As have most of you I'm sure, I've often felt like I was utterly at the end of my rope on various occasions over the last thirty years (in fairness, mostly in the last fifteen or so.) But that's the funny thing about being at the end of your rope: 90% of the time it just means you've reached a critical threshold of bitchiness, and then you break on through (to the other side) and bitch even more. I was thinking about this on my morning hike, this one up to the Place de la Republique, down to the Place de la Nation, then back to the Place du Kungfuramone (i.e. my apartment.) The daily grind of stress, boredom, and alienation have me pretty stretched thin, but it's not like I'm going to do anything about it besides complaining a lot.
On days like today, I'll just select one thing about France that drives me crazy and elaborate briefly. Today's topic is: Exact Change. The French are psychos about exact change. The surest way to get a dirty, dirty look from a cashier is to try to pay with a bill one denomination or more larger than you need (i.e. a 10 for a 4 euro purchase, a 20 for a 9 euro purchase, etc.) The only thing that can slow down the otherwise lightning-quick process of ringing you up and getting you out of the store are change issues; I think this one chick was ready to call security on me the other day when I didn't have the 70 centiemes over my 20 euro total and she had to break another bill.
But here's the thing: French ATMs give you fucking 50s! Even if you were the nicest, most change-conscious person in la belle France, you still have to find some store, somewhere, that will do the initial breakdown on your pocket full of 50 euro bills! This sounds silly and trivial, sure, but you try knowing that you're on every supermarket shit-list intra muros and see how you feel!
I asked my homie Pierre, certified French guy, how most French people deal with it. To my relief, he said that it sucks just as much for them, that they get the dirty looks too, that they hoard their change and carefully dole it out only when they can't deal with one more pissed-off guy at a boulangerie or café, etc. I feel better knowing that I'm fucking up with my poor change-making just like the French do.
9.12.2008
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7 comments:
The nasty cashier change issue and 50 euro ATM problem is not justa problem in France. I was dealing with the exact same things all summer in Italy. Must be an EU thing. Don't worry about the stress and just enjoy yourself. View it as a Hyborian adventure to cities that are "ancient and wicked" where one must ask "Does the wind ever get in here?" Fine!
Why don't you just use your bank card at Monoprix?
And actually I never got those dirty looks in Toulouse... maybe it's that whole Northern French or Parisian thing again.
Ha! These are sure signs you've arrived.
On the issue of Paris and Parisians (raised by noncoupable). Burgundians told me that Parisians are like no other people in France. (I found this to be only partially true.) They also said that other French people, generally, hate Parisians as much as foreigners do. It was kind of there's the French and then there are les Parisiens. So, perhaps change is a Parisian (and Roman) thing. Have you considered a weekend out?
T: The one good thing is that they won't serve me hagga. I get a lot of "I would sell hagga to a slayer such as you?!"
N: Monoprix is the least of my worries with the change thing; at least it's big enough that they care *less* than everywhere else.
D: I totally buy that. But even if I sneak off somewhere (unlikely, given my never-ending quest to keep costs down), it's still only for a few days, and I'm here for, let's see, 104 more days as of today.
Change is an issue here too. I try to carry the smaller bills with me, but to use the big bills when I think they might have change and preface it with a very sweet "would you be able to change this?" It usually works around here, but Peruvians don't seem to be into dirty looks as much. If they hesitate, I tell them not to worry and give them a smaller one. But, it is a pain because I always find myself thinking about where I should pay with big bills.
I guess they just don't like change...
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!
You know you miss me
I actually never had a problem with breaking bills; I had the problem when I tried to pay with too much change. :) Too many coins, and I got massive dirty looks, they seemed to prefer bills in Austria, so who knows?
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