18 Months Later

We've been back in the US for about 18 months now. I thought coming back would be an easy transition, and it has been in most areas. But I still miss things about our lives in France. And they are the strangest things.

I miss bagging my own groceries.

Yeah, that chore that I despised in France is actually missed. I stand at the check-out feeling totally useless while I watch someone else try to pack my French grocery bags with some sort of efficiency. I want to just push them out of the way and say "Let me show you how to do this!" The mentality here seems to be that one can only put 3 items in any given grocery bag. Now, my French bags are heavy duty plastic or fabric, and they are HUGE, especially compared to American bags. They can hold a lot, and I can even still lift them. SO let me pack them the way I want to!

Now, if you want to take over the actual shopping, please feel free.

The other thing I miss is the efficiency by which our cars were serviced. If you took the car in for an oil change, and were told that it would be one hour, it was! "You made an appointment, and your car was serviced AT THAT TIME. So what if you came early. You car was not due in until 11 AM. That is when we will take it. And it will be done by 12 because we are ALL going to lunch."

I spent almost 4 hours at the Ford dealership today just to get the oil changed and a new battery installed. The dealership will not take appointments for oil changes, so I had to wait my turn. Then I had to wait for the battery guy to get back from lunch to install the battery. Just close the shop for an hour at noon and all go at the same time for goodness sake!

And I have to go back on Thursday to get the rest of the work done because the tech I needed wasn't at work today. ARGH!!

I am very proud to be an American, and I do love living in the USA, but I can't help but admit that we don't have it ALL right.