--- In [email protected], Peter Sutphen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hey Unc, what does the average, Jacques in the street > think about America? Any interesting conversations > with your average French dude?
Well, I kinda doubt that the average Jacques in the street exists. The French preoccupation with their uniqueness and relative importance in the universe would prohibit anyone being like anyone else. :-) But to summarize a hundred or more Jacques, I would have to say that "average Jacques" thinks of America with a sense of profound sadness. I have seen people get teary-eyed when the subject comes up and I have expressed my view and they realize it is even more critical than theirs. The French are deeply saddened by America and what it has become. You have to remember the French reverence for patrimonié, tradition. They never forget their enemies, and they never forget their friends. And America was their *friend*, man. The French helped America out with some of its wars, and the Americans helped the French out with some of its own. And in recent years, for "average Jacques" looking at the News (we still have News in France) and looking at America has become like looking at a dear friend who has become a cocaine addict, and is on the fast track to self destruction. You don't dislike such a friend. You feel sorry for him, and you try to give him good advice, even though you know that in his addiction, he will not only pay it no heed, he will decide that you are his enemy for having said it. But at the same time, even though you wish the best for this friend and hope that he gets the professional help he needs, you react to him with fear. And the fear is justified because because the friend -- America -- is very much like a crazed cocaine addict with an Uzi in his hand. The friend is dangerous. Unc To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
