2 November, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I’m not a gal who is afraid to speak her mind. People irritate me quite often, but I handle it pretty well. I am not a screamer. I don’t like yelling. While I do get mad, I don’t often find myself in the midst of a blinding rage. It’s simply not my style.
However.
When it comes to certain peoples of the French nation, sometimes I just lose it. I shout. I become filled with rage. I make threats. I say nasty, vicious things. It’s scary, actually, to see this side of myself emerge. While living in France for just eight months, I got into heated arguments with at least three people I had business dealings with. In the whole five years I lived in NYC, this never happened. Getting upset like this is an ugly, almost repulsive feeling, but what can I say? I was provoked. Thank the Lord Jesus that when I was living in France, I never had access to a firearm.
I realize France is a Latin country and I am an Anglo-Saxon. Perhaps I shouldn’t let these encounters bother me, perhaps it’s just the way things are done, but I don’t handle this sort of thing very well. Anyway, I am telling you this little story for a reason. Today, once again, I felt the rage.
This was prompted by correspondence with my French lawyer this afternoon. My court case is next week in the matter of Anglofille vs. The Wicked Witch of the Marais. I’m starting to get nervous. I emailed my lawyer just to go over the evidence and she informed me that the slimy weasel who owns the apartment rental agency in Paris has refused to file an affidavit with the court on my behalf. Apparently, he’d rather not get involved in this dispute. My lawyer thought she had told me this, but it was news to me.
When I read my lawyer’s email, I nearly went through the roof — and I live on the first floor of a six-story building. This horrible man who has already caused me so much trouble was now refusing to help me when he has valuable evidence in support of my case, when he admitted on the phone to me and my lawyer that the apartment owner who screwed me over is a criminal who has broken the law in many different ways. I was so angry that honestly, a mist came over my eyes. I dug up his mobile number and called him immediately.
“Allo? Yes, zees iz André. Non, I don’t remember who you are…Mademoiselle, speak more slowly please, I no understand…ah, oui, I remember you…Mademoiselle, I cannot help you, I am on hol-eeee-day.”
“I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE ON HOL-EEEEE-DAY!!!”
I could hear his baby begin to cry in the background. To cut a long unpleasant conversation short, he said he’d write the affidavit when he gets back to the office on Monday. He was probably lying. If so, he’ll be hearing from me again.
It was really scary how angry I was. I wanted to kill this guy. I then called my lawyer and she calmed me down. She kept assuring me that everything is going to be all right. “Trust me,” she kept saying.
There is something odd going on with this case. The landlady’s lawyer contacted my lawyer back in September to get the brief my lawyer filed with the court. Since then, my lawyer has contacted the opposing lawyer numerous times to get her brief and she won’t respond. My lawyer said this is very very strange. Either the landlady isn’t going to show up at the hearing next week at all or her lawyer is going to file the papers at the last possible minute because she’s a dishonest scoundrel like her client. If she pulls a trick like this, my lawyer said we will be granted a postponement. If she doesn’t show up at all, I won’t automatically win the case. It will just be decided without her there.
I do have some good news — a few weeks ago I located a woman in Quebec who had rented the apartment before me. Not surprisingly, the landlady tried to steal her deposit and guarantee too, but given that this woman speaks French as a native language, she was able to fight back. “To say I hate [X] is an understatement,” she wrote to me in an email; news of this court case has made her gloriously happy. She filed a sworn affidavit with the court and in it, she describes some illegal things the landlady is doing to avoid paying taxes on the rental income she’s getting from the apartment. Now it’s part of the court record and I really hope she gets busted.
As you might imagine, I can’t wait for all of this to be over. Soon. Soon.
Anglofille said @ 8:37 pm | paris life |
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how stressful! i’m sure everything will turn out well in the end. in the meantime, deep, calming breaths!
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thanks jen! deep breaths…
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Rebecca Says:
November 4th, 2007 at 4:57 pmI think no matter what the outcome on your end (though I certainly hope you win and are compensated accordingly), I think with the rest of the evidence you have regarding the tax fraud this woman will be raked through the coals when you and your lawyer have finished up. When people behave this badly (and apparently to so many people!), it nearly always comes back on them ten fold.
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Rebecca Says:
November 4th, 2007 at 4:59 pmOops, I totally messed up the rest of my message with a carrot.
I went on to say that I love karma. Also, I don’t at all blame you for the flying into rages. It sounds to me like they’re certainly very justified. I’m routing for you!
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Thank you so much! That’s very sweet.
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Gadfleye Says:
November 6th, 2007 at 3:51 pmI feel the same way about Americans who have supported/still support the Bush Mis-Administration - don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or be enraged. So much for the Anglo-Saxon way of life, it had a good run…
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*sigh*
this has nothing to do with politics, gadfleye! it’s just that people from different cultures handle problems in different ways. the french way is something i do not understand because of cultural differences. i find it to be exasperating sometimes.
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Gadlfeye Says:
November 6th, 2007 at 5:06 pmDon’t you sigh on me young lady
