People who work in public service are not industrial workers in any generally understood meaning of the word. Do you talk about the airline industry or the educational industry or the health promotion industry?
No. If you do, your comments will be seen as dubious at best, and the language of the snake-oil salesman at worst.
Industries are productive of tangible products, not intangibles like health, education or even travel. There has been a tendency to define intangibles like life insurance policies or on-line dating services as āproductsā but they are not products in the generally accepted meaning of the word, and people are not convinced, and with good reason IMO.
People in public services supply intangible but complex and dynamically significant energies to actual or potential matters that call for change or for the maintenance of equilibrium in individuals or systems, and to prevent essential systems degenerating into progressive entropy. Not products.
It would be good if some stopped trying to diminish the worth of people who work in the service sector, or comparing them unfavourably to people who make scented candles, cluster-bombs, or diamond-studded collars for powdered poodles.
I like cars and Iāve imported them from Germany, Italy, Ireland and the UK and I have always found my local impots office very helpful (even telling me on one occasion to go away and come back in six months to avoid a TVA issue) but the folk in the sous prefecture were a miserable bunch just looking to frustrate oneās efforts. Every time I went into the office it ended in a fight but my French (and determination) is good and I always won eventually. Iām happy to deal through an intermediary. Good luck.
As an aside, not long back, a chap I know imported a Land Rover pick up from Holland. He was told that his vehicle would subject to extra testing, whatever that means, because the centre of gravity on French LRās is different from those in other countries (!!)
He wrote to LR in UK & Holland & got written proof that the DREAL were talking utter bollocksā¦which eventually they conceded.
Sounds to me that your Dossier was lacking something, and she was probably having a bad day. People of all nationalities get turned away, so not really anything personalā¦
They donāt always say what the problem isā¦ they donāt have toā¦ they are not there to discussā¦ they are there to process the dossiers.
With all the rubbish they have to put up with , Iām not surprised that some crackā¦ although it is usually a case of āthrowing their hands up in the air and saying get lostā
At Perigueux, many years agoā¦ there was a fearsome dragon at Receptionā¦ about 4ft 6 tallā¦ some folk would argue the toss with her, after they were turned away from the counterā¦
and if they didnāt get going, with their tale between their legsā¦ she spoke into her walkie-talkie and the most enormous Gendarmes came and escorted the person outsideā¦ and on a rare occasion we saw them being escorted upstairs, never to be seen againā¦
Iāve actually never (knock on wood) had a bad experience with civil servants, although maybe the tax office is a bit different than the prefectureā¦
Isnāt that a term of endearment Bob - Our local garagiste used a similar phrase when l pointed out that the distribution lād just paid 600 euros for was making a rather strange grinding noise. Once we had kissed and made up he apologised and fitted it the right way round.
Ah wellā¦ the P word is used in almost any situationā¦ by some folkā¦ more often than not it is a throw-awayā¦ not said with any thought of its literal meaningā¦
@benvanstaveren. Strangely tax offices always seem to be staffed by friendly and helpful peopleā¦and sous-prefectures by grumpy dragons. I think they must go to different training schools.
