The Spanish trio
07 Feb 2005 09:03 AM / Filed in: Misc
A normal day
During summer '04, I was going back home as on any normal day after work. I live in Fresnes, in the southern suburbs of Paris and I work at Val De Fontenay, southeast of Paris. For commuting back and forth, I take public transportation (see below). It's an average 1h10min oneway ride taking the bus and two RERs.
Paris Paris
If you already visited Paris and took public transportation (the legendary Metro for example), you have certainly been surprised at the closed, smileless, gloomy faces of Paris inhabitants. People do not talk that much to each other (I call that the Big City Syndrom, but I haven't patented that word yet). And when they talk each other, they don't speak loud and keep their voice volume set to low.
A Spanish Attack, French hide!
Enter our Spanish trio. two women and a little girl. I'd say one of the women is the mother and the other one is the grandmother of the little girl. But since I only understand very few Spanish words, I can't say for sure. They took the bus shortly after I took it myself. Before they got in, it was your usual bus ride in Paris and suburbs. Almost complete silence of the humans. Closed, smileless faces. I was lost in some random thoughts about work and family feeling tired and thinking about how good the shower will be.
The Spanish Strategy
At the moment they entered the bus, even though I didn't see them immediately, I felt something is different. Someone was talking and talking loud! At first I thought they were arguing about something but looking at them, they seemed to have a normal chat about some normal situation. Oh my! I felt different. Like if they brought in some good energy with them. They were acting like they were in their house. I felt excited and joyful. Now that I think about it, it's like they took me with them back to my roots. Morrocco. Where strangers talk to each other (well at least 8 years ago) naturally and the voice volume is set to medium to high (ever heard a Morroccan speaking on the phone? They actually yell at the phone!).
Disruption
The Spanish trio changed the normal flow of life for a few minutes and you could sense it. Some people looked angry at those people speaking loud. They might be thinking something like :
Who are they? Who do they believe themselves are? Why they don't follow the local conventions? Please , why they don't stop that?
Personally, I found this experience enlightening. Imagine Paris without the Big City Syndrom (BCS) or full of Spanish (by the way, is Madrid victim to BCS?). It could make our days better. It could help us encounter amazing people, share ideas and so on. We won't need stupid stuff like Orkut and the likes of so-called online social networks.
Just three of these disruptive agents made me laugh and cheerful.
A note or two about public transportation
I take public transportation for two reasons. First, I don't have a driver license. I'm 30 years old and I feel uncomfortable driving cars. Second, it's better for the environment. Imagine how Paris will look without all those traffic jams? yes, better landscape, better air quality, less pollution related illnesses.
During summer '04, I was going back home as on any normal day after work. I live in Fresnes, in the southern suburbs of Paris and I work at Val De Fontenay, southeast of Paris. For commuting back and forth, I take public transportation (see below). It's an average 1h10min oneway ride taking the bus and two RERs.
Paris Paris
If you already visited Paris and took public transportation (the legendary Metro for example), you have certainly been surprised at the closed, smileless, gloomy faces of Paris inhabitants. People do not talk that much to each other (I call that the Big City Syndrom, but I haven't patented that word yet). And when they talk each other, they don't speak loud and keep their voice volume set to low.
A Spanish Attack, French hide!
Enter our Spanish trio. two women and a little girl. I'd say one of the women is the mother and the other one is the grandmother of the little girl. But since I only understand very few Spanish words, I can't say for sure. They took the bus shortly after I took it myself. Before they got in, it was your usual bus ride in Paris and suburbs. Almost complete silence of the humans. Closed, smileless faces. I was lost in some random thoughts about work and family feeling tired and thinking about how good the shower will be.
The Spanish Strategy
At the moment they entered the bus, even though I didn't see them immediately, I felt something is different. Someone was talking and talking loud! At first I thought they were arguing about something but looking at them, they seemed to have a normal chat about some normal situation. Oh my! I felt different. Like if they brought in some good energy with them. They were acting like they were in their house. I felt excited and joyful. Now that I think about it, it's like they took me with them back to my roots. Morrocco. Where strangers talk to each other (well at least 8 years ago) naturally and the voice volume is set to medium to high (ever heard a Morroccan speaking on the phone? They actually yell at the phone!).
Disruption
The Spanish trio changed the normal flow of life for a few minutes and you could sense it. Some people looked angry at those people speaking loud. They might be thinking something like :
Who are they? Who do they believe themselves are? Why they don't follow the local conventions? Please , why they don't stop that?
Personally, I found this experience enlightening. Imagine Paris without the Big City Syndrom (BCS) or full of Spanish (by the way, is Madrid victim to BCS?). It could make our days better. It could help us encounter amazing people, share ideas and so on. We won't need stupid stuff like Orkut and the likes of so-called online social networks.
Just three of these disruptive agents made me laugh and cheerful.
A note or two about public transportation
I take public transportation for two reasons. First, I don't have a driver license. I'm 30 years old and I feel uncomfortable driving cars. Second, it's better for the environment. Imagine how Paris will look without all those traffic jams? yes, better landscape, better air quality, less pollution related illnesses.
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