La LAPD pratique le pourboire à la française / French tipping for the LAPD

« PreviousNobody cares outside of L.A. but this is why LYT is having a blast | Home | Cathy a quelque chose à raconter / Cathy has something to sayNext »

October 26, 2005

Vous savez peut-être que Hollywood boulevard à Los Angeles pullule de personnages costumés (Darth Vador, Bob l'Eponge, Superman...) qui posent pour des photos avec les touristes et s'attendent à un pourboire en échange. Au moment de la sortie de Star Wars, ce petit cours de sabre laser avec un Anakin alcoolisé ce matin là m'avait couté un Dollar: très raisonnable.
Or, le Los Angeles Times raconte que la police de Los Angeles a mené une opération coup de filet et a menotté des personnages accusés de faire pression sur les touristes pour obtenir un pourboire (voir photo). Comment la LAPD a t'elle mené l'enquête? En envoyant des policiers se faisant passer pour des touristes français, pardi! Un type costumé en Elmo de "1 Rue Sésame" dit au journal:

You probably know that Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles is crowded with people in costume representing famous characters (Darth Vador, Sponge Bob, Superman...) and then pose for pictures with tourists, expecting a tip in exchange. Around the time of the new Star Wars' release this little light-saber class with a boozed-up Anakin cost me $1 one morning: very reasonable. But the Los Angeles Times reports that the LA Police Dept. organized a haul of handcuffed characters accused of pressuring tourists for tips (see pics here). How did the LAPD investigate? By sending undercover policemen posing as French tourists, of course! An "Elmo" guy tells the paper:

"One of them asked how much I charge, and I said we work for tips. She said, 'Chips?' I had a dollar bill in my hand and I showed that to her. That was my mistake. When you're talking to foreigners you have to show them."

Elmo pris au piège! On imagine le faux accent très convaincant du couple de flics "undercover" qui prétendait ne pas comprendre l'anglais ou la culture du pourboire. Merci à la LAPD d'incarner des Frenchies aussi lents à la détente. Ah, j'aurais voulu voir ca: avec le bérêt et un pull sur les épaules tant qu'on y est! (Ben et son nouveau bérêt français aurait été parfait pour le rôle.) Et en ayant pris soin de ne pas se laver pendant une semaine.

Elmo fell for the trick! One can only imagine the Pepe Le Pew accent of the couple of undercover cops who pretended not to understand English and the whole tipping culture. Thanks to the LAPD for impersonating soft-brained Frenchies. Would I have loved seeing them! With a beret and a sweater tied around their shoulders while we're at it! (Ben and his new French beret would have been perfect for the role.) Maybe they went as far as not bathing for a week.

Les fins limiers de la LAPD ont peut-être consulté le livre de Guillemette, La France Made in the USA, qui recense tous les clichés des Américains sur les Français. Je suis en train de le lire et c'est très drôle, rempli de perles. Sur la propreté par exemple, l'odeur du Français est définie selon Steve, un Américain marié à une française, comme "un mélange de transpiration et d'eau de cologne." Des copines américaines de Guillemette, installées à Paris surnomment la ligne 7 du Métro "l'aisselle en mouvement." Je recommande vivement "ce petit manuel de décryptage", le blog qui l'accompagne et comme toujours, celui de Guillemette -- l'un des meilleurs blogs tout court. Plus de détails quand j'aurais fini ma lecture.

The LAPD's sleuths should have consulted a book by NY-based French journalist and blogger Guillemette, called La France Made in the USA. It gathers all the cliches that the Americans nurture about the French. I'm reading it right now and it's very funny, filled with nuggets. On the French's dubious cleanliness for example, an American who's married to a French, Steve, describes the French B.O. as "a mix of perspiration and cologne." American girlfriends of Guillemette who live in Paris have a nickname for subway line 7: "the moving armpit." I vividly recommend this "little manual of decryptage," the blog that goes with it and as always, Guillemette's blog -- one of the best blogs ever. More details after I'm finished reading.

Posted by Emmanuelle at October 26, 2005 8:11 AM

Comments

Hmm...

It appears that the book is only available in French. Just when I thought I would be able to read another humorous book, in jumps "language barrier."

Seriously, do you know if she has an English edition coming out?

Posted by: Christian Johnson at October 27, 2005 1:58 PM

Nous ne sommes pas les crimes actuelles dans cette ville? Ridicule!

Je dois obtenir ce livre et regarder son blog.

Posted by: Amy Alkon at October 28, 2005 6:20 PM

Hery Amy! I love when you leave comments in French. Now your turn Christian!

Don't know if Guillemette's book is going to be translated anytime soon, but it's filled with gems.

Many of them were extracted from English-language visitors guides to France, containing advice such as: "in France, don't interpret nudity as an invitation to have sex"

"Being able to call as many people as possible 'your friends' and being popular is not a French ideal"

Posted by: Emmanuelle at October 30, 2005 3:04 PM

Hery Amy! I love when you leave comments in French. Now your turn Christian!

Don't know if Guillemette's book is going to be translated anytime soon, but it's filled with gems.

Many of them were extracted from English-language visitors guides to France, containing advice such as: "in France, don't interpret nudity as an invitation to have sex"

"Being able to call as many people as possible 'your friends' and being popular is not a French ideal"

Posted by: Emmanuelle at October 30, 2005 3:04 PM

To be fair, though many Americans do have a misapprehension or two about the French, I don't think they usually think of them as being "soft-brained".

Posted by: Paul Hrissikopoulos at October 30, 2005 4:05 PM

Those fake French tourists were especially slow and moronic ("tips?" "chips?") but thanks Paul for the comforting thought!

Posted by: Emmanuelle at October 31, 2005 7:30 AM

True. It would've been more realisitic if they were Greek.

Posted by: Paul Hrissikopoulos at October 31, 2005 1:20 PM

//Sur la propreté par exemple, l'odeur du Français est définie selon Steve, un Américain marié à une française, comme "un mélange de transpiration et d'eau de cologne." Des copines américaines de Guillemette, installées à Paris surnomment la ligne 7 du Métro "l'aisselle en mouvement."//

Pffff! Ces perceptions olfactives en disent plus sur l'état d'esprit du renifleur que sur l'hygiène des Français. Ben oui, en ce qui concerne le métro, foule confinée dans lieu surchauffé = doukipudonktan, c'est mathématique et guère surprenant. Le métro de New York aux heures de pointe, ça sent meilleur? Vraiment? Je demande des preuves.

Posted by: la_courgette_masquée at November 13, 2005 7:02 PM