UPS

Have you ever waited 4 hours outside in the freezing cold for the UPS? No? Well that's probably because he rings your doorbell! We missed him on Monday, though we did not know it. We missed him on Tuesday- I saw him as he drove away and thought how nice it was to see Brown- a familiar sight, only later to realize we missed getting our package for the internet and phone service we ordered. So the note he left said he'd be back on Wednesday and we were glad because we would be home on Wednesday! We were also having our dryer delivered from Darty, a good electronics and appliance store with free delivery. I knew ahead of time to only half expect one of the two things would really be accomplished that day. The dryer arrived at 9:30 and Jason even understood the delivery man on the phone. That went well and they were very friendly. Then Jason had been trying all morning to go down and label our bell and couldn't find the sticky tack. Finally he found it and couldn't find the label so he made a new one. Then Andrew got fussy so he played a couple minutes with him. When he finally went down and put the label on the doorbell the UPS sticker was already on the door. He was so mad. Disappointed really, because we were there and he didn't even ring the bell. So I decided to miss school and wait for him this morning because the note said this would be the last attempt at delivery and I knew how much Jason was really wanting to get this finished. So I waited in the garage area with one garage door open so he could gain entry when he came because the note said he could not gain entry into the building. It wasn't too bad but I did get a little choked on the Diesel fumes from the cars and trucks stopped at the redlight just outside. So, I used my scarf as a mask for a little while. I read my Creative Correction book ( the best book on parenting aside from the Bible) that I've read so far. By 9:30am (1.5 hours later) my toes were freezing. The sun was up but shining on the other side of the street. No chance to get warmer from that. So I decided I would leave the door open and run upstairs and microwave some hot chocolate. I did that and made another one too while I watched for Brown out the window. So back down I went to wait a little longer. The hot chocolate warmed me a little but my toes were hurting so bad. I went back upstairs to the kitchen, sat at the window and warmed my feet by the heater. No Brown. Back down. By this time the sun was on my side of the road So I could stand on the sidewalk and be warmer. I kept seeing the same people pass. They would pass on the way to the store and on the way home. I could tell the tailor/dry cleaner across the road was really wondering what I was waiting for so long but he never came over and asked. It is very hard to not make eye contact in a place where people love to "people watch". A few men made me very uncomfortable by really trying to stare me in the eyes. It was the rougher looking ones too who would do that- the ones that I was most definitly not trying to look at.-----Later Jason mentioned that they probably thought I was going to try and offer to sell them drugs. I think he was right. We had been warned not to look too long at a man standing in one place outside because he might offer us drugs. I think these men may have been trying to tell me they wanted me to sell to them. YIkes. It may not have been that but it was uncomfortable anyway. I did make one man mad that I could tell. I don't know where he came from but I think he may have said bonjour madam. to me and I only half caught what he said because people speak softly and quickly here and I wasn't even looking his direction. When I realized oh I think he said that to me he was halfway gone and giving me the evil eye for not responding. Oh Well, I'm sure God let that happen for a reason because people really don't speak to others they don't know here.-so he really should not have spoken to me. The hours went on 11:30 came, No Brown. Oh but at 11:35 I saw him turn at the light like he was going to make the round to be able to come up our oneway street with our package. Our school was out by now and Jason was on his way to get the kids and come home for lunch. The streets were getting busier with lunch approaching. One man in a car asked if I knew where the Massy TGV station was. I said I didn't know I was new here. He said ok. I felt bad. Then I saw some schoolmates going to thier home for lunch with 2 baguettes. Then I saw 2 other students going to a restaurant. Then my afternoon instructor passed to go to lunch and said boujour. I said boujour and waved. Still, no Brown. Then Jason got home with the kids and wedecided it was a lost cause and went up to get lunch. It was a lost cause. Over lunch we realized that the notice he left the day before said that Wednesday's attempt was the last attempt. We felt a little stupid but then again it was written in French.

At school the secretary called them and they said they will deliver it to the school tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. Maybe he will ring the bell this time.