Stereotype-Breakers!

Set aside your stereotypes. Parisians are just like Americans. Well, not exactly. Parisians are the New Yorkers of America who wear black in every season and eat a baguette every day. Parisians have their game face on when walking on the street. Just like New Yorkers. In Paris, it’s an issue of safety (and their internal nonchalance...to be explained when I understand it). You see the same phenomenon in New York City. People are less likely to smile at strangers on the street than people in the Midwest. They’re not mean. But they live in a different context. I saw a man the on the metro the other day carrying a bouquet of roses. Surprise of surprises...a Parisian man reminded me that manners do exist. Stereotype-breaker! A friend and I got lost in the 13e on Sunday (shops closed). A woman who had been going about her own business and had just finished running for exercise stopped and asked us if we needed help, proceeded to check our map, had trouble finding it, and finally prevailed over the ambiguity of a circular intersection with 8 street names extending from the center. I would like to think that I am polite; however, if I could not have found the obscure rue, I would have just apologized and continued to pant my way home. Granted, I probably would not have been able to form coherent sentences after running without sounding like a sputtering air vent. But no, this parisienne gave her time away with a smile. Stereotype-breaker! And she’s not the only one. On my first day of classes, I embarked for school, and proceeded to get lost...immediately. Yes, I know, embarrassing. And typical. I asked a man who was walking his bike for the directions, and he proceeded to take out his iPhone and map it for me. What a gem. Stereotype-breaker! These people are so friendly when you attempt to understand them. Any shopkeeper will give you a big smile if you speak to them in foreigner’s French. They know you are trying. You are learning. You care. They, evidently, care, too.