September 26, 2009

The girls at Les Jardins des Tuileries, outside Louvre




Get A Grippe

The French are terribly worried about the H1N1 virus or "la grippe". There are stories every day in magazines, on TV and radio, ads on billboards, and long speeches from school administrators. We are repeatedly told how to wash our hands, how to sneeze/cough and what to avoid (basically all human contact). We all have little bottles of hand sanitizer which we use every time we've been out and especially after the Metro.







The kids can show up to school with a head full of lice and teachers and administrators won't blink an eye. But if they sneeze? Mon Dieu! They are sent to an isolation ward in the nurse's office, which consists of a special chair and a mask. Parents are contacted, as are "the authorities." The child must immediately be picked up from school and taken to a doctor who will administer a blood test. The test takes three days to process, during which time the child must be kept at home. If the child tests positive, the entire FAMILY is quarantined in their home for a period of 7 days. The same general rule applies to the workplace. If you feel even the slightest bit of a cold coming on, you are strongly encouraged to stay home.







In most countries, this sort of policy would put a real damper on work force productivity. But in France, I think GDP per capita is likely to rise (you were wondering when I'd get to some good economic analysis, weren't you?). Why, you ask? Kissing! Believe it or not, kissing is now discouraged in the workplace. This is a very big deal in France. People kiss all the time! One cheek, the other cheek. It's de rigeur! Well now it's interdit (forbidden).







A parent at school joined a French firm after the summer holidays and he said no one got anything done for the first week, because all anyone did was kiss each other and talk about their vacations. Men included. He is secretly thrilled about the edict (although sadly some are ignoring it) because he's not a big fan of kissing guys and he'd like to get some work done.







I estimate the time saved by those who observe the edict roughly equivalent to a Los Angeles commute. When you consider that the French workday begins at 10:30 am and ends at 7 pm with a two-hour lunch and many, many cigarette breaks in between, you realize that the productivity base is pretty low. So, if French workforce productivity spikes this year, you know why.







On a more personal note, the girls are loving their new school. Erin said she almost cried the first day because she was so happy! They have all been welcomed by their classmates and are getting used to the British system.