posted on April 21, 2003 01:46:21 AM new
With all this rash of anti-french stuff going on (cafeteria in Congress now calls french fries "freedom" fries, New York post writing articles telling New Yorkers to avoid local french restaurants, ice cream shops changing french vanilla to "I hate the french vanilla", a french wine shop where I live got vandalized, as well as a French ownered Furniture store, and people refusing to be served frnech cheese in restaurants, no joke, I have seen it!), who is jumping the bandwagon of banning french bidders from ebays? I think all this is silly, but just curious.
[ edited by ironking on Apr 21, 2003 02:32 AM ]
posted on April 21, 2003 08:38:54 AM new
I've been boycotting the French for years...ever since I was an exchange student there.
You want nasty, rude, bigoted? Try a Parisian. The conventional wisdom is that if you bother to learn some French before going, the high and mighty will unbend and treat you like an actual human being.
It's not true.
"Aux Etats-Unis? Eeuuwww!"
Like most of the world, they believe we have way more money than we deserve, and that they possess the one secret to a great nation: socialism. (Oh, and it has worked *so* well historically elsewhere, hasn't it.)
However, it's not necessary to go out of one's way to despise the French. They are their own worst punishment.
I'm vacationing in England this year. I love the Brits. On my many visits over there, I have been treated with respect and friendship. I would spend 6 months of every year there if I could.
--
"I'm thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said `I drank WHAT?'"
posted on April 21, 2003 08:50:19 AM new
I think people should take a stand in the best way they can. Be it ebay or cheese and wine.
The subject of Motel 6 came up in radio broadcast. If Motel 6, owned by a French company is boycotted it would put Americans out of work so that should not be an option.
However if you keep up on the news it is clear that the French are supporting Iraq and not America. They are the folks who are more concerned about the oil. We supported them when they needed it and for them to turn against us on an issue of terrorism is unconsionable.
There has been a French - Iraq connection for well over thirty years and it is not unusual to meet French speaking Middle Eastern people.
Boycotting on Ebay won't be effective in letting them know how some of us feel about this betrayal. However listing on the French Ebay and Boycotting the French could be?
posted on April 21, 2003 11:38:48 AM new
on another note...
its more possible that they dont want to lose one of their best customer (I believe, what was it.. 20% of their export goes to Iraq?)
as for how rude and what not they are... I really couldn't remember. The last time I was in Paris I was like 5-6 years old.. and that was over a decade ago.
posted on April 21, 2003 11:39:27 AM newIf Motel 6, owned by a French company is boycotted it would put Americans out of work
Maybe in Minnesota. But in California you can bet there are precious few American citizens employed by Motel 6s.
--
"I'm thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said `I drank WHAT?'"
posted on April 21, 2003 11:46:42 AM new
Who would boycot customers? That is idiotic. I admit that I probably would boycot something made by the French if I could buy something else (guess that means no Evian water for me) but boycotting customers??? No way!
posted on April 21, 2003 12:49:17 PM new
Let's see...being a fair person, if I were to boycott the French because of their anti-war sentiment, then, should'nt I boycott every other also nation that did'nt/ does'nt support the US? Why just single out France? How about....CANADA? they sit a little closer to home, have more at stake and did not support us.
Please don't let the old opinions about the French people scare you away from going there. I spent 2 weeks in Paris just last year. I absolutely LOVED it! and LOVED the people.
They were helpful and kind. One night we walked down the Siene river from Notre Dame to the Eiffle Tower...we arrived at the Eiffle tower just in time to see it light up with millions of tiny racing lights all over...it was amazing, I still get goosebumos thinking about it...along the way, on the river, we passed the Paris "Hells Angels" motorcycle club ( no kidding) which was housed in a river barge...they were strutting around with their dogs...not pit bulls and rotweillers like you might imagine....but English sheep dogs and French Poodles!!! haha! it was great! Pull up a chair in any sidewalk cafe and enjoy Mussles and fries....Sunday morning, you can go to service at Notre Dame, then wander through the open air Bird market and flower market, Saturday morning you hit the MANY flea markets all around the perimeter of the city, and you will not see more beautiful authentic Art Nouveau architecture in any other city.. FANTASTIQUE! and I speak VERY little French. I think everyone should go atleast once..I can't wait to go back next year!
posted on April 21, 2003 12:54:50 PM new
I don't want to turn this into a very political thread, there are lots of places I go to discuss politics. While I am not pleased with Canada, there is a difference. France is on the permanent security council, and they did everything they could to make sure that any other action in the UN could not happen. They had (financially) too much at stake. It does not seem like a coincidence to me that sabotage is a French word!
posted on April 21, 2003 01:16:17 PM new
I'm not trying to turn it into anything political either. There were many disappointing turns in this war. But this war taught me that politics = money from every side...including ours. It's a shame that innocent people (civilians and our young, brave troops) have to die over it. I would not boycott THE PEOPLE from any country, as I know that the actions of a countrys political machine do not accurately represent each persons individual opinion. Thank you kindly for sharing yours.
posted on April 21, 2003 01:22:41 PM new
definitely inot, I agree with you 100% - Opinions are all over the board, everywhere. It's important to distinguish that just because a government takes a position, it is not reflective of individuals that you are dealing with.
posted on April 21, 2003 02:16:20 PM new
There are so many misperceptions in this thread.
capyoda, Gotta set you straight on this one, because this is the kind of stuff people just mindlessly repeat. Iraq accounts for .15 percent - that's one-fifteenth of one percent - of France's export trade. True, France is Iraq's largest trading partner in the European Union - but all oil trade with Iraq (which is essentially all trade, 'cause oil's all they've got) is regulated under the UN sanctions. Proceeds from oil sales can only be used on a specific list of humanitarian goods - the "oil for food" programme.
"Sabotage" is a French word? No, actually, it's an English word that happens to be the same in French. (By this logic, the English word "triage" makes the French world leaders in emergency medicine, and the word "massage" makes the French the world leaders in things that make you feel good. Come to think of it ....)
As for France protecting its economic interests ... no, not really. The Australian Financial Review has a really good analysis.
As far as Parisians being rude ... well, fluffy, have you ever stopped to ask yourself how much of that is based on Americans' expectations of rudeness - much as Yankees abroad tend to "live down" to the Ugly American stereotype?
As far as eBay goes: I have sent more than a dozen items to France, and had a few other French buyers ship their items to U.S. addresses. None of them has ever gone astray. None of the buyers has ever tried to pay me in francs or euros, short me on shipping, or otherwise make my life difficult. They're 100 percent welcome to give me money.
posted on April 21, 2003 02:46:28 PM newwell, fluffy, have you ever stopped to ask yourself how much of that is based on Americans' expectations of rudeness
I was sixteen years old at that time, without enough life experience to expect anything other than kindness and fairness, which is what I had gotten from strangers up until then.
I wasn't expecting to be loved but it was a helluva surprise to be hated.
--
"I'm thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said `I drank WHAT?'"
posted on April 21, 2003 03:27:17 PM new
""Sabotage" is a French word? No, actually, it's an English word that happens to be the same in French"
The same in French? The word is a French word, and it has made its way into the English language. That happens a lot actually, a lot of English words derive from French. One of the reasons is that William of Normandy (France) decided to invade England in 1066, and he was successful...
posted on April 21, 2003 03:30:31 PM new
Greengate, that is Bill O'Reilly logic.
If those Americans working at Motel 6 lose
their jobs, they will be able to go across
the street and work for another hotel.
Just because people stop going to a French
owned hotel does NOT NOT NOT mean that they
will stop going to any hotels!
My main problem is with the people pouring
out the French wine. You paid for it already
so the French don't care if you drink it or
not! Instead, sell it to the Germans!
---
"Cannot say. Saying, I would know. Do not
know, so cannot say". -- Zathras (Babylon 5)
posted on April 21, 2003 04:01:10 PM new
No, I am not a postal worker. French? Not to my knowledge unless you go back to the mid-1800s and my Creole great-great-great-great-great-grandmother. At the time, I'm sure, being part French was not her main concern. Also Scotch, English, Navajo, Hungarian and Rom, but no documented immigrants in my direct line since oh, about 1850 or so.
So there you go - I'm American, and I'm right quite a bit. On a more serious note, the best way to assure that your country's righteousness will fail is to blindly assume that it is always present.
How in heaven's name does liking the U.S. Postal Service make me unAmerican, by the way?
[ edited by msincognito on Apr 21, 2003 04:05 PM ]
posted on April 21, 2003 04:19:15 PM new"Sabotage" is a French word? No, actually, it's an English word that happens to be the same in French.
Afraid not.
There is some disagreement among scholars how "sabotage" was coined, but all agree it is a French word having to do with shoes (not necessarily wooden ones, as a popular myth would have you believe) and the worker revolt against the Industrial Revolution.
See "Luddite", for example.
More interesting is the fact that modern Frenchmen have such a horror of their language supposedly being subsumed by English that they ban Englishisms altogether...while American English adopts any and all stray terms that come its way regardless of national origin.
To me, that says it all about the two respective peoples.
--
"I'm thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said `I drank WHAT?'"
posted on April 21, 2003 04:27:54 PM new
Right Fluffy - I don't know about Paris, but in Montreal, there is a law that says you have to have your store signs in French - a law!!! Can you imagine that. I agree it does say a lot...
posted on April 21, 2003 05:50:04 PM new
Does this boycot include French Louisiana? On behalf of all the Cajuns here, many who are serving in the military, we say send the customers over here!
By the way, there are many French speaking people in Louisiana, and have been long before many Americans were here. Hmmm. I find these French Cajuns the kindest, friendliest people I have ever met. Viva French Louisiana!!
There are nothing but ethnic people in this country. When you start spouting "froggies", how long before the rest of the racial words follow? None of us, bar native indians are original here, you know. I personally dislike intensely any action that groups an entire people or race together. I know there are many Americans against the war. Should we deport them to France? Come on, selling is our game here, leave politics to people who don't have to squeeze out those ebay dollars!
P.S. If you don't won't to sell to me, I will take my hard earned, Vietnam Veteran era money and spend it some where else.
posted on April 21, 2003 08:47:25 PM newcapyoda, Gotta set you straight on this one, because this is the kind of stuff people just mindlessly repeat. Iraq accounts for .15 percent - that's one-fifteenth of one percent
geez you didn't need to bold my name. lol.
I'll look into it, if I'm just repeating what people said.. then that may very well be it..
but I could have sworn I got that from reading a news article or something. course, since when are news article the end all of information.
thanks for the note though, I'll get my facts straight. or not.
posted on April 22, 2003 06:21:26 AM new
I have found that wherever you go, people are generally kind and considerate. Even in Paris I only encountered one person who was rude.
Poor Fluffy, she finds stupid and thoughtless people everywhere. Wonder why that is?
posted on April 22, 2003 08:12:07 AM newcapyoda, Not just you - I bold everybody's name when I'm addressing them directly. On some boards it's accepted protocol to bold people's names when you respond to them, on others, not....I just do it everywhere. It makes it easier to follow discussions. (By the way, when you want to check things out, Google is an amazing place to start. You can read more about the oil-for-food programme here, if you are curious.
fluffy, sorry you had such a bad experience in the exchange program. I had one other friend who did it and she was miserable from homesickness, but many experiences seem to be positive.
posted on April 22, 2003 10:17:12 AM new
Actually, I'm a bit grateful to the French for being obnoxious. My heritage is English and French, so I'd be fighting myself constantly if it weren't obvious which is the dark side of the Channel.
--
"I'm thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said `I drank WHAT?'"
posted on April 22, 2003 10:16:52 PM new
ironking: lol. I really dont know. that may very well be it. But actually I only watch msnbc and cnn... I know they're not the end all of information, and I'm rather annoyed at how the media handle these things... the rating war and what not. I mean, when you hear CNN using the same dramatic music they use for the war coverage on the Peterson case... I dont know, I frown.
msincognito: I was just pulling your leg, I knew why you were doing it.
I still use yahoo more than goggle or any other search engines... habit I guess.
posted on April 23, 2003 04:40:30 AM new
Well the statue of liberty came from france,I suppose we should give it back...except those UPS shipping charges would be outrageous
Cheryl
On a more serious note, the best way to assure that your country's righteousness will fail is to blindly assume that it is always present.