Saturday is errand day for all of Nantes. It is a day of full tramcars and heavy bags - and even so it has become my favorite day as I run the same route as the week before for the food that will get me through the week.
This weekend though E. Leclerc seemed more busy than usual, due perhaps to the nice weather or perhaps just because Darryl and I decided to come an hour later than usual. People were crowding the store, sometimes abandoning their carts in the middle of an aisle or blocking it entirely as they walked off to collect something they had forgotten in a previous aisle.
After about an hour of this Darryl said to me, "You know, I don't think that French people have the same awareness as we do. I think as Americans we're trained to be constantly aware of our surroundings." And, as a woman who was trying to maneuver her full grocery cart and two struggling children suddenly stopped in front of us and we were forced to veer to the left to avoid crashing into her, I ceded the point.
Being constantly aware of my surroundings has become habit and, like any habit, I no realize when I take stock of a strange situation or listen to the people around me. It's just something done without thought.
I don't know where or when this was instilled in me - perhaps by American culture or, more likely, by the only-child mentality of my parents. But still, how strange it is to think that not everyone grows up learning this skill.
This weekend though E. Leclerc seemed more busy than usual, due perhaps to the nice weather or perhaps just because Darryl and I decided to come an hour later than usual. People were crowding the store, sometimes abandoning their carts in the middle of an aisle or blocking it entirely as they walked off to collect something they had forgotten in a previous aisle.
After about an hour of this Darryl said to me, "You know, I don't think that French people have the same awareness as we do. I think as Americans we're trained to be constantly aware of our surroundings." And, as a woman who was trying to maneuver her full grocery cart and two struggling children suddenly stopped in front of us and we were forced to veer to the left to avoid crashing into her, I ceded the point.
Being constantly aware of my surroundings has become habit and, like any habit, I no realize when I take stock of a strange situation or listen to the people around me. It's just something done without thought.
I don't know where or when this was instilled in me - perhaps by American culture or, more likely, by the only-child mentality of my parents. But still, how strange it is to think that not everyone grows up learning this skill.
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