In case you're not joking, yes, the French are extremely formal, and starting any interaction without a "hi" will get you weird looks. Main reason Americans think the French are assholes, I guess

[–] SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Yeah... American here.. In my area, a greeting isn't necessary. It can be appreciated but isn't required. Even ending conversation without a closing is not uncommon. Spouse gets mad because people just hang up the phone when done instead of a proper goodbye.

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 months ago

Hahaha, the French sternness/politeness reminds me of over here in Czechia

[–] stormdelay@sh.itjust.works 4 points 7 months ago

Absolutely, I think a lot of Americans don't realise that when going to France, and end up having a subpart experience because of it. From our perspective, you are the asshole if you don't greet people appropriately, which often means we'll answer in kind.

The basics, bonjour, excusez moi, s'il vous plaît, merci should get you through that. Not assuming people want or can speak English can also be important, so if you can ask them "parlez vous anglais ?" before switching it's not a bad call

There's also obviously some people who are assholes or simply having a bad day, that's a universal thing and France is no exception.