This is the line I waited in yesterday afternoon to buy a movie ticket. Unfortunately, the part of the line that was in front of me looked just like this for a while, because there was nobody in the booth selling tickets. The guy who worked for Studio Galande--seemingly the only person answering to this description--was in the theatre itself, I don't know, cleaning up?, and didn't come out to sell tickets until after the movie's posted start time. In fact, on the ticket booth, there was even this little gem:
...which is a buzzer that reads SONNEZ ET PATIENTEZ S.V.P., or "Please ring and be patient." Ring a bell if you want to buy a movie ticket?? This all leads me to ask a question I've been wondering about for quite some time, but finally have photographic evidence to back it up:Why are French people so willing to wait in line?
It especially suprises me in a big city like Paris. In New York, people would be carrying on, complaining, storming off, but here, they seem perfectly content to while away precious minutes standing still, in the hope that their turn will eventually come around.
Cultural differences are truly something, aren't they? I'm from Vermont and I still almost blow a gasket with all the waiting in line and slow walking here. I sometimes wonder if we really are in a huge metropolis or not; the pace here makes it feel as if we're in a medium-sized Midwestern city. Et pourtant, don't (French) people say the life here is unbearably fast? I don't get it.
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