"This is the police. Do you speak French?"
What a great phone to call to receive before my alarm clock went off.
Yesterday morning, I noticed I was getting a phone call from an unknown number. At first I decided to ignore it, and see if they left a voicemail. They called back again... and then again. I decided to pick up the third time they called. "This is the police. Do you speak French?" they said. I said that I spoke a little bit of French, not knowing why they were calling, but thinking it probably wasn't good news. Through the conversation, I began to understand that I needed to move my car from where it was parked. I quickly realized what the problem was: I had my car parked in an area that it shouldn't be parked. There is a market every Wednesday and Saturday in the zone where my car was parked.
I felt a little upset at myself, because we know this market happens in this zone every week--we go to this market every week. I usually don't park in this spot, but the day I parked my car there, it was one of the few options. There is only one sign, that I didn't see when I parked my car. The thought about the market being there the next day obviously didn't cross my mind at the time of parking.
Still on the phone, I tried to summarize the problem to the police, confirming what I thought they were saying. I told them that I needed to relocate my car because the market was there today. I asked them if it was ok if I came right away. They confirmed. A good exercise in French (though maybe not a preferable method).
Then I had one of those moments where you throw on the first clothes you see (you can relate if you've ever missed your alarm clock). No time to tie my shoes. It felt like a movie a little bit. But I was on the screen, and not in the sticky-floored, someone's head is in your way, pass the popcorn comfortable theaters (like you are right now, reading this story).
I arrived at my car very quickly, as it was very close by. I greeted the police, and thanked them for calling. I apologized, and explained that I knew that I could not park in this zone, but I had forgotten, because we don't usually park in this area. I asked them how they got my phone number. They told me they got my number from Steve Niles, one of our friends here in Aix. My first thought, which I verbalized was, "You know Steve?!" They told me they got Steve's number from a ID card you put on your windshield in France (his number was linked with our car). I suppose their conclusion of knowing Steve makes more sense than the one I made in my mind. Ok, not the most intelligent thing I'd done this week, but I don't think my brain was at full-capacity thinking at this stage of the movie.
Again I thanked them, and again they reminded me (like 3 times) that I needed to remember not to park here again on Wednesday mornings. I am thankful they did not tow my car. We were told it would have been about 300 Euros to retrieve our car (that's $392). Phew.
Later that morning, after the dust had settled, our teammates came to our apartment for a team meeting. We were talking with Steve about the experience, and Steve told us his side of the story, wondering why the police were calling him about me (they asked him if they knew me). Steve told the police, "He just moved here. He knows nothing." We laughed about this. Not the most affirming thing to hear, but I'm glad he told them that, as it may have saved me from paying a towing fee! Either way, it was good exercise in French at 7:15am.
Yesterday morning, I noticed I was getting a phone call from an unknown number. At first I decided to ignore it, and see if they left a voicemail. They called back again... and then again. I decided to pick up the third time they called. "This is the police. Do you speak French?" they said. I said that I spoke a little bit of French, not knowing why they were calling, but thinking it probably wasn't good news. Through the conversation, I began to understand that I needed to move my car from where it was parked. I quickly realized what the problem was: I had my car parked in an area that it shouldn't be parked. There is a market every Wednesday and Saturday in the zone where my car was parked.
I felt a little upset at myself, because we know this market happens in this zone every week--we go to this market every week. I usually don't park in this spot, but the day I parked my car there, it was one of the few options. There is only one sign, that I didn't see when I parked my car. The thought about the market being there the next day obviously didn't cross my mind at the time of parking.
Still on the phone, I tried to summarize the problem to the police, confirming what I thought they were saying. I told them that I needed to relocate my car because the market was there today. I asked them if it was ok if I came right away. They confirmed. A good exercise in French (though maybe not a preferable method).
Then I had one of those moments where you throw on the first clothes you see (you can relate if you've ever missed your alarm clock). No time to tie my shoes. It felt like a movie a little bit. But I was on the screen, and not in the sticky-floored, someone's head is in your way, pass the popcorn comfortable theaters (like you are right now, reading this story).
I arrived at my car very quickly, as it was very close by. I greeted the police, and thanked them for calling. I apologized, and explained that I knew that I could not park in this zone, but I had forgotten, because we don't usually park in this area. I asked them how they got my phone number. They told me they got my number from Steve Niles, one of our friends here in Aix. My first thought, which I verbalized was, "You know Steve?!" They told me they got Steve's number from a ID card you put on your windshield in France (his number was linked with our car). I suppose their conclusion of knowing Steve makes more sense than the one I made in my mind. Ok, not the most intelligent thing I'd done this week, but I don't think my brain was at full-capacity thinking at this stage of the movie.
Again I thanked them, and again they reminded me (like 3 times) that I needed to remember not to park here again on Wednesday mornings. I am thankful they did not tow my car. We were told it would have been about 300 Euros to retrieve our car (that's $392). Phew.
Later that morning, after the dust had settled, our teammates came to our apartment for a team meeting. We were talking with Steve about the experience, and Steve told us his side of the story, wondering why the police were calling him about me (they asked him if they knew me). Steve told the police, "He just moved here. He knows nothing." We laughed about this. Not the most affirming thing to hear, but I'm glad he told them that, as it may have saved me from paying a towing fee! Either way, it was good exercise in French at 7:15am.
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