Just look before you say no

Having lived in Paris, Maverik Midget King advised MiniMe and I he would be our tour guide, “I know two things in Paris: barber shop and bakery.” When on vacation in a big city nothing quite compates to a local’s perspective.

After seeing his barber shop and neighborhood bakery we decide to do as all tourists must do when in the city of love, we went to see the Tour Eiffel. As we made our way we were approached by several individuals selling plastic Tour Eiffels. “Madame, Monsieur, three for $5.” “Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Maverik Midget King responded and then told us, “That is French for ‘no’ and is like being schooled.” Despite the tsking, they persisted. We attempted to ignore them when one individual said, “Just look before you say no.” “I like that,” I told MiniMe and Maverik Midget King, then added, “I think that will be my new slogan.”

After several hours in the city we started heading toward home – a feat that required two Metro rides. Maverik Midget King provided us with tickets and as we were walking through the Metro tunnel to the second part of the journey we encountered the Metro Police and a ticket check. Merde. I had just thrown mine in a rubbish bin. I explained this to an officer who (surprisingly) allowed me to look for it in the bin(s) – I couldn’t remember which one – so as to avoid a citation. I looked for a bit, but ultimately had to tell her, “I looked but, no, I could not find it.” Fortunately Maverik Midget King had an extra unused ticket and she had mercy on us.

Once on the train, sans citation, Maverik Midget King asked, “Why did you throw your ticket away? You never throw your tickets away. What if you could not pay the fine and they took you to jail?” “That would have made a really good blog entry,” I replied.