Preface: The French you learned in high school and college will not equip you to live in France or any other French-speaking country. (Point final.)
In order to put la quincaillerie vignette in context, I need to introduce you to one of my high school French teachers, Sister Marie-Michelle, OSU (Order of St. Ursula). Marie-Michelle, who is now retired and living at the Ursuline Mothership (oops ... I meant the Motherhouse) in Cleveland, OH, was a wonderful teacher. It was definitely she who inspired me to select French as my college major. She introduced her students to the great philosophers (les grands philosophes) and writers (les écrivains), and she spent an enormous amount of time and energy teaching us to converse and improve our French accents. She taught us about French culture and geography, music, theatre, and the visual arts, and she had us write to fellow students (étudiants et étudiantes) in the French high schools (les lycées).
She did not, however, prepare us for La Quincaillerie (or for any other daily life experiences for that matter). So, when it came time to assemble a basic toolbox (boîte à outils), I thought I would be sunk. I had no idea how to ask in French for simple things like a ladder (l'échelle), hammer (le marteau), nails (les clous), screws (les vis), screwdriver (le tourne-vis), saw (la scie) or any other mundane items that we take for granted in our own language.
Madame la Propriétaire à la Quincaillerie turned out to be a helpful soul (âme) indeed. After I had selected my boîte à outils, she followed me around her tiny but very well organized store helping me with my selections. I would point; she would tell me what it was; I would tell her how many I needed; she would accommodate. By the time we were finished, not only did I have une échelle, un marteau, des clous, des vis, un tourne-vis, une scie, et une échelle, but I also had a level (une balance), a wrench set (une trousse de clefs anglaise), a ratchet set (une trousse des rochets), a small drill (une petite perceuse) and a flashlight (une lampe éléctrique). I had more outils in Paris than I had in New Jersey!
Coming up: Furniture Shopping (Aller faire les courses pour les meubles)
No comments:
Post a Comment