Why I Won't Be Shopping Tomorrow

Les soldes start tomorrow, the twice a year extravaganza when the French government permits stores to markdown their inventories usually from 30-70%. This year I had every intention of playing hooky, I mean using an RTT day, and checking out the scene with some friends. That is until I got sick however, all hope wasn't lost but I'm still just a little too American for my own good.

You see I went to the doctor yesterday and she basically told me to sleep off my angine. This would have been perfectly sound advice had I not traveled 40 minutes on the metro and paid 70 euros for her to tell me to continue doing what I had been doing for the past 3 days. Moving on, since I didn't go to work on Monday she wrote me the French equivalent of a doctor's note. In the process of filling out the form she asked me if I wanted to take off on Tuesday and Wednesday to give myself enough time to rest. Initially I thought "cha-ching, soldes here I come" but then my conscience got the better of me and I told her that 2 days (Monday and Tuesday) would be just fine and I should be feeling better enough by Wednesday to go to work.

And that my friends is how I shot myself in the foot and am too American for my own good. No soldes for me, at least not on the first day.