Are French people generally assholes?

sszz · 24-02-2014 09:59AM #1

My Father in law is a taxi driver and he says without fail French passengers are the rudest and least friendly?

How accurate do you think this generalisation is?

Homer · 24-02-2014 10:02AM

About as accurate as saying all taxi drivers are uneducated wanke*s?

Dravokivich · 24-02-2014 10:02AM

Taxi driver in offensive generalisation shocker, hold the presses!

Valetta · 24-02-2014 10:03AM

sszz wrote: »

My Father in law is a taxi driver and he says without fail French passengers are the rudest and least friendly?

How accurate do you think this generalisation is?

Le pot calling la kettle noire.

CiDeRmAn · 24-02-2014 10:06AM

I have found its more a rural/urban thing.
Rural people are often more pleasant and genial regardless of country while urban dwellers can be gruff and short tempered.
These are themselves generalisations and must be stressed that this does not preclude people from the countryside being @sshats or city folk being salt of the earth.
I think It's more to do with the pace of life and built in stress of living in the big city.

Akrasia · 24-02-2014 10:10AM

Isn't this thread a teenie bit racist?

bbam · 24-02-2014 10:13AM

Having visited France maybe a dozen times, various places incluging large cities. I'd say they are a friendly enough lot, much the same as ourselves..

It is a bit irronic a Taxi driver generalising about people, I mean taxi drivers often all get tarred with the same brush, lazy, dishonest, smelly, rude.. the list goes on..

Potatoeman · 24-02-2014 10:13AM

Homer wrote: »

About as accurate as saying all taxi drivers are uneducated wanke*s?

What about French taxi drivers?

blacklilly · 24-02-2014 10:16AM

Having dated a French man I can confirm that your father in law is just one of those really irritating taxi drivers who'd complain about pretty much everything. .....oh generalisations , I love them!!

corkgsxr · 24-02-2014 10:20AM

I want in paris last month and found the French unhelpful and abrasive. Doubt id go back

orangesoda · 24-02-2014 10:21AM

You have the french to thank for your national flag

sszz · 24-02-2014 10:22AM

Akrasia wrote: »

Isn't this thread a teenie bit racist?

No, Frenchness isn't a race.

razorblunt · 24-02-2014 10:24AM

corkgsxr wrote: »

I want in paris last month and found the French unhelpful and abrasive. Doubt id go back

Erra that would be the Parisiens, sure even the French hate them!

sszz · 24-02-2014 10:25AM

blacklilly wrote: »

Having dated a French man I can confirm that your father in law is just one of those really irritating taxi drivers who'd complain about pretty much everything. .....oh generalisations , I love them!!

Nope he's a lovely guy.

what's wrong with generalisations?

Most people understand that for the sake of brevity the generalisation that "French people are assholes" doesn't mean every French person is an asshole, it means that a greater than average proportion of French people are assholes.

Auldloon · 24-02-2014 10:28AM

I lived in the south and the people were ace.

SEPT 23 1989 · 24-02-2014 10:28AM

yes all 65 million of them

brandon_flowers · 24-02-2014 10:31AM

Potatoeman wrote: »

What about French taxi drivers?

Don't go there. Even the French hate them.

Toby Take a Bow · 24-02-2014 10:32AM

sszz wrote: »

Nope he's a lovely guy.

what's wrong with generalisations?

Most people understand that for the sake of brevity the generalisation that "French people are assholes" doesn't mean every French person is an asshole, it means that a greater than average proportion of French people are assholes.

What's wrong with generalisations, you say, while correcting the poster on their generalisation. When you talk about a 'greater than average proportion of French people' being assholes, is your father taking this from, what, 8 French people he has had in his taxi? 10? Those are some fairly low figures to judge a whole population.

Cienciano · 24-02-2014 10:33AM

French people are bang on. I've been to france 3 times at this stage, including paris and they couldn't have been nicer or more helpful.
I think they dislike loud idiot americans so they are rude back to them. So according to american tv (which we get a lot of) the french are rude.

crockholm · 24-02-2014 10:34AM

My favourite European country,and,in my experience, the friendliest country on the continent.The ability to converse with them in their mother tongue makes all the difference.Hope to retire there, Allah willing.

blacklilly · 24-02-2014 10:36AM

sszz wrote: »

Nope he's a lovely guy.

what's wrong with generalisations?

Most people understand that for the sake of brevity the generalisation that "French people are assholes" doesn't mean every French person is an asshole, it means that a greater than average proportion of French people are assholes.

Personally I don't like generalisation and particularly generalisations based upon such a small sample size.

Potatoeman · 24-02-2014 10:37AM

corkgsxr wrote: »

I want in paris last month and found the French unhelpful and abrasive. Doubt id go back

Do you speak French? I have heard if you make even a small effort they appreciate it but if you start speaking English straight away they consider that rude.

keithclancy · 24-02-2014 10:39AM

No

elefant · 24-02-2014 10:43AM

sszz wrote: »

No, Frenchness isn't a race.

Foucault might argue that modern racism is not always about difference in race.

HomelessMidge · 24-02-2014 10:43AM

Been to around 10 different countries. French are a really nice bunch and never had any trouble. The rudest would have to have been in Amsterdam. I would never go back! Rude unhelpful gits. Every minute of my trip was a nightmare. Then getting the flight home. Standing in line with my luggage to check it on to my flight. Waiting around 30 minutes. Get to the top and lady says no I'm closed now join that other queue which is at least another 30 minutes wait. Missed my flight!

Guy:Incognito · 24-02-2014 10:47AM

elefant wrote: »

Foucault might argue that modern racism is not always about difference in race.

Dead people cant argue

Anyway, why argue and change the meaning of Racism when there are perfectly usable words for the things your trying to change it to suit. Whats wrong with Xenophobia? (the word, not the act

)

herisson · 24-02-2014 10:49AM

Used to live in France and honestly they are really nice people. I did encounter a few rude people, but its like that anywhere, you will have friendly people and you will have rude people.

Fuzzytrooper · 24-02-2014 10:50AM

Cheese eating surrender monkeys!

Menas · 24-02-2014 10:50AM

OP is on a roll.
In the few days they have registered on here we have had ....

French are assholes thread started.
Showing cleavage is weird thread started.
Friend on £1500 per day thread started.
Posting in feminism thread in Ladies lounge.
Wife giving out to him about getting drunk.

Thats a lot of drama in 20 posts.

The Backwards Man · 24-02-2014 10:55AM

I held a door open for a Frenchman once and he never even said thanks!

coolemon · 24-02-2014 10:57AM

They are extremely nice in France. Cycled through France twice and they were always very helpful.

Before I went I had a preconceived notion that they are arrogant, rude and didnt make any attempt to speak English. I couldnt have been more wrong.

Now if I were to generalise -> id say the Basques were the rudest people iv ever encountered. And the Croats are most like the Irish.

Are French people generally assholes?

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