The great box chase

We ordered some things via the internet and were expecting a biggish box in the mail. The mail man tried buzzing us at the gate Monday morning (around 9:30) but we weren't here so we got a card saying it was being held at the post office. Late that afternoon we stopped by the post office to pick it up. The post office only has one window and we were about 7th in line. After about 20 minutes it was our turn and we learned that our box wasn't at the post office, yet, but still on the back of the mail truck somewhere. They told us they were closed for (an un-named) holiday on Tuesday so come back Wednesday, but make sure we come in the morning because Wednesday afternoon they are closed. So Geoff planned to go this morning, but before he left we heard the buzzer. Turns out it was the postman. We tried to answer but we didn't sprint to the intercom so we missed him. Now we have to wait again until tomorrow to go to the post office, or do we go to the post office? Does the card mean we-have-a-box-and-will-try-to-deliver-it-again, or does it mean come-to-the-post-office-and-pick-up-your-box like it says on the piece of paper? Or something in between?

One simply can not be in a hurry in France. Nothing is quick. Four days after our car was in the shop they still hadn't taken a look at it. (We were told that the mechanics hadn't been coming in due to the power being out...which was about 10 minutes on two different days). After much persistence they got to it and found it was simply a hose that had come loose and within a few hours we could pick it up. Two weeks ago a man was scheduled to come prune the trees in our back yard but he still hasn't come. His last re-scheduled appointment was the first sunny day after the two weeks of rain and he called and cancelled because the "trees are too wet". A "quick run to the store" takes about 45 minutes because each check-out line has at least 5 people in it, and the goal isn't to provide a favorable experience for the customer...it is as if the store figures people have to eat so they'll come no matter the wait. Amazingly, no one is impatient in line, or grumbling about something that would make us Americans storm out threatening to take our business elsewhere. No one is checking their watch or letting out exasperated sighs. I haven't seen a single blackberry since we've been here (I'm sure they have them in Northern France), and I would make a safe bet that the majority of people don't have the internet in their homes, because most offices/stores we've been in don't have a modern set-up. They don't seem totally archaic, but more like they figure, "Who wants to spend time on the internet when you could be spending time at the beach?" This would normally drive us crazy (and at times it does), but since we've shed our mobile phones and calendars for a year it is pretty refreshing. During our first visit to the post-office to pick up our box there was a guy a few people ahead of us in line that had a letter to send and was waiting for a single stamp. Geoff said, "All this waiting for a stamp, huh?" to which the guy, not thinking it an inconvenience at all, replied, "Yeah". The man at the front of the line heard the brief conversation and invited the man waiting for a stamp to come to the front of the line. Kindness. Civility. Ahhh, life is pleasurable in the slow lane...