What the French waiter said －フランス人のウェイターさんが何と言ったか－

The Canadian restaurant owner said to the waiter, “You are too aggressive and combative towards your fellow workers.  You are fired!”

The waiter, who was French, said, “You can’t fire me for being rude towards my colleagues.  You are violating my human rights!” 

When the case went to court, The judge asked him why he thought the restaurant was violating his human rights.

“Well,” said the waiter, “I’m French.”

“Umm... how is that relevant?” asked the judge.

“French culture is more direct and expressive than Canadian culture.  So, you see, I was not trying to be rude.  I was only behaving in a way that is natural in France.  The restaurant is discriminating against me by not making allowances for my Frenchness!”

The court case will continue.

What a great excuse!  I like this waiter.  I have changed his words to make his argument clear, but basically his defence is as I have written above.

I feel that he is being a little unfair to his fellow Frenchmen.  There is a negative stereotype that French waiters can be rude.  I haven’t spent enough time in France to know if there is any truth in this.  But it is surprising that the person perpetuating this stereotype is himself French.

Let’s imagine that this French waiter’s legal defence is successful.  What other arguments might people put forward in their defence after this case?

“Judge, they fired me for being lazy.”

“Yes?”

“Well, I’m British.  You can’t expect me to work hard.  They must make allowances for my Britishness.”

Or, maybe: “You can’t fire me for being constantly late and finding it hard to get out of bed before 1pm.  I’m a university student!  What do you expect?”

Vocabulary:

combative – ready or eager to fight or argue

to fire someone – to take away someone’s job or employment

to violate someone’s human rights – to treat someone so badly that you are not treating them to the minimum level that all humans should expect

rude – not polite; not respectful towards others

to discriminate against someone – to treat someone differently to others, in an unfair way

to make allowances for something – to take special circumstances about something into account, when making a decision (eg. “The judge made allowances for his mental illness and gave him a lighter punishment.”)

a stereotype – a simple and often negative image about a group of people

to perpetuate something – to make something continue; especially of something negative, such as a myth or stereotype, to help it continue long into the future