Language

When I was younger, I thought in shorter sentences; possibly because I was in a hurry. I drove fast cars and frequented fast women long before fast women became mainstream. As the years passed, the sentence structure of my mental processes became increasingly populated with adverbs, adjectives and even prepositional phrases. I continue to use the subjunctive, which is an anachronism; the vestigial toe of the English language. I recognize that my time has come and gone.

Still, it pains me to see that, "Dude!" has replaced, "My dear fellow, how perfectly wonderful to see you!" as the salutation of our time. I began to reflect on how different life is here in Paris where language is ferociously guarded by academics intent on maintaining the dignity and elegance of the most beautiful language in the world. They are justly proud of their native tongue and I practice it with the reverence it is due.

It was after savoring these reflections in a somewhat self-congratulatory mood that I decided to take 'Oscar' out for a quick run around the périphérique. As the valet handed off the six-litre Ferrari to me, a Frenchman with a tete d'aristo admired my car with an approving smile. He looked at me while marveling at the car and said, "Putain !"