Superstitions at the gas station

In Paris intramuros [within the walls] it is against the law to serve yourself gas, so there is a gas station attendant who does it. This is fine with me. I have had carpal tunnel syndrome in my wrists since I was fifteen, so I hate serving gas-- it makes my hands ache for hours afterwards.

However, getting gasoline is still not effortless. In France, it is considered very rude to just sit in your car and let the gas station guy serve you. You have to get out of your car and stand there watching him (and talking to him)! Then you pay and get back in.

Being naturally très bavarde [very chatty], I know all the gas station attendants in my part of Paris. When I drove up and got out of the car, the man came up and said, "Bonne année! Happy New Year, since I haven't seen you since before then, I think." For a minute he looked as if he were going to kiss me, but he thought better of it.

"Le plein, s'il vous plaît. [Fill 'er up, please.] It's the tradition, isn't it," I said, "to say Bonne année! to everyone the first time you see them in the new year? Someone told me it was bad luck to say it before New Year's Day. I just learned that last year."

"Oh, that is old-fashioned," he said as he started filling the tank. "You know, it's just country people, les superstitieux, très rustiques, who are still like that. A lot of them, if you wish them a Bon anniversaire a day or two early, they freak out. They glare at you. They think it brings bad luck."

"Is there anything else like that?" I said. "What other kind of superstitions do they have?"

"Well, there's the bread," he said. "You are never supposed to turn bread upside down. It comes from the time when there were bourreaux, executioners. They wore a hood over their heads so no one could see who they were. The upside-down bread is like a head cut off. The bakers used to give them their bread upside-down."

"I had a friend who did some genealogical research," I said, "and found out that her family had been hereditary executioners in Alsace!"

"Not a nice thing to find out," he said. "I think I would change my family name."

"I met someone else," I said, "who said his grandmother was a witch and that's why his family changed their name."

"My neighbor in the village believes in witches," he said. "She keeps three tomatoes on her mantel all season long. It's some sort of charm. She thinks that one of the women in our village is a witch. She told me never to look her in the eye or she'll put a spell on me."

I had finished paying by now, and he looked me straight in the eye. "Bonne année et bonne route!"

Comments

[schuey]

et avec des tomates cerises, ça marche ?

From Sedulia:

Non, il faut des Old German ou des Mr Stripey.

[Zardoz]

hello Francaisedcoeur !

I think your comments about how you have to get out of your car and stand beside the gas station attendant while he fills the tank is hilarious ! It's so true that I've never thought about it before ...

Just a word about another common life superstition : in France, a lot of people think you're not supposed to wish "bonne chance" - good luck - to someone who is about to take an exam (whatever : driving license, university exam...) because instead of good luck it will be bad luck ! No, you have to say...merde ! I've always been reluctant to say "merde" to my fellow students when I was at university and I often said "good luck" which usually provoked comments such like "do no say that" or "no, merde please ! you will draw me bad luck !".

From Sedulia:

Thanks for that, Zardoz! I had heard that before, but didn't know if people still did that. In the U.K. and U.S., people in the theater often say "Break a leg!" instead of "Good luck!"

I have to point out, though, that I am not françaisedecoeur, who has her blog here: http://www.francaisedecoeur.com/