Rude French People Sucks
 

On my recent trip to Paris, I went to a small shop on Rue du Temple. It had a little door and I had a baby in stroller with me, with much difficulty, I pushed the stroller in.
After I got in the store, three men in white robe looked at me like they wanted to eat me. (Why they are wearing robes really puzzle me... since they are selling knickknacks). One of the men approached me and pointed to the stroller and said something in French. I said,"Oh, no stroller allowed?" he kept saying something in French. Then he said,"What do you want?"
I said,"I am just looking around." He said in broken English,"No! Can not just buy one. This is a wholesale. Must buy a lot!BYE!" He was almost screaming.
I looked around the store and saw people went in and they don't look like wholesaler to me. Yet, he nod at them and smile. Yes, they were all white. I am Asian.
I stood there refused to leave. He looked at me and yelled,"BYE!"
I have never encountered such humiliation in my life! French people are rude. This guy is just a miserable piece of !@#$
If I weren't with my baby, I would have made a scene.
Just needed to vent.
Thanks.

And you signed up with Fodor's to post THIS???? This tells a lot about you, and nothing positive.

Honey, whether you want to admit it or not, you ALREADY MADE a "scene" so please quit hiding behind the kid. Your behavior speaks volumes and I suspect those men in the funny robes use better grammar than you do, too. Grow up.

No, I have been a lurker on board for a few months now... before my trip to France. I wanted to be prepared, got some good advices. I have never posted but today.
Thanks for your support.

Still, why bother?

Are there only rude people in France, or is it only the French rude people who suck?

Transparent troll.

Your gross generalization of all French people based on one singular experience is inappropriate. Regardless of your race, you didn't belong in their little shop with a baby carriage. Obviously the gentleman didn't handle the situation all that well, but going on a rant on this board well after the event seems as overreactive as the situation itself. Lurker or not, your first impression to the group isn't going to garner you much sympathy.

BTW Rude French People (plural) suck. A rude frenchman (singular) sucks.

Did you have any positive experiences in France? Why not share those in a trip report so others can benefit from your travel experiences?

All the stores on Rue du Temple appear to be for wholesale only, and they are all marked that way. I'm sure there could have been a better way for them to have told you that no retail was allowed. In any case, I've had nothing but positive experiences in my stay in France. In the stores everyone seems more polite than in North America. Everybody says "bonjour" and "au revoir". Actually, if you want good service, you really should say "bonjour" when you enter the store.

That's true. I was too upset. That's all. My trip to Paris was pretty enjoyable except for this incident.
Maybe I should just say... rude people sucks?
I am not a troll by the way.
End of discussion.

The little doors are designed to keep robust americans out. Trust me - even turning sideways often isn't enough to barge inside.

Good to know white robes back on style now. Where they knee or ankle length? And what color shoes were these rude Frenchies wearing? Pink or Purple?

No, actually you should say "Rude people suck." It's the plural verb form.

When it was so clear that you did not belong in this store, for whatever reason, I don't understand why you did not simply turn and leave.

It's sad that after a visit to Paris this is the only thing you have to report.

Why are you people being so rude to susanyang? She said she was just venting!

She had a highly embarrassing experience in a foreign country. She felt she was being singled out in a racist way.

For crying outloud, isn't she entitled to a little opion that some French people are rude when she saw it with her own two eyes?

I think it is often the people on this board who are rude.

Not to defend or offend anyone but there are always two sides to every story. 1. My experience is that people tend to speak louder to you in a foreign language thinking that if they speak louder you'll understand, so that might account for the yelling. 2. As for the stroller, I work in retail and strollers are a menace. I understand that they make mother's lives easier but they are a pain for everyone else. I've had them run over my foot, watch people shove them into spaces they don't fit into and run into things and not care that they damage things with the stroller. I think this had more to do with a language misunderstanding and the stroller than anything to do with race. You?d probably have a similar experience in the US under the same circumstances.

Wow, you guys are really touchy. Doesn't a person have a right to complain? Yes, there are rude people in France just like here or in any country and sometimes it is nice to be able to vent alittle without getting scolded.

Oh, and then one of the grammar cops on this board have to sit on her. Then a person scolds her for not giving one of those blow-by-blow/proverbial slide show trip reports.

I don't think it is rude to question her behaviour. susanyang came on the BB to vent, but I see problems in her attitude. Maybe the first clue to turn around would have been "with much difficulty" pushing your stroller into a nicknack shop.

cymbeline -- thank you.
But please, I don't want to start an argument. I should not have posted my negative experience here.
My fault.

"Yes, they were all white. I am Asian"

Susan sounds more like an north american of asian ancestry.

Better chance they were rude because you were a western rather than eastern.

The problem with your post is that you haven't made a travel comment, you have merely jumped on the political anti-French bandwagon thats been rolling merrily along since March last year.

You obviously went into the wrong shop by mistake, which can happen to anyone, but as you were unable to speak the language of the country you were a guest in, you couldnt understand the explanation being offered. That happens too. But being unable to speak a foreign language in their own country is NOT rude or ignorant, while expecting a native to speak YOUR language is. Sadly this is often an Anglo-American disease - and a very rude one indeed.

Next time take a phrase book with you - and leave your prejudices at home - you will have more fun.

Consider yourself scolded. Now, did you have any positive experiences in Paris?Didn't you meet any French people who were polite and/or kind? We went for the first time this year and never encountered any rudeness at all.

Posters here would most likely have been kinder, if you had told about the positive experiences you had in Paris, and then mentioned one negative one you had (one that you did not understand the reasons behind or you suspected was a racially motivated incident).

Susan, people that anger you, control you, even long after the fact.

You run into rude fools in all countries. Let it go and move on.

The area you describe is the wholesale handbag district. It's pretty tempting--one walks by window after window of beautiful handbags. But each store I saw had signs saying that they sold to the trade only. Did you miss those or not understand them?

Even in Manhattan, if you tried to go into a wholesaler or to-the-trade showroom, you'd be treated just as brusquely. And you might find that those merchants didn't speak any better English than the ones you encountered in Paris.

I hope you will share your positive experiences with us.

Well said Degas.

cymbeline, no a "blow-by-blow/proverbial slide show trip reports" isn't necessary (especially since Susan has already posted what was obviously the highlight of the trip) But it seems odd that after planning and taking a trip, the one and only post she ever made is to "vent". Did she think we would all say that it was terrible that she was scolded in a language that she didn't understand, after shoving a stroller into a small shop, and oh my God the people in the shop weren't dressed like she thought they should be? Funny, these things can happen when you visit another country! Next time remember that you are a guest, don't be angry that you can't understand something that is spoken in another language, or that someone's mannerisms are different from your own or from what you think they should be. Besides, they are probably posting on a forum somewhere about the mad woman who barged her way into their wholesale shop with a baby stroller.

BTW, curious to what Susan thinks a wholesale customer looks like as she stated: "I looked around the store and saw people went in and they don't look like wholesaler to me."

A "wholesaler" may easily look like you or me, but certainly would not be pushing a stroller.

"Author: cymbeline
Date: 10/04/2004, 07:24 pm
Message: Why are you people being so rude to susanyang? She said she was just venting!

She had a highly embarrassing experience in a foreign country. She felt she was being singled out in a racist way."


Huh? Where in the post is there even a hint of anyone being racist, except in susanyang mentioning that she was Asian and they were white. You mean she was being a racist for pointing out they were white? Yes, I guess that is racism. She said nothing about them doing anything to indicate her race had anything to do with it. But her making a point about their being white while she is Asian is the only racism I find here. Why was that even mentioned?

Almost every trip I have ever taken has involved an encounter with at least one rude person. I get mad for about 5 minutes, then I get over it and go on to enjoy my trip. When I come home and talk about my trip, the encounter with the rude person never enters into my story. Please do not let this one incident color your entire memory of your trip or predjudice you against the French people. There are a lot more good people in France than bad.