Only in France

Paris, late October. I was picked up by a shuttle bus to catch my flight to Seattle. We had to stop for a couple more passengers before heading to the airport. In a narrow lane (all lanes in central Paris seemed narrow!), a truck stopped just ahead of us to deliver provisions to a hotel. The truck was right in the middle of the street/lane. He couldn't have parked anyplace else because both sides of the street were crammed with parked cars. Slowly, the driver got down, pulled down the tailgate, fished out a cart to ferry the provisions and proceeded to load the cart with food, drink, paper towels and what have you. 

I watched this performance, mildly incredulous at first and later, with rising panic. My driver sat next to me, unruffled and unhurried. Clearly he was prepared to wait as long as it took the truck to disgorge its hotel delivery. Slowly, behind us, a line of cars and other vehicles developed. No one honked. Everyone waited patiently.  

I couldn't stand it any more. Isn't there another way out of this street, I asked? My driver said no. Not that we could have moved in any direction anyway, as we were completely hemmed in. After a good 20-25 minutes, the truck finally drove off and traffic resumed as usual. And I didn't miss my flight as feared!

Of course, I had to think about all the shouting, cursing, honking and creative solutions deployed had this happened in India :)

Everytime I get annoyed and antsy, I think of the zen attitude of my driver and everyone around...and attempt to channel my inner French-ness :)