Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Pardon My French

As I've mentioned before, I'm not working this fall.  I almost got a part-time job but it turns out I make more money on unemployment.  Go figure.  Anyway, I feel that I need to keep busy in order not to fuck too many things up which I feel like I've been doing a lot lately.  Especially with my daughter.  She's having trouble with friends at school (she feels that people put her down and tease her a lot) and in trying to be sympathetic, I think I may have become too involved.

To prevent further grief in her life, I'm getting out of the house and taking an adult education French class.  I was a French major in college although none of the professor knew it because I spent all my time in the theater.  Anyway, I love all things French and with time on my hands I thought it'd be good to re-learn the language a bit.

At the start of class, the teacher wanted to make sure that she had our correct phone numbers.  The first student recited his in French so we all felt we had to follow suit.

Now, I've spoken enough French in the past to know my numbers well so I rattled mine off quickly.  And this woman, another student, turns to her neighbor and says, "Well, that was an easy number, that's why she did it so quickly."

Do people never change?  Maybe I should ask my daughter for advice....

5 comments:

  1. i would have been lost the only french i know has nothing to do with speaking...

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  2. Teasing can sometimes escalate to bullying, so staying clued into your daughter's situation is important.

    I wish I was eligible for unemployment...

    As to the woman in your French class, there will always be people like her around...

    As the song says, don't worry, be happy!

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  3. Ya know, Kate, it's like that time you dyed your hair blue. I wish I had won Megamillions last night and we could all be independently wealthy. Yes, I'd take care of my sister. By the way, in what movie do you think Ben Affleck acted?

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  4. Yep, people can be jerks, especially in grammar school and high school. And some people never outgrow the tendency, sad to say.

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  5. As I told my daughter last night, if they were mean nasty kids at 14, why should I trust them now? They may have learned to keep their mouths shut but that doesn't stop them from thinking the same things. People do change over time, but not always for the better. And, if they had no compelling reason to be nice when they were young, life likely hasn't given them a reason since.

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