France Tales

We’ve been in stores in a variety of settings: mall like, little village stores, medium sized, chain stores, etc.

The clerks are very nice and friendly. They really talk to you about the items.

They aren’t in a hurry.

Copper wanted to buy a vent-less dryer. We went to Leclerc in Bergerac. The young woman was so friendly. She told us about all the machines and explained their features. Then she told us that you really don’t need a vent-less dryer and went on to explain why. Then she showed us a few vented dryers and how to convert them. She reviewed the vent-less dryers again, this time making a stronger pitch for the vented ones, even though they are cheaper.

He decided to buy one and then she asked if we had a Leclerc rewards card, she explained all the features and perks, walked us to the part of the store where you applied for one, waited, helped during the application, and came back with us to review 2 last dryers in case we hadn’t really decided. He paid and went to get the car.

Guess who came with a dryer on a dolly and helped load it into the car, talking the whole time about who knows what. I had given up on following at that point because I couldn’t believe she still had anything to say. I thought she was going to strip naked and demonstrate how it worked in the parking lot. As we drove away I nervously looked around to make sure she wasn’t following us home to install it for us, stay for dinner, and tell us some bedtime stories.

Not in a hurry in a good way.

Not in a hurry in a bad way. Not really a bad way but a negative way. I had to get a couple of pictures taken for my carte de sejour. I went to a photo place in Leclerc. I waited at the counter for about 10 minutes. I could see the women who worked there and they were at the back of the photo area just talking and laughing. I have nothing against this, unless you are trying to sell me a dryer. They looked up and saw me but made no move to the counter. It really wasn’t a big deal but they were clearly in no hurry to get back to work. When she finally came to the counter she was friendly and let me speak in French without laughing at me, although I’m sure what I said was correct. I’ve experienced this a lot, again no big deal but if I were in more of a hurry it might bug me, just an observation.

Later on I was in a bathroom in a public place. I turned the automatic dryer on and had this strange thought. In Mexico 3 years ago, I experienced my first of those super high powered air hand dryers, the ones that sound like an Airbus super jet lifting off. They have been popping up around Philadelphia recently. As I pressed the button I wondered which type this would be. I pressed it a couple of times because I couldn’t feel the air or hear the motor, but in fact it was already on. It was very faint and it felt like someone was breathing on my hands rather than a fan trying to dry them. I thought even the hand dryers aren’t in a hurry in France.