vas@lzaz.UUCP (V.SNYDER) (01/02/86)
The oddest thing we observed on our October Paris trip was the obsession Parisians have with their pets, particularly their dogs! On our very first night and every night thereafter, we observed at least 1 Frenchperson bringing their dog to a restaurant with them. On one occasion, we were in a very nice, elegant restaurant and in comes a female heffer with her dachsund in tow under her arm. The matre de (spelling?) clucked happily at the dog and sat the woman next to me with its rump facing me. She was going to hold FiFi on her lap all through dinner while her and her companion would feed it from the table! Since the restaurant was already crowded and our food was on the way, we couldn't very well ask for another table. (When in France ...you know the saying.) Another observance, while the French are obsessive about their pets, they are very clean about the mess they make on the streets. The municipality hires workers to hose down the streets every morning and another group that ride specially designed motorcycles. You could call them modern pooperscoopers, if you pardon the expression. Here is how they work: as the cyclist stops the motorcycle above a pet's feces on the sidewalk, a small broom and dustpan emerge from under the scooter and quickly cleans the mess. As the motorcycle putters away, painted on the back of the motorcycle is a picture of a dog with a broom and dustpan waving to you! Ooh la la!!
greg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) (01/03/86)
> > The oddest thing we observed on our October Paris trip was the > obsession Parisians have with their pets, particularly their dogs! > On our very first night and every night thereafter, we observed > at least 1 Frenchperson bringing their dog to a restaurant with them. > This isn't purely a French phenomenon but rather, at least as far as I've seen, a general European one. We saw dogs accompanying people into restaurants (sometimes preceding their owners and appearing to pick the table) in first-class restaurants in Duesseldorf, Munich, Zurich, Geneva and Vienna, just to name a few that came to mind. If you look in a "Guide Michelin" for hotel/restaurant listings, you'll notice that most of those displaying the dog crossed out ("no pets allowed") are heavily oriented toward American tourists. One time in Munich in summer of 1984, I was with my family in a Moevenpick restaurant. We were walking back to our table from the buffet when a dog, unprovoked, leaped out from under a table and snapped at our then 3-year-old. After I chewed out the dog and its owners and we returned to our table, my son, still trembling, muttered "that must have been a German dog". - Greg Paley/Olivetti ATC
rchrd@well.UUCP (Richard Friedman) (01/08/86)
One of my favorite pubs in London is the Museum Tavern,
just opposite the BM (British Museum) on Great Russell St.
WHen I lived there in '73 every night there was a mutt
propped up on a barstool with a bowl of ale before him,
taking occasional laps and seeming to join in to the conversation.
He was most interested in the caged parrott behind the bar and
the two got on quite well.
One expects this sort of thing in England.
--
...Richard Friedman [rchrd]
Pacific-Sierra Research
2855 Telegraph #415, Berkeley CA 94705
(415) 540 5216
USENET: {lll-crg,ptsfa,hplabs}!well!rchrdmazlack@ernie.BERKELEY.EDU (Lawrence J. &) (01/23/86)
>> The oddest thing we observed on our October Paris trip was the >> obsession Parisians have with their pets, particularly their dogs! >> On our very first night and every night thereafter, we observed >> at least 1 Frenchperson bringing their dog to a restaurant with them. >> > >This isn't purely a French phenomenon but rather, at least as far as >I've seen, a general European one. We saw dogs accompanying people >into restaurants (sometimes preceding their owners and appearing to Actually, I think that this is one of the better parts of Europe. In a lot of ways, I think that the good old USA is becoming a rather sterile and antispectic (sp?) place. We seem to be trying to deny our contact with the natural world. (Even on children's TV, many of the cartoon heros are now machines instead of people.) Accepting animals of a natural part of your environment is, in part, a recognition that your are part of nature yourself. (Of course, if many people are driven to deny their natural selves by trying to completely hide their natural odors and pretend that they don't deficate, only "rest.") Besides restaurants, dogs are allowed on buses,etc. in both Europe and much of Canada.
tjsmedley@watmum.UUCP (Trevor J. Smedley) (01/23/86)
In article <11500@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> mazlack@ernie.UUCP (Lawrence J. Mazlack) writes: > >Besides restaurants, dogs are allowed on buses,etc. in both Europe and >much of Canada. > Is this to mean that dogs are allowed in restaurants in much of Canada? I have lived in Canada all my life (except one year) and the only dogs I can remember seeing in restaurants were seeing-eye-dogs, and certainly they are allowed in anywhere. I have never lived in Western Canada, however, so perhaps it is common there. Trevor J. Smedley University of Waterloo {decvax,allegra,ihnp4,clyde,utzoo}!watmum!tjsmedley
jbtubman@watdragon.UUCP (Jim Tubman) (01/23/86)
In article <373@watmum.UUCP> tjsmedley@watmum.UUCP (Trevor J. Smedley) writes: >In article <11500@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> mazlack@ernie.UUCP (Lawrence J. Mazlack) writes: >>Besides restaurants, dogs are allowed on buses,etc. in both Europe and >>much of Canada. > >Is this to mean that dogs are allowed in restaurants in much of >Canada? I have lived in Canada all my life (except one year) and >the only dogs I can remember seeing in restaurants were >seeing-eye-dogs, and certainly they are allowed in anywhere. > >I have never lived in Western Canada, however, so perhaps it is common >there. > >Trevor J. Smedley University of Waterloo No, in Western Canada (Saskatchewan, at least), only seeing-eye dogs are allowed in restaurants. (And that was only after a lot of ruckus in a human rights tribunal.) Letting pets into your restaurant is like saying, "Hey, Health Department, close me down!" Jim Tubman University of Waterloo
greg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) (01/24/86)
> > Actually, I think that this is one of the better parts of Europe. In a > lot of ways, I think that the good old USA is becoming a rather sterile > and antispectic (sp?) place. We seem to be trying to deny our contact > with the natural world. (Even on children's TV, many of the cartoon > heros are now machines instead of people.) Accepting animals of a > natural part of your environment is, in part, a recognition that your > are part of nature yourself. (Of course, if many people are driven > to deny their natural selves by trying to completely hide their natural > odors and pretend that they don't deficate, only "rest.") > I think this is a good point, and is perhaps only the tip of an iceberg. I've found repeatedly in dealing with Europeans that they tend to find us Americans superficial and "glossed over". I've also heard a number of them make the observation that the sort of instant cameraderie we affect actually seems detrimental to the formation of deeper friendships. These are points that I've been hard put to argue. - Greg Paley/Olivetti ATC
mazlack@ernie.BERKELEY.EDU (Lawrence J. &) (01/25/86)
>>Besides restaurants, dogs are allowed on buses,etc. in both Europe and >>much of Canada. >> > >Is this to mean that dogs are allowed in restaurants in much of >Canada? I have lived in Canada all my life (except one year) and Oops. Sorry for the pronoun reference problem. I was referring to taking them on buses, etc.
flory@zaphod.UUCP (Trevor Flory) (01/28/86)
>>Besides restaurants, dogs are allowed on buses,etc. in both Europe and >>much of Canada. > >Is this to mean that dogs are allowed in restaurants in much of >Canada? .... > >I have never lived in Western Canada, however, so perhaps it is common >there. > >Trevor J. Smedley University of Waterloo I've lived in Western Canada since birth --25 long years ago-- and I can assure you that critters --esp dogs-- are *not* welcome in restaurants. Though I cannot claim to have been in every restaurant in the Western Provinces I have been to most of the best and a lot of the worst. Never, NEVER have I dined with a dog. -- Trevor K. Flory UUCP: ...!ihnp4{!alberta}!sask!zaphod!flory Develcon Electronics Ltd:(disclaim!) Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CANADA "Life is a bitch ... and then you die."
marko@tekecs.UUCP (Mark O'Shea) (01/30/86)
In article <476@olivee.UUCP> greg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) writes: >> >> Actually, I think that this is one of the better parts of Europe. In a >> lot of ways, I think that the good old USA is becoming a rather sterile >> and antispectic (sp?) place. We seem to be trying to deny our contact >> with the natural world. (Even on children's TV, many of the cartoon >> heros are now machines instead of people.) Accepting animals of a >> natural part of your environment is, in part, a recognition that your >> are part of nature yourself. (Of course, if many people are driven >> to deny their natural selves by trying to completely hide their natural >> odors and pretend that they don't deficate, only "rest.") >> > >I think this is a good point, and is perhaps only the tip of an iceberg. >I've found repeatedly in dealing with Europeans that they tend to find >us Americans superficial and "glossed over". I've also heard a number >of them make the observation that the sort of instant cameraderie we >affect actually seems detrimental to the formation of deeper friendships. >These are points that I've been hard put to argue. > > - Greg Paley/Olivetti ATC I, too, have heard this criticism. The counter to it is that some Europeans are xenophobic, and clanish and use this criticism of Americans to hide that fact. I have found many Europeans to be friendly and very pleasant. I even found friendly French in Paris. Mark O'Shea
aglew@ccvaxa.UUCP (02/04/86)
(I may regret saying this): Sure, you'll never see a dog in a restaurant in Western Canada. English Canadians might as well be Yanks... As to whether Europeans (and Canadians - Quebecois at least) think Americans are falsely friendly: sure, but they were never on the net! Have a good day.