Reading: True/False - 2021 őszi

"Non, ce n'est pas possible. I keep telling you, it can't be done," the airline booking agent insisted. We'd been on the phone for 20 minutes as I tried to exchange a full-fare, exchangeable plane ticket. Sitting calmly at home, my eyes took in the beauty of my Parisian apartment. Over the last 18 years, I'd learned to see the beauty that surrounded me as compensation for living in a society where the default answer to almost every question, request or suggestion is a disheartening 'non' (no). A conversation with French friends and family about their use of 'non' and why it seems to be the national default reads like the script for a Gerard Depardieu comedy. "No, it's not true, we don't always say 'no' first," retorted the 60-something businessman. "No, you're right, even when we agree, we start with no," reacted the lawyer. "Hunh, no... I don't know why..." pondered the young artist. Olivier Giraud, a French comedian explains this reflex by saying, "We must not forget that the French are a people of protest, and a protest always starts with a 'non'." Indeed, the French have been protesting more or less non-stop since the citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison in 1789. Authors Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoit Nadeau agree, "The French Revolution was about the irrevocable right of all citizens to refuse." Yet 'non' in France does not always mean 'no'. "Contrary to popular opinion, the French do listen, and well, but this usually happens after they say no a couple of times. It takes a certain amount of faith, and sometimes a lot of talking, but you can almost always find the yes hiding behind a French no, if it's there," write Barlow and Nadeau. Hoping to get to this hidden yes, I re-explained my need for a flight that night. The booking agent replied that the airline required one day's notice to exchange tickets. I asked if that was 24 hours or one calendar day. Since that was not a 'yes' or 'no' question, she was able to tell me it was a calendar day. "When is the very first flight the next day?" I enquired. It was five minutes after midnight - exactly 35 minutes after the flight I had been trying to book for my trip. At last, I had my yes.