Originally Posted by SteveE
WTF were you doing at a McD's in France, fer Cris'sake?!?!? Just going to McDonald's is enough of a bad experience... even in the States.
Back in 1990, I rode the Masters World Cup in St. Johann, Austria. I screwed up the final kilomeers and finished around 33rd or so, so I just coasted past the finish line and kept rolling beyond St. Johann, warming down for about five kilometers to the next town, Kitzbuhel. There I stopped at the McD's, leaned the bike against the rail, went in and bought a beer, and came back out to relax in the warm sun.
I really wish North Americans were cultured enough that they could sell beer at any McD's...
Another story: Here in Canada, the two official languages are English & French. Since BC is 99% English, the public school system offers French Immersion all the way thru elementary school, and most Canadian-born parents are anxious to get their kids in, because the alternative is a classroom where most of the kids are from immigrant families and the teacher is spending lots of time teaching them just to speak English. But I digress. My daughter went thru French immersion, so her French is quite good, and she loves to travel. She went with a group on a European tour, and they happened to stop at the McD's on the Champs d'Elysees. So she chatted up the server, who was very polite and friendly, and then after giving her order, she turned to her friend and told her just to say "moi aussi" (me too). So the server cheerfully got them their orders and as they were leaving, the next person in line tried to give his order in English, and the server instantly became rude and arrogant.
- L.