I'm a big city commuter now - not the driving kind of commuter, no, I am part of the sea of train riders flowing in and out of Paris each day. Here is some of what I've learned.
Never stand on the left side of any moving sidewalk or escalator - never. The left is reserved for the speedy. I pardon, excusez-moi, my way down the left side, always trying to pass all those sauntering slow pokes jabbering away on their mobiles.
French people are incredibly oblivious of their surroundings when they walk. Drives me nuts. I don't know if it is their famed arrogance or just plain old lack of attention that results in the way that they navigate. They do not look where they are going and basically demand that YOU watch out for where THEY are going. Not the other way around. Whenever a French person is approaching me on the street, they are invariably texting or fiddling with their cigarette or basically not looking up and I always have to swerve and side step around them. Their personal progression unimpeded by anyone else must be part of their birthright or something.
When streaming through the metro tunnels and the train stations, one should never pause to do anything - your transport pass needs to be ready to slide seamlessly over the turnstiles - don't stop to dig it out of your purse. Best is to have it placed just so in your bag so you just swipe your bag over the reader and pass through.
If someone hands you a morning metro paper - grab it without slowing down as you whisk by. If you are really French, you can start to read it and allow everyone else to watch out for you.
NEVER stop at the top of an escalator - everyone behind you will pile up like a car wreck and domino back down. Don't stop at the bottom either - you'll be trampled like a weak first-day-of-the-sales shopper.
If you hear your train buzz - leap immediately into the nearest car. The buzz is followed 2 seconds later by the automatic doors slamming shut. There is no sicker feeling in the world then being just on the outside of those doors. Once they close - they are unforgivably closed and the train starts to move.
There are no such things as lines in France. At least not the orderly, polite kind that we are used to in the US. Here the mob rules. When it is time to get on the train, cutting in front of everyone else is totally acceptable. Not that others won't snarl or try to elbow you out of their way but its all fair play.
Make friends with at least one other regular commuter (preferable a co-worker). Gossiping or philosophical conversations go well with the morning commute almost as well as does a cup of coffee between trains.
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