February 13, 2005

MACDO

Amritas mentions the French nickname for McDonald's: MacDo. Once when I was in France, my friends and I were walking to the McDonald's, laughing and talking to each other in the parking lot. A man pushing a baby stroller passed us and began yelling at us to speak French or go home. "This is France, we speak French here!" We were dumbfounded, and as he walked away, we noted how ironic it was that he had just walked out of the biggest symbol of American soft power -- where he had likely uttered the words un Big Mac et un Sprite s'il vous plait -- and he had the nerve to tell us not to speak English. Can you imagine that same scenario in the US: going to a Mexican restaurant and yelling at patrons not to speak Spanish?

Ahh, the French.

Posted by Sarah at February 13, 2005 09:30 AM
Comments

MacDonald's? Non, non! C'est ne pas francais! Je voudrais une Whopper avec la works!

Posted by: Francis W. Porretto at February 13, 2005 01:03 PM

Ahh, the ever tolerant and open-minded French. How we all aspire to the standards they've set...

Posted by: James at February 13, 2005 09:38 PM

Hopefully you told "Jean Claude" or whatever his name was to be thqankful for the freedom your husbands predacessors provided and please shut the F up.

Posted by: cptham at February 14, 2005 07:11 PM

With a name like McDonald's, shouldn't everybody be speaking Gaelic there?

Posted by: annika at February 14, 2005 08:55 PM

Should have told him that if wasn't for the English speaking he'd be speaking German.

By the way, did anyone ever tell the guys manning the Maginot Line that the Germans went in by the side door.

Posted by: David at February 14, 2005 09:53 PM