I was going over to my friends tonight and I had a very special experience. He lives in the towers above a centre commercial and I was told to enter through the centre commercial and then to take the elevators up to the apartment level. So I did, and when I stepped out of the elevator on the apartment level, there was a security guard with a guard dog. I said bonne soirée and continued on my way. However, when I rounded the corner to pass through the sliding glass doors from the centre commercial into the apartment hall, the door was locked. Usually it just slides open. I figured you needed a code so I called my friend, but while I was waiting for him to answer, the security guard and I had the following conversation:
SG: Madame! Madame!
Me: Yes?
SG: Do you have the code?
Me: Nooooo........... :/
SG: Oh, it's ****
Me: Ok, merci!
I was shocked! The security guard who gives out the building code to any random person...you just gotta shrug your shoulders and shake your head!
An American living her life in two languages, first in Paris, then in Cincinnati and currently in Bordeaux, and talking about all the trials, tribulations and successes along the way.
Maybe they just "felt" you were a proper/adequate person. Not a man (bonus), white (bonus), not dressed like a gypsy or too inappropriate (bonus). Sounds harsh and unfair but it's the truth.
ReplyDeleteI know that's probably the case, but still, the whole point to door codes is to keep people who don't live in the building and who don't know anyone in the building out! It's for security so it seems like, no matter how "safe" I may have looked compared to others, it still defeats the whole purpose. Mais, tant pis!
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