On Wednesday, July 26, 2000, at 10:53 pm, my life returned to normal.
I was walking down the rue Mazarine when I heard an ABBA song. It was
S.O.S. and the sound was coming from a small bar. I went in and saw
that the bar was empty except for the bartender and what appeared to
be an off duty waitress sitting at the bar writing out a schedule of
her shifts.
On the wall of the bar was a poorly painted portrait of a slimy
"drageur" saying (in English):
"I would like to get to know you... Call me."
I told them that this was an unlikely utterance, as spoken English
would replace "I would" with "I'd". They told me that the painting was
based on a Ricard advert and thus the error did not lie with them.
Moreover, the bartender facetiously suggested that the stilted
construction might have been intended to attract attention.
I then noted to the pseudo-waitress that "I'd like to get to know you"
was a song by Spanky and Our Gang. Completely uninterested, she said
she didn't know, as she continued filling out her schedule. I said
I did and walked out.
That was when I looked at my watch.