The last time Frank Rich had a conversation with Chris Rock was in early 1996, when they and the 1950s teen heartthrob Pat Boone were thrown together in a New York television studio as panelists on Bill Maher’s old show Politically Incorrect. This time they had two conversations in a New York hotel lounge as Rock prepared for the release of Top Five, a bittersweet film comedy in which he does triple duty as director, screenwriter, and star.
In a response to a recent article by Pamela Druckerman in the New York Times about “being French,” someone wrote about his experiences bumming cigarettes when he was broke during his last six weeks in Paris:
The phrase “Puis-je prendre une cigarette,” made certain people look like my question made them nauseous. Then an even clumsier “Avez-vous une cigarette?” often brought derisive laughter. Finally, “Bonjour, Madame/M’sieu; puis-je vous déranger d’une cigarette?” brought infallibly good results….
For those of you who don’t speak French, his first attempt justifiably sickened people because he was asking if he could take a cigarette. Whoa! I think Americans wouldn’t be thrilled by a question like that, either. The second was marginally better: “Do you have a cigarette?” The third hit the jackpot because he said hello and asked if he could trouble them for a cigarette. Remember that word: déranger.
I studied French in school for eight years and won my high school’s French award which meant a certificate and shaking the French Ambassador’s hand at the Alliance Française in Manhattan. I knew before I ever went there how much importance the French placed on daily good manners, how they showed that you were civilized, bien élevé (well brought up), and someone safe to deal with if you were a stranger.
On my first trip to FRance in the late 1980s, the dollar was high and I stayed at the Hotel Vendôme where the ultra chic fashion model type at the front desk was all cool efficiency when I checked in. But things changed instantly when I discovered a burnt out light bulb in our room. I nipped downstairs because I was eager to practice my French face-to-face instead of over the phone, and said, “Bonjour, Madame. Excusez-moi de vous dérangez, mais nous avons une petite problème chez nous.” You get the first part. The rest: “Sorry to bother you, but we have a little problem in our room.” She surveyed me with new, approving eyes, apologized and asked where I’d learned my French as she arranged to have the light bulb instantly replaced. From that moment on, she was all totally charming.
That phrase of apology before you ask for what you want shows that you’re well brought up. Apologizing for interrupting someone’s lovely French day shows you respect their time and the niceties of their culture, and above all that you think enough of their language to try to speak it. People actually beamed at me with pleasure when I’d use those magic words, and once when I approached a trio of women when I was lost near the Gard du Nord and one was helping me after my opening salvo, the other two quietly complimented me to each other sotto voce.
They also couldn’t place my accent, and were always startled when I said I was an American. No surprise there. Everywhere I went in France on each trip I’d run into Americans acting rudely, as if they hadn’t spent even a few minutes checking a guide book or Google to find out the basics of French cultural interaction.
Was I suing excessive or even old-fashioned politeness? I don’t care. It worked for me all over France, sometimes even opening the door to long conversations with strangers but most importantly, it always got me what I wanted. Like the time I was stuck at some dinky train station in the Dordogne because I’d misread a schedule, and could not for the life of me figure out how to use one of those complicated French phone booths to get a cab. I interrupted the stationmaster at his lunch, asking politely for help. He nodded and said (in French of course), “I am finishing my meal, but as soon as I do so I will be delighted to assist you in any way possible.” So when he was done, I explained my difficulty with the phone, he waved that away and called me a cab himself. Voilà: He was happy to help, I was happy to wait. In the end, what could be simpler?
Many technology firms shuffle up their top-level executives frequently in a never-ending search for increasing profits and better sales. One of the firms that annually shakes up the top level executives is Samsung. Samsung perhaps had more reason this year to shake up its executive mix than it has in years past with some reports indicating that it sold 40% … Continue reading
One of my favorite movies from the 80s was the original RoboCop film. The first couple of movies in the franchise were cool and then they were too cheesy for me to stomach. If you are a fan of those early RoboCop films and you like to play Grand Theft Auto IV, this mod will get you excited. GTA IV … Continue reading
Sonos has found itself a new rival, with Philips jumping onboard the Spotify Connect train with a pair of new multi-room speakers for the streaming music service. The Philips Spotify SW700M and SW750M can either be grouped together for the same music in multiple rooms – useful if you’re having a party, for instance – or each play different tracks … Continue reading
These days, we’re all used to seeing colorful, saturated, high-resolution images of the weird and wonderful things that make up our universe. But they don’t start off life looking quite as pretty.
Microsoft is said to be working on a fitness wearable that would work alongside its Xbox One games console. Source of the rumours is Joe Officer, who leads Xbox One component supplier Exertis.
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The best kind of presents to receive are often ones you have no legitimate need for; the gifts intended purely to put smiles on faces. And, having a little fun is exactly what this week’s giveaway is all about. To get you in the Christmas spirit, our…
If you’re headed to Japan or if you are in Japan and you were eyeing the Nintendo 3DS XL, you might be interested to learn that Nintendo is apparently planning on discontinuing the device. This is according to a recent report from Siliconera who claims that Nintendo will be putting an end to the production of the console soon.
Interestingly enough Nintendo will be keeping the original 3DS around and will only be discontinuing the XL model. Then again Nintendo did launch the new 3DS XL not too long ago which has since become the fastest selling model in the 3DS family, thanks to the addition of controls as well as hardware upgrades.
Unfortunately at the moment there is no mention as to whether or not Nintendo will be doing the same thing for the 3DS XL over in the US, Europe, or other markets in other parts of the world, but presumably once the new 3DS consoles make their way to other parts of the world, Nintendo could be discontinuing the older models in favor of the new ones.
That being said if you were thinking about picking up the older model for yourself, perhaps this could be a good time to wait for the newer model to arrive in your market, especially if Nintendo’s plans to discontinue the older model really does go through.
Nintendo 3DS XL Reportedly Discontinued In Japan
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