Économie d’energie
Look down at the photo below. Can you tell what it is? That, my friends, is a typical hallway in Paris. (Perhaps in all of France?). That’s right- it’s pitch-black; AKA, no light. The reason being that the lights here shut off automatically like, oh I dunno, about a minute after the last person turned them on. And I’d hazard that the more than half of the lights in public spaces here (save for street lights and the metro, obviously) use some sort of similar automatic shut-off. The stairway in my dorm building, the public bathrooms, the hallways at school; all of them are saving precious energy each day by remaining dark when no one’s using them.
Is France more energy-conscious than the US? From my anecdotal perspective, yes. The metro isn’t heated in the winter, nor air conditioned in the summer (trust me, you’ll live). And take for instance the avoidance of unnecessary refrigeration. When I first arrived, I couldn’t find the eggs at the grocery store for the life of me, and when I finally mustered up the courage to ask, I was shocked to discover that THEY WEREN’T REFRIGERATED. The American in me was horrified, but after many months of eating these pestilent room-temperature eggs, I can safely say that there’s really no risk.
So why do we leave lights on in hallways? Why do we refrigerate eggs? Could it be that, as a litigious society, we’re too afraid not to take “extra precautions” to avoid a lawsuit? That I’d believe. I could see it now, on the front page, “Woman Sues After Fall Down Unlit Stairway”, or on the news at 11 “A New Jersey family is suing Whole Foods after their 4 year old daughter contracted salmonella from eating unrefrigerated eggs.”
But how is it that France gets along fine without these extra energy expenditures? Could it just be that no one in the US has ever questioned our ways of using (or wasting) energy? If France can do it, why can’t we??
Well, in the wise words of Miss Teen South Carolina, “I personally believe, that US Americans are unable to do so… because… some… people out there, in our nation, don’t have maps, and I believe that our education like, such as in South Africa and… the Iraq and everywhere like, such as, and I believe that they should… our education over here in the US should help the US, or, should help South Africa, and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future… for our children.”
Accordion on the metro. My friend talking to his maman on the phone.
We’ve got “French Dressing”, and they’ve got “American Sauce”. Made with real Americans. Dunno how it tastes though, and I’m not adventurous enough to find out. Kinda looks like thousand-island dressing…
It’s funny how being in another country gives you a whole new appreciation for where you come from. Maybe it’s something about being “one of the few” that makes people more proud of their homeland; maybe people feel more obligated to “represent”, or to defend their country. When Thanksgiving rolled around I was suddenly a spokesperson for American culture and history, having to answer questions about not only what people do during the holiday, but also what its true origins are, the Pilgrims and the Indians and all that. And let me tell ya- I learned a lot that day. It could also be the lack of familiar things around you, and like the old saying goes, “You never know what you have until it’s gone.” Whatever the reason, it’s a very bizarre experience to randomly overhear American English on the metro, or to walk by the American embassy, and feel a twinge of nostalgia. Weird.
Une de mes activités préférées en Paris est aller voir le cirque. Voilà un petit extrait de la spectacle «Psy» du group «Les 7 Doigts de la Main». C’était trop cool.
