This incident occurred during my trip to Marseille, France. My friend and I just arrived by train from Spain late at night. As we had not had our dinner, and most eateries were closed at that hour, we headed to the nearest golden arches (aka McD) for a sampling of French-American cuisine. We lined up and my friend’s turn came first so he placed his order in English. I noticed that as soon as she heard English being spoken, the server became irritated and started muttering words in French. She went to get the orders, still muttering away and started ‘throwing’ the food into paper bags before ‘throwing’ the bags onto the counter towards my friend. Then she grabbed the money from my friend’s hands and promptly gave him his change without a single word being spoken.
I was so shocked by rudeness being shown towards us. The server then turned to me and spoke something in a raised tone and sounding very irritated. I gave her a cold stare and walked away, having had enough of her discourteous attitude. I felt very angry as we were paying customers and deserved a polite service although we are not locals and do not speak French. I was also in disbelief as I had always thought that Europeans in general are very friendly people. Coming from an Asian culture where being polite is a must when meeting guest especially those from other countries, this incident came as a rude jolt.
Later I mentioned this incident to a French classmate. She explained that a small group of French people have a preconceived notion that the French is superior to other languages and those that do not speak it are of a lower class. However, this group of people constitutes only a very small minority and most French are very willing to accept foreigners speaking foreign languages. She hoped that I had not had a wrong impression of the country and the people. As it turns out, that incident was the last I had and my future travels in France was very pleasant.
Hi Jon.
ReplyDeleteIndeed that experience must have been pretty shocking. Well in Asia, it is emphasized all the time that we need to treat elders and guests with due respect. Like your classmate mentioned, many Europeans are now very open and accepting too except for a minority.
I have also heard similar experiences from my friends, especially those who visited France. I cannot help but share one particular incident which I still find to this very day utterly amusing.
One of my friends visited France with her family for the first time. Since they were unfamiliar with the area, they had to resort to asking the French people there for directions in English. To their utmost horror, they were blatantly ignored.
My friend's mother became so exasperated that she started talking to them in Tamil. That was when the French themselves came forward to ask if she knew English and offered her directions.
This was an interesting scenario but not every intercultural problem can be solved in this way and we may just have to learn from the experience and accept things the way they are.
Anyway, I hope you do not experience anymore unpleasant experiences in your future travels.
Cheers,
Divya
Hi Jon,
ReplyDeleteI must say that it is fortunate that you did not end up having a bad impression of the French people. This is the same case with everything else where one should not have preconceived ideas about a certain matter just because of a single unpleasant event. We should always seek to gather more information on the case before we come to any sensible conclusion.
In fact, I had an almost similar experience when I was travelling in Germany and I encountered a seemingly rude and burly German cashier. Then, at that very moment, I was a bit disgusted with the locals. However, when I went back to the shop to exchange the goods, the same guy suddenly appeared to be very friendly and approachable, especially when a "mega-watt" smile lit up on his previously stern face.
Sometimes, things are just not what they seem to be on the surface, don't you agree?
Hi Jon,
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, I agree that even though there may be one or two nasty incidents during our trips, it may be unfair to accuse the whole country of the faults of the minority. The tendency to generalize may then lead to misunderstandings about other cultures. After all, most societies these days have a minority group that may act in a undesirable manner, but it would be unfair to use them as representatives of that society as a whole. I do agree with your actions though. There is no reason why we should be subjected to such rude attitudes, and the best thing to do would be to walk away. We could prevent ourselves from losing our temper in the process.
I find Divya's story really amusing too. Is there still a lot of unpleasant feelings between the English and the French, even today? Is that the main reason why the French are so unhelpful to those who speak English to them?
Salut Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteI am one of Brad's student taking ES2007S. Being someone who is fascinated by the french culture, I knew I had to make a comment about this issue.
Indeed, the french are well-known for their rudeness towards people who speak English to them.If you had done your research on France, I am sure you will come across travel guide books which mention about their disliking for English.However, try placing yourself in their shoes. If I am from Thailand and I ask you for directions in Thai, how would you feel? Some may feel irritated and thus reacted in a negative way.
According to my french lecturer, if you attempt to use some helpful french phrases, then the french might be more willing to help you.For example, maybe you could say " excuse-moi.Vous parlez anglais?" I guess it would be more polite as well.
I totally agree with Ronnie that you can't assume Europeans to be friendly. In addition, Marseille is located far away from the capital so they might not be expose to the "globalize" world yet.
Ronnie is right about the anti-English sentiments among French.According to a book by Stephen Clarke, some French people are against the British people. This traces all the way back to their shared history.
Nevertheless,this incident you encountered was quite outrageous.You and your friend should not be treated this way. But bear in mind that this sort of incident could also take place in other countries of a different culture.It isn't all about the French too.
Anyway, thank you for blogging about your travel experiences in France.
Bonne journee!
Cordinalement,
Deenise
Thanks very much, Jonathan for a stimulating post, one that has generated lots of interesting feedback. I can sympathize with you and your travel buddy, but I tend to agree with Deenise and her assessment. In a case like the one you describe, it might have been better initially to state a greeting in French, and maybe even to ask if was okay to place the order in English. France may be just the place to practice the phrases given from the guidebook.
ReplyDelete