Today is Labor Day, but obviously not in Paris. My French colleagues never miss one of their own holidays, but expect me to work on both mine and theirs. I wasn't having it - I simply rebelled. Right after I woke up, I sent in an email about feeling ill and went back to sleep. I'm an expert at hooky - pay attention. First things first, quick shower? No, never - no showering while you play hooky, that's bad luck.
A couple of cookies to start the day? Sure why not. I followed them up with a bowl of Special K, no French breakfast for me on Labor Day, no chance.
Grabbed a paper - a rarity for me on a Monday. Sat at a cafe and read slowly as I sipped on some coffee. Not too much of the news interested me, but it was a warm, sunny day and there was plenty of people-watching to be had.
Next, most importantly, the video store. I have a video store rental card now and have learned how to use the typically French system. You feed your card into the machine, type in your special code and then search for movies. How do you search? Alphabetically of course. Any shortcuts? An easier way to search? Nah, why would you make it easy? Stupid French inefficiency as usual. After trolling for some time I settled on a Russell Crowe/Leonardo DiCaprio spy movie, which I took home and watched immediately.
I then came right back and rented another movie - a Hong Kong flick called Infernal Affairs. There was a small Lebanese restaurant next door so I sat and had a shawarma sandwich for lunch, which was just what the doctor ordered. Went back home to watch my Cantonese movie only to learn that it only had French subtitles. Surprisingly, I understood it pretty well. Enjoyed it. Took it right back and fed it into the machine. Great deal - 2 movies for 3 Euros. Back to work tomorrow.....
4 comments:
Why don't you ever play hooky when I am in town? Huh? Need to get away from me? Man... I feel short-changed!
Wow, no comments about the lack of shower? I bet you would have a comment if I take a hooky day with you around and no shower....
I'm glad to see you still know how to take a Mental Health Day. That's a lesson you learned in Jr. High School that's still paying dividends, huh?
It's not a mental health day, Sal, it's a holiday. Pure and simple.
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