LOCAL COLOR: FRANCE. People speak of how hard the French are on American tourists, but we have only encountered kindness and politeness with one exception. Once Mary Jane picked up a magazine and put it back. The lady at the kiosk harangued her, and we finally figured out that she was upbraiding Mary Jane for not squaring up the magazine when she put it back. We have always thought of the incident as illustrating French perfectionism and not French rudeness.
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It’s not just the French. I still remember a scolding I got for not putting a comic book back perfectly when I was a kid. Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons isn’t made up out of whole cloth, lemme tell ‘ya.
Regrettably, there was a huge incident which has altered my happy feelings about Paris and Annalisa’s too. At Le Procope, Voltaire’s desk is prominently displayed on the top floor. But when she and I were standing there admiring it, a troop of waiters came crashing at top speed out of the kitchen door, ran into Annalisa, and proceeded to upbraid us for standing near the kitchen exit door. There was no concern for the poor customer. And, clearly, they do this all the time! They exit at top speed right near a tourist attraction. They undoubtedly yell at any tourist not quick enough to jump out of their way. When I spoke to the manager about this, it was actually comical in retrospect. He was SO BORED. He kept reciting, “Madame, j’en suis desole,” as if he could hardly stay awake.
But, then, in Argentan, we stopped off at 2 p.m. to have lunch. The husband and wife who ran the cafe had just sat down to eat their OWN lunch. First, they gave us theirs. Then they ran off to a bakery to buy some more bread to make the other (delicious) sandwiches. You can’t beat that for hospitality. And that was before each sandwich would have cost $20! I am still in shock over how expensive everything in Europe is now. And when I think of how the Euro was once slipping, slipping. Boy, they sure managed to plug up that hole.
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I am trying to contact Philip the brother of Elmer Schaefer York High School 1959. The 1959 reunion committee has not been able to contact Philip. The address we have for Philip is no longer valid. His notification post card was returned today. If infact you are our Philip, please send me a conformation e-mail with information on where we can contact you or at least advise me that you are not him so I can go on looking.
Sincerely yours;
George Yutel Class of 1959
Since I got your comment, I have been in touch by phone and e mail with Christy Coolidge, and I am looking forward to the Reunion. Thanks, George. I have a recollection of you playing third base in eighth grade.