

[Panick]

The couple we heard shouting 'Garcon' had us trying to dive under the table.....

[Bugsy]

[quote user="Dick Smith"]One could say that, but one wouldn't be making a whole lot of sense...

Especially as there is nothing cynical in it. It is actually sceptical, which is generally considered to be a Good Thing. Especially when faced with prejudice and propaganda.
[/quote]

That shouldn't worry you Dick, remember that I used to be apothetic, but now I can't be bothered.......

  

[5-element]

[quote user="babcock"]Ok so what is the french for "rude"? Is ther somthing more specific than "impolite"[/quote]

"Impoli", or  "malpoli", but interestingly, there doesn't seem to be a word that translates "rude" exactly. Maybe that is quite significant.

"Grossier" is more like "coarse". 

Rob, I have no problem understanding French, and the French have no problem understanding me, and I would still say that there is a lot of rudeness in France, some of it coming from Brits in the way you describe, but by no means most of it. Rudeness is considered quite normal in many circumstances, depending on region, generation, social background, and type of interaction. The kind of French rudeness that springs most readily to mind is that of certain shopkeepers or shop assistants.

Saying that it is to do with the attitude that one brings along is just cobblers. I can think of a number of shop people or bureaucrats I would defy anyone to find pleasant and agreeable and polite.

[mint]

"desagrèable", will that do 5-e?  Isn't that stronger than impoli?

[suein56]

[quote user="sweet 17"]"desagrèable", will that do 5-e?  [/quote]

Round here 'mal élevé' is the ultimate (polite) condemnation.

Sue

[Jonzjob]

[quote user="5-element"]

[quote user="babcock"]Ok so what is the french for "rude"? Is ther somthing more specific than "impolite"[/quote]

Saying that it is to do with the attitude that one brings along is just cobblers. I can think of a number of shop people or bureaucrats I would defy anyone to find pleasant and agreeable and polite.

[/quote]

I would still argue that where ever you go in the world, not just here, if you take a noxious attitude with you you will will receive the same attitude in return.

We have not yet come up against the attitude you speak of. Not in the Impot, CPAM, Prefecture or anywhere else. Well apart from a little 'lady' in France Telecom who was overruled by one of her colleagues very quickly.

But as I have said before we have only been in the French system for just over 4 years now so who are we to argue?

When I lived in the Manchester area I even managed to get on with the people from there so perhapse I have a head start at this sort of thing [Www][6][Www]???

Bad attitude = bad reception peut etra?? Some of the time maybe??[6]

[Bugsy]

It is quite funny how some people seem to be able to engage in life in an amicable way where others frequently end up in a disgruntled situation.

It certainly isn't cobblers to suggest that the way situations are approached sets the tone for the outcome, as it pretty well always does. You only have to see the arguments on this forum that can occur simply because people haven't actually read what someone has written.

I was taught to always put yourself in the other persons position, works for me.

Its not just france   [:D]

 

Speaking generally, of course, there are always exceptions................before the bullets fly.[:D]

[5-element]

Jonzjob, if you think that I have "brought" with me a noxious/bad attitude, it is true that I will  be rude back to rude people - being that I am French myself, perhaps I am not beyond rudeness [geek]

 

It is always such a breath of fresh air when having to phone someone official in the UK, like the DWP, as compared to something similar here (Préfecture, CPAM, Centre des Impots for example) where you are often treated like a nuisance, an idiot, or a fraudster (in my area anyway, but given that Languedoc-Roussillon is the fastest growing region of France, with the largest influx of people of all kinds, that might be one of the reasons).

I am so very glad for you that so far in 4 years, you have not encountered any rudeness apart from one untypical occasion. Maybe you live in a blessed part of the country[blink]

I could give you a long list of instances,   one of the worst being a friend who was asking on the phone with CPAM (in a very nice way as you couldn't find ayone more mellow, polite, and positive, with fluent French) how long her carte vitale was likely to be, she was by the CPAM employee that "it will take as long as it takes, and if you don't like it, you can go back to England". My friend was so gobsmacked that she wrote a letter to the CPAM management for the discrimination aspect and the general rudeness to the public, asking if employees undergo any training in communication with the general public - this friend never even received an answer - even though she herself, was awarded the French Légion d'Honneur a few years ago by Chirac for services rendered to France. I know this is anecdotal - but I know of so many more anecdotes like this.

I have also met some very helpful and pleasant people - but I would not say they are the norm. I do agree with you that a generally positive, open and pleasant attitude will more readily generate a similar response though - but not in those people who are generally rude. Of course, sometimes the rude people with something to sell can put up a good front when they see a goose with some golden eggs going spare.

[Jotty]

[quote user="Jonzjob"]

But as I have said before we have only been in the French system for just over 4 years now so who are we to argue?

[/quote]

After only 4 years you are still on holiday.

Wait till you start to understand what people are saying to (and about you) [:)]

Of course everybody has a right to argue...

[Dick Smith]

[quote user="Jotty"][quote user="Jonzjob"]

But as I have said before we have only been in the French system for just over 4 years now so who are we to argue?

[/quote]

After only 4 years you are still on holiday.

Wait till you start to understand what people are saying to (and about you) [:)]

Of course everybody has a right to argue...[/quote]

Well, that's you TOLD, Mr Zjob! You fly-by-night Johnny-come-lately, you! Get your knees brown, son!