Why is customer service in Paris so horribly rude? It may have roots in the French Revolution (they really do take the égalité part of the national motto "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" seriously).

Emma Jane Kirby of BBC News discovers first-hand that the customer isn't always right in Paris:

The fact is Parisians employed in any service industry simply do not buy into the Anglo Saxon maxim, "He who pays the piper calls the tune."

The revolution of 1789 has burned the notion of equality deep into the French psyche and a proud Parisian finds it abhorrently degrading to act subserviently.

This Sunday, a Parisian friend of mine waited in line at the fruit and vegetable stall of his local market. When it was his turn to be served, he asked the seller for a kilo of leeks. "They're at the other end of the stall," snapped the vendor waspishly. "Take a bit of exercise and get them yourself."

There is no mistaking the undertone, "I'm not your slave."

Link (Photo: AFP)