But Will My Shoes Catch Rabies??

French sales assistants have an undeserved reputation of being rude and unhelpful.  All sales assistants I have come across in the past couple of months have been extremely pleasant and abiding.  That might be because they sensed my desire to part with copious amounts of money to re-wardrobe myself after three years of grotty pacific living (see earlier entry). 

All assistants that is, except shoe sales assistants.  What a breed of discourteous yobs!  Amazingly unhelpful, all of them!, no matter which shop I’ve been into.  One particularly revolting sort roused on us the other day for trying on shoes (in a shoe shop!).  Apparently he had expected us to wait for him to deign to approach us and offer his assistance.  We had, in fact, been standing practically under his nose for 10 minutes waiting for him to wrap-up the great time he was having with his friends who had come to visit him at work. 

Then in another shop we were in, a gang of shoe sales assistants yelled at some poor hapless shopper because he was wearing his hood in their shop.  He scampered out of the shop, not sure what had just happened.

Unfortunately I have had too many dealings with shoe sales assistants of late because I really need a new pair of shoes, or ‘baskets’ as they call them in France.  Today I found a pair I liked the look of in a shop outside the Georges Pompidou centre.  I asked the pretty surly sales assistant if she would mind please bringing me a pair in my size.  With a slight eye-roll she sauntered off and returned with a pair.  I tried them on, but they felt a bit tight.  I thought they might stretch a bit with wear so I asked her in French:

“Will my shoes catch rabies?”

“Huh??”  she said.

“They are a bit small now.  But will they catch rabies??” I insisted.

Romain was dying of laughter.  “Will they get bigger?”  He asked her.

Of course, that is what I thought I’d asked but got it totally wrong. 

The answer was no (to both!) so I went a size up.  She softened up a bit after my bizarre enquiry and I decided she was alright afterall, and worth my euros.

My shoes!

Hightop Golas in 'ox blood'.
So hot right now.