Keep moving

There's something that some citizens of the usa (and many people who both live and work in cities - myself included, when I'm in London) just do not get. It's a shame they don't get this, because their lives would probably be richer for it. The reason they don't get it is that their lives are driven by a market for the sake of the market.

And the thing they don't get - enough time.

"We Americans are in an incredibly fucking hurry" - Rands In Repose

This was something highlighted by a trip to France and Italy. In France, there is a long lunch break every day when most shops close. Almost all shops are closed on Sundays. This changes a bit when you get to central Paris, but, for all but those ten or so square kilometres, the same thing happens every weekday at about 12:00. The shops close, and everyone either goes to a cafe or restaurant, or goes home for a relaxed lunch (rush hour starts at 12:00 as half the population drives home - it's repeated at 14:00 as they return). Places start to open again between 14:00 and 14:30. This applies to most supermarkets, bakers, butchers, hardware shops, car dealers...in fact almost everything other than cafes, bars & restaurants.

If any one of those market driven people I talked about earlier were to actually read this, I imagine I would be able to hear the thought process.

"They're supposed to be in business, why aren't they staying open for lunch, just hire someone cheap to stand in for a few hours, especially if your competitor is closed, it's an opportunity to make more money, isn't that why you opened the shop in the first place? Good for nothing, lazy bastards, they deserve to go out of business if that's their attitude, it's the time of day when most of your customers will have some spare time to spend money with you."

There are a few easy reasons why they don't do that. For example, most if not all of their customers don't actually want to spend any of their lunch time shopping. They want to spend their lunch time having lunch, a long, relaxed lunch, just like my ficticious shop keeper is doing. For proof of this, at 13:00 go to one of the supermarkets that is open all day. It's empty. All the potential shoppers are having lunch.

Secondly, the shop keepers want to spend their lunch time having lunch, relaxing, taking their time, talking to friends, savouring their delicious food. Isn't that why they are running a shop in the first place, so they can afford to have a lifestyle that includes that good lunch?

Coming from London, the utter frustration of this is immense, and surprising. The shops are closing just at the time my city brain is thinking of the shops I'd like to visit. After 3 weeks here in France, it's just starting to fit into place, and the frustration is being replaced by acceptance of the situation. When I get to the point of expecting it, and not being surprised when I see it, I'll know I have finally started to settle in here. Forget the language. It's the culture that makes the French the French.

I'm a Brit working for an American software company from my house in rural France. I'll have to make sure I choose the bast bits from each culture. Working to live is the most important part of the French culture to take.