tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644918126688721788.post2377757377606189063..comments2024-03-29T07:54:24.161+00:00Comments on TONE DEAF: Gravity's no fun at allRoderick Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644918126688721788.post-25471688673043834602013-06-19T22:14:24.294+01:002013-06-19T22:14:24.294+01:00Oopsie daisie! Hope your hand and knee are better ...Oopsie daisie! Hope your hand and knee are better by now. Thanks to you, I can now order "une grande pression s'il vous plaît"Rouchswalwehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01393987883437907945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644918126688721788.post-52361254720858616662013-06-18T07:31:06.973+01:002013-06-18T07:31:06.973+01:00Lucy: Your anecdote is hard - nay, impossible - to...Lucy: Your anecdote is hard - nay, impossible - to top. So many effective crescendi: the unexpected wig, the small mirror, etc. It is not in itself a short story but it has a short story's completeness. I am privileged to have been able to accommodate it.<br /><br />Re. tripping. I shouldn't really have proceeded from the particular to the general and I'm well aware of French oafishness. But the pain and the sense of personal stupidity created some kind of lens that magnified emotions. In such situations spectators most often display uncertainty and I cannot complain about that. But here I saw concern and sympathy. These are rare expressions in public and whereas they did nothing for the pain they helped alleviate the stupidity. And also create in me an overwhelming need to express my gratitude. A million miles away from the scene at the filling station, see Fatties Freak Out, etc Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644918126688721788.post-52348893825334898912013-06-17T17:37:22.124+01:002013-06-17T17:37:22.124+01:00Enjoy your trip?
A friend of ours from a while ba...Enjoy your trip?<br /><br />A friend of ours from a while back here, who with his wife used sometimes to run a market stall (very small, selling jam and cakes), and who could tell a good story, recounted one of a rather elderly and corpulent French lady who stopped at the sweater stall opposite his and insisted on trying on a sweater that was far too small. She struggled to get into and even more to get out of it, and during the latter procedure her wig came off inside the garment. The stall holder retrieved it, handed it back and offered her the very small mirror (too small to adequately reflect her form whilst trying on the sweater) to set it straight. Our friend and many others watched the whole event, and he said he waited for the exchange of looks and amusement at her misfortune after she had passed, but it was not forthcoming. Everyone carried on as usual, no loss of dignity was marked.<br /><br />I don't want to make too much of French manners etc, I don't believe they are necessarily more gracious, more civic-minded, certainly I'm not convinced they're kinder, than anyone else; I think most people everywhere would wince in sympathy and move towards someone who fell. I worked in a technical lycée for a short while for my sins and I know there are oafs a-plenty among French young manhood. And But there is a certain level of politeness and graciousness that is maybe, sometimes, a bit short in their British equivalents, for whom their own sense of awkwardness and embarrassment might get in the way.<br /><br />Hope any bruised parts are on the mend. <br /><br />Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644918126688721788.post-17402201399033250812013-06-17T05:50:39.517+01:002013-06-17T05:50:39.517+01:00Tom: Was there an ironic tone in your comment? I a...Tom: Was there an ironic tone in your comment? I asked Occasional Speeder. No, she said, adding that I have a tendency to look for that sort of thing. So I let it be.<br /><br />Joe: The lasting impression I have is not of the pain or the personal damage but the look of concern on both the men's faces. I didn't expect it and many would say I didn't deserve it. Afterwards I told myself I had experienced Cartesianism in all its glory.<br /><br />Ellena: Nice wordplay.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644918126688721788.post-30294569523217082662013-06-16T22:41:40.660+01:002013-06-16T22:41:40.660+01:00Ouch! Sorry you fell victim to 'la grande pres...Ouch! Sorry you fell victim to 'la grande pression'.Ellenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965850008354379369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644918126688721788.post-39110123000616412242013-06-16T18:14:28.173+01:002013-06-16T18:14:28.173+01:00 Falls can be grievous in an any language as we pr... Falls can be grievous in an any language as we progress towards dotage. Glad first that you survived the fall, second that you are clearly in full possession of your wits, and third that courtesy and respect for those of mature years is still alive in France.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06972049290586377462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644918126688721788.post-1945996522752384782013-06-16T15:50:39.605+01:002013-06-16T15:50:39.605+01:00"Doing very nicely, thank you!" were you..."Doing very nicely, thank you!" were you? At least until you rediscovered Isaac Newton, although the experience sounded more Einsteinian. Nice to hear you're having an enjoyable holiday.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.com