14+1 equals the same thing in French as in English

[dbblsanta]

I'm living in France for the time being, and while I speak fluent French I have a noticeable American accent. Sometimes when I speak to someone they respond in broken English, thinking I have no clue what is going on.

I go to pay for my groceries. My cashier was young, so I can't be too hard on her. My total comes to €5.72. Now in the Eurozone, there are 1 and 2 euro coins, no bills below a 5. I hand her a 20, she puts it in the system. I realize that I have a 1 euro coin in my pocket and I give it to her so I can get back a 10 and 5 + 28 cents instead of more pesky coins. (They also hate to part with their €2 coins. You'll often get back 4 50-cent coins instead. :-/)

Elle: Non, non ça va. You...have paid enough already.
Moi: (in French). Yes I know, but I want fewer coins in my change.
Elle: *blank look*
Moi. So you give me back a 10 and 5, plus the 28 cents.
Elle: *suspicious look*
Moi: Mademoiselle, quatorze plus un font la même chose en anglais qu'en français quoi.

She reluctantly gives me the €15 in change, afraid as if I were trying to scam her.

[telecom_goddess]

ahhhh but you get to live in France...not fair....

[ralerin]

I want to go to France. Not live, but visit, and trace my genealogy through northern France; visit Bordeaux and the Mediterranean coast.

[blas]

Totally unfair.

Although my French has become so rusty since senior year, I'd probably sound like an idiot and ask for a washer instead of the bathroom.

[Marszenka]

My sympathies are with the cashier on this one. Not because you were sucky (you weren't, at all), but because I have dyscalcula. Math makes me freeze up, and it's even worse in situations where there is pressure (like, when I'm supposed to be serving someone and I have no idea if the person on the other side of the counter is going to turn out to be an idiot and get mad at me for going to slow and there's a line forming and things are getting crazy and OMG what the bloody hell do I do now...).

I always HATED having someone change the amount of money they gave me. I cannot do math in my head, at least not when I'm already stressed from dealing with all the crap that happens in customer service. I need paper to figure that sort of thing out, and I don't have time to figure such a problem on paper while working the register. Even worse are the 'omg what an idiot' looks I get when I have problems with this sort of thing. I'm not an idiot, not even close, and it really stings to have the math weakness be the only thing that customers see. (And yes, people do scam by switching out the change. It happens. )

The only thing that saved me was a kind older cashier teaching me how to count back change when I first started, but I'm still really uncertain and nervous and have to do it twice over. And then once the whole thing is over I spend the rest of the day worrying that I messed up. It's awful. And it's one of the reasons I dreaded going into work almost every day of my life.

You're lucky to live in France, though! When we lived in Germany I got to visit a lot; I thought the southern area especially was beautiful. I miss Europe XD

[dbblsanta]

I can see what you mean, and sometimes I get the same way if the math gets particularly complicated. The annoying thing was that the girl didn't think I spoke French too well and it was I who didn't know what was going on.