Just An Observation

The French and their particular stereotypical attitudes can be explained by one simple cause. If I had to use a door handle similar in design to the ones I found in Paris, it would give an an attitude too. (Look at this thing. Can anyone explain what that notch is all about?) Guess how many times I tried to get myself out of the bathroom in the middle of the night?

In defense of the French, throughout Europe I found the door handles lacking in practicality and functionality. I consider myself a rather intelligent individual, one who has managed to figure out how to change a windshield wiper (come on, who hasn’t struggled with that?). However, I’d admit I was somewhat challenged as I tried to open the doors to my hotel rooms. It started in Amsterdam where the door handle wasn’t even used. To unlock the room it took a little round metal do-hickie-kind-of-looking-thing, similar to an ear bug. It was placed in a small hole located on the wall near the door. It activated the lock and all you had to do was push the door open. Without that critical piece of information you stood outside trying to turn a door handle which didn’t turn, thus never opening the door.

On more than one occasion when I said my nightly prayers I asked God to protect me from the hotel burning down in the middle of the night. God knows I would have never been able to get out in case of an emergency.