They also covet the Chequebook over there, the amount of times I had to wait to purchase a bottle of water for 1 of the kids whilst someone went through the whole cheque rigmarole, get the huge thing out at their leisure, idle chit chat with the girl on the till, put the thing through the machine, sign it after reading everything like it's the morning newspaper then finally sign the damn thing.
Seriously I've done a years accounts faster than Madame paying for her Baguette and Gauloises.
Haha - the amount of times I've stood fuming in supermarket queues while this happens. And finding out how all the kids got over their chicken pox and what marks they got in their school exams...
Then after 10 mins she's ready to fill the cheque in, asks the checkout woman how much and she doesn't know, has to bring it all back up on screen. Then the cheque takes another 10 mins, then more family news...
Also have you noticed how the phone is always the most important thing...so you queue up to the desk at the bank or wherever, there could be 20 people queueing, but nope, phone rings, answer it, talk for 5-10 minutes...sod the people waiting.
Also their spatial awareness. This irritates the hell out of me. Always choosing doorways and narrow aisles to stand and have a chat. Say excuse me, they move. Go to leave, they're back in the doorway... FFS.
OK rant over!