The Easter hols are upon us. Bean is off to London for a culture shock. It must be done.
I have this to tell you today, French children are “sage”. Sage means calm and considerate. Bean hasn’t quite mastered the calm part yet but I can tell you he is definitely up to speed on the meaning of “sois sage les enfants”.
It’s funny as children here behave ever so differently when an adult is present. They tend to subdue their personalities somewhat and as Bean said to me some months back at the school gates- “they are a bit shy when a grown up is there mummy but they do want to say hello really”. Talking to a colleague today I was also reminded of the legacy of the Pascalian wager (Blaise Pascal) that if we (well, more specifically the French) do not know that God exists we should play it safe rather than be sorry. The general idea was that it is rational to think that God does exist and that atheists would suffer eternal damnation. Ummm where does this tie in with sage children… Honestly it does. These ideas of Pascal go to the core of French thinking and continue to surface even today.
It is this obsession with being right or not rocking the boat or going against the herd in anyway that really sets the French apart from the English. In France you must be seen to be doing the right thing and appearances are VERY important.It’s a formal place, don’t kid yourself otherwise. And if you’re used to making jokes as a means of ice breaking- Don’t! The French just don’t get self deprecating English humour. Believe me I’ve tried. They will just look at you with pity as though you have lost the plot. Behaving “properly” is a serious business and jokes and silliness are only tolerated at certain times of day or during holidays again at certain times of day. Benny Hill type humour is the preferred format. Mocking humour is also acceptable. But that is it. Really.
Children must also behave properly which means being quiet when adults are present and sitting properly at the table and never ever snacking. On the matter of snacking the French have cleverly invented “le gouter” which is a simple snack of biscuits and/or yoghurt and fruit at 4pm or 4.30pm if it is a school day. On the dot. Therefore sage child knows he or she will have a snack everyday and sage child respects l’heure!
It’s brillant and it works.
Oh yes and they know that if they demand sweeties that they’ll be off down to hell. It’s that Pascalian.
A+