Paris teaches bad manners

"It is often said that Parisians are rude, especially when their morals are compared with those, almost overly correct, which reign in Switzerland". For Sylvain Besson, a Swiss correspondent in Paris, this reputation isn't undeserved. "After nearly 20 months in the French capital, I can attest: life in Paris exercises a near mechanical pressure that erodes good manners. ... I've come to understand the proverbial dry tone used by certain waiters in the bars and restaurants. To be impolite ('go speak to my colleague', 'I don't serve these tables'), is to give yourself importance, and it's a type of natural reaction to excessive stress. All the imperfections of daily life - the waiting lines at the post office, those who try to steal your taxi, the bureaucrats who speak to you from on high - push in the same direction".

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