can't stand this place anymore

[Driller]

I fking hate this place. Can't believe I've wasted 12 years of my life with these rude, whining, innefficient, communist wkers who want to pull everything down to the lowest common level.

That is all.

[Driller]

nitrodave said:

oh dear! what's happened?

Yet again greeted on the phone by a jobs worth salaried receptionist with no etiquette and who knows she doesn't have to make fking effort because she can't be fired because she's got the Prudhom on her side. And then passed to the technician who couldn't give a st about my problem and is more interested in accusing me of being the cause of the problem.

And they're dealing with a professional they could at least be a little bit polite with even if they're not interested in that so un-French thing called service.

Every company in every other country I call in relation to my work greets me with politeness and professionalism.

And I disagree about the scenery. I lived near the Cotswolds in the UK and believe me Il de France is no match in any way.

Sick and of rude people, people letting their dogs st on the pavement and leaving it for you to step in, sick of them calling themselves socialist and then driving straight at you on the road because it's me,me,me, I want to get there first on their cars which have one headlight broken and the other on full beam because "oh it doesn't matter does it, it's only a car."

Sick of the lack of excellence or of a desire to get there. Ridiculous bloody social taxes and employment law for my employees which changes every month. Working my arse off in conditions which mean instead of rolling in it I've just about keeping it together. And all the time being considered like some kind if criminal because I'm trying to build something and make a living.

Mediocrity, oh the fking mediocrity if it all.

Oh and Holland if you're listening, fk you the most.

Edited by Driller on Wednesday 5th November 17:04

[Driller]

I'm not big on politics but I don't think it's got anything to do with the EU. It's just fking France and their Latinesque anti-liberal communiste culture combined with apathy and rudeness.

[Driller]

AndrewCrown said:

Dear Driller

Great Rant... so what are you going to do?

A

Well if I did what everyone else here does I would blatantly flout the multitude of petty, stupid laws they get so aroused about putting into place, lie, cheat and earn €100,00.00+/year in black payments whilst the hypocritical administration turns a blind eye.

Edited by Driller on Wednesday 19th November 09:15

Edited by Driller on Wednesday 19th November 09:16

[Driller]

It's autocorrect that cocks it up.

[Driller]

Ah, I see the "Is the end nigh for the Euro crowd is in", hi guys

Now if Steffan were to turn up that would really make my day

[Driller]

Thanks for the encouraging words chaps, it's certainly helps to know I'm not the only one to have to put up with these things.

Unfortunately family and money invested means that selling up and moving away would mean financial loss and divorce.

(Hmmm, maybe not so bad on balance )

[Driller]

A lot of experience here and sense being spoken, especially Russ and crossy67 you seem to have been "living the dream".

Andrewcrown, ABSOLUTELY pay in cash or at least wait for the first quote and then offer a cash price (at least 20% off but try 25-30). With all the ridiculous social charges, "normal" prices are high and because of the black culture they are artificially inflated to both provoke a cash offer and to have more after a cash discount.

Welcome to the Bordel

[Driller]

Abbott said:

Generally we enjoy living in France without much to complain about but today was a classic.
We went to the nearby shopping centre to get a couple of nice 10 x 7 photographs framed with a mounting border.
None of the ready made frames were the right size so we went to the custom frame counter.
The guy took a ridiculous amount of time to measure the photo and border, then he spent ages tapping away at his calculator.

The final figure????? 110 Euros

The Mrs says "For both?" Man replies "No Each"

We both both burst into hysterical laughter and said no thanks.


We then went to buy a new iphone cover for the Mrs nezw phone. She spotted the one she wanted but the racks had a lock on them.
There were 4 desks 3 with people serving customers and one with 2 servers chatting to each other. The Mrs managed to get thier attention and asked if they could unlock the rack so she could buy a cover. The free guy interrupted the guy with the customer to ask where the key was. They found the key and then started to bicker about who would actually get off his ar$e and serve us.
The Mrs went ballistic and screamed at them that about customer service and we stormed out.

That has set me right off reading all that, classic examples.

Where's my medicine?

[Driller]

Latest annoyance: Priorité a droit or "priorité au crash" as I like to call it... and the idiots shooting out from side roads because "they know" it's their right of way.

[Driller]

It's not alright it's fking dangerous especially with the way the arrogant tts here use it. If you gad to design a traffic junction with a view to causing as many accidents as possible you couldn't do better priorité au crash.

Not to mention that it's a pain in the arse. You're on a major road wanting to make progress but no, you have sliw down to dead sliw every block because there might be a tt with an agenda about to zoom out infront of you to "forcer son priorité".

Edited by Driller on Monday 24th November 16:16

[Driller]

Ho, ho, no chance.

The village where my wife comes from in La Vienne was totally transformed into priorité au crash a few years ago, not a stop or giveway sign to be seen, by her father who was mayor at the time

[Driller]

Fatt McMissile said:

I was hoping that you weren't reading this thread, but I'm very impressed by your coolness under fire Éric. I am embarrassed by some of my fellow immigrants' comments.
..

Please don't feel the need to be embarrassed on my behalf, no-one is making any personal comments about anyone.

On the other hand, if you get over to News, politics and economics you'll find all you need to fuel your guilt complex re the French.

[Driller]

Blib said:

emss said:

Well, removing road signs forces drivers to adapt and pay attention to others, it's not perfect but probably better than disempowering them with a pile of strict & inapplicable rules.

Éric Masson

Blimey. Adapt or die.

I know!

Had a chat to Durr Dental UK on the phone today, God they were so breezy and friendly and nice on the telephone, made me want to cry.

Edited by Driller on Thursday 27th November 19:44

[Driller]

Hi Eric, I'm sure you're open minded enough not to take anything I said about France personally. Obviously it was a generalisation but it's the generalities that get you down. It is true that no country, even the UK, is perfect ;-)

For the PAD I have to say it's just a mad idea. There is one a few kilometers from my house and people just fly out of it instead of waiting for oncoming cars to stop for themhich results in much slaming of brakes and skidding.

There is a constant pile of shattered glass and sand in the road to mop up oil from accidents so it's obviously not safe but they don't do anything about it, no reaction, no modification.

The idea of having cars pulling out on what is invariably a major road, and so cars moving at speed, seems crazy to me. The car coming up to the road from the side turning has to slow right down anyway to turn, so why not make him stop with a stop sign, it would be so much safer.

[Driller]

Says the bloke receiving the retirement fund whilst sponging off the securité social

I had booked myself on an implantology conference this Friday which cost several thousand euros and the day of work "lost" = is several thousand more.

Just had a message tonight:train controllers on strike and my train for Lyon cancelled.

What the fk more do you want you lazy, whinging scroungers? retirement at 40 and a 20 hour week?!

[Driller]

loughran said:

Driller said:

....and the day off work "lost" = is several thousand more.

You only earn several thousands a day? No wonder you feel so miserable

Jesus, you sound like a Frenchman complaining about people who "mettre plein dans la poche".

Have you considered that I might have charges including 100% national insurance, equipment loans, morgage, employees, materials, instruments etc etc etc to pay? Only a very small portion of that goes in my pocket and then I have to pay tax on it.

No, I know, you didn't consider that.

Edited by Driller on Thursday 4th December 23:19

[Driller]

loughran said:

Sounds to me like you're going to be miserable wherever you live.

I re read the post... just explain to me again how you taking one day off puts you out by several thousand euros ?

It's an accumulation of this stuff basically, I'm pretty easy going otherwise, honest guv.

Yes "several thousand Euros" sounds a bit dramatic I admit it but hey, I'm really pissed off at having my plans fked up at the last minute by the same old wkers. My dental practice costs €200 Euros an hour to exist. So for an average 10 hour day that's €2000. If I don't work on that day I have to find that money from somewhere.

Can you stop changing the subject please? Grrrrrr, bloody France etc

[Driller]

Russwhitehouse said:

Driller, I sympathise entirely with your frustration. My wife has a successful photography business out here and is constantly punished for any success she manages to generate. I have to question whether or not you did your homework fully back in those heady days when you moved over here? I know we only listened to the bits we wanted to and convinced ourselves that we would " sort out" the rest once we got here, deluded fools that we were. I also think that the people who come here to retire and " do lunch" every day probably have a more, how shall I put it, "rose tinted" perspective than those of us trying to row our own boats on a daily basis.
It's not all bad and there is a lot to be said for living here provided you don't aspire to anything. It's that acceptance of powerlessness that eludes most Brits and makes their lives frustrating and annoying as a result. We have done nearly twelve years here and have had some great times, but a good lunch and cheap wine just doesn't cut it anymore I'm afraid.

Thanks Russ, I can see that you really, really get what I'm on about, that helps a lot, seriously.

Those phrases "punished for any success" and "provided you don't aspire to anything" are absolutely bloody bang on.

Funnily enough I've just done the 12 years myself and I think it must be some kind of tipping point.

To answer your question, no, no homework done at all, or at least only to find out if my dentistry degree was accepted here. ALL of the other st I've complained about, the rudeness, the mediocrity, the tax and social charges, the lack of service, the agressive driving, the absence of any sense of excellence or aspiring to it, I had absolutely no idea. I never could have imagined people could think like this. Did you realise?

I met my other half 20 years ago when she came over to the UK and right from the start we decided I would go over to France to join her because her qualifications aren't valid in the UK.

The really tragic thing is that some English folk quite like it here because they must think a bit like the French but I didn't realise that the way I think is completely the opposite to everyone over here and the more time that passes you more you get reminded of this fact. And because you know you can't leave you stay and take on another commitment which makes it even more difficult to leave and before you know it you have a wife who can't work in the UK, a baby, a huge house to upkeep and a dental practice that you can't sell.

(I got an email yesterday to tell me the Convention collective (employment law) for my assistants had been updated again (happens every month-what the fk do they need to change every month ?!). So the message goes "get this months update to the convention collective". So I phone them up and politely ask them who I can speak to to find out why they update it so often and the girl on the phone said "rien a foutre" and put the phone down.)

[Driller]

Except if you're profession libéral in which case l'état is extremely jealous if you and whatever you do you pay massive amounts to the sécu.

3 more classics just yesterday:

Woke up at 5am to drive to Marne la vallee to get the train to Lyon (because of the wker grevists) and fell asleep on the train with difficulty. Next thing I know some bloke walking past falls on me as the train took a turn. Fair enough, it happens.

Of course he said "oh, I'm so sorry" exceot no he didn't he said "oh merde" and turned and walked off up the train without even a glance.

Arrive at the metro entrance after the conference and there's barriers and a long queue and a security guard at the top of the steps. Walk up to the barrier and start to ask the guy what the problem is and planning to also ask him how it will affect my onward travel.

The words "qu'est ce qu'il se passe?" have just left my lips and this young female student arrives at my him and says "faites des luminaires" (lightshow) out loud without even looking at me and immediately starts a conversation with the guy, with her back to me.

I'm so shocked by the hijack that I start speaking ineffectually to the back of her head in English explaining that I was there first and she should wait her turn but she gives no acknowledgement at all. The guy then lets her through the barrier to the front of the queue and I join the back of the queue.

Get to the station at Marne la vallée busting for a leak.

First of all as usual the signs are ambiguous and utterly useless for finding anything (you get signs and then suddenly, nothing and you don't know where to go). I eventually find the toilets and go in, turn left to go into gents and a female cleaner shouts out "monsieur, c'est 50c!"

I said "I'm not paying you money to go to the toilet!" and she says "oui, oui, c'est obligatoire!". These are public toilets in a public station. She had even made up a piece of A4 paper with "50c" written on it, I had the impression she had even laminated it.

If she wants a tip then she can be polite and maybe she'll get one but trying to make out that I have to pay her by law, jesus the sense of entitlement.

I then drove home, blinded from time to time by oncoming cars with one headlight not working and the other on full beam.