More and more visitors who come to France have realized one thing: the lack of manners French people have. Considered as a rude culture, people from France have a low reputation when it comes to manners and politeness. However, the good news is that the Paris transport board, also called RATP, has decided to put an end to this annoying rudeness by launching a campaign that would show locals how to behave accordingly in order to create a positive impression on tourists.
The campaign features large posters where people from Paris are depicted as animals, while the people around them are shocked and stare at them. According to a Press Release published recently, the RATP officials decided to create a website where people can upload their photos showing rude situations and express their frustration.
Among the animals we can discover a hen that holds a mobile phone and yells at it while the bus is full of people, a donkey that spits with nonchalance a chewing gum on a train platform, and a sloth that sits on a bus seat while people stare at him.
The campaign is created not merely on stereotypes, but on certain data. According to a recent survey organized by the RATP's media department, more than 96% of all passengers had witnessed a certain degree of "uncivil" behavior, either on the bus, tram, metro or other Paris public transportation. Unbelievably or not, this survey done this year comes exactly two years after another survey of more than 1000 visitors and tourists in Paris. According to the study, Parisians are the rudest people in Europe.
One of the most famous French teachers and authors, Cécile Ernst, declared that almost all rules of integrity were thrown out of the window in the early 1960's, when the Parliament contested and rejected strict social conventions. According to her, people are not that keen on social codes and regulations.
This trend has expanded all over Paris. More and more students lack discipline and are unable to behave according to moral and social codes. Instead of that, they are extremely proud they can be different and see their incivility as a form of liberation. As Ms. Ernst stated they think that laws can only create slaves, and they want to be free and independent.
According to the most recent survey of RATP, not just the tourists are affected by the snooty and selfish behavior of the French people. Many people from other countries living in Paris are dissatisfied with the way the locals treat them and declared they would like to move to another city and country. There is even a top 10 list of the most annoying behaviors of the French people. Number one is loud chatting through cell phone.