Sheet Protectors

Sheet protectors are those plastic sheets that protect paper.  Normally they have holes in one side so that they can be put into a binder.

When we were looking for an apartment in Paris, the real estate agents didn't log into a multiple listing service on their computers, they pulled out a binder, licked a finger and proceeded to turn the pages encased in sheet protectors.  Each sheet protector held an apartment.  At the time, it didn't seem like there was any order to these papers, as a new apartment came on the market, it was written up, printed out, put into it's own sheet protector and added to the front of the binder. 

Since we haven't been in the market for an apartment for a few years, I don't know if they've upgraded the system to computer yet.  In any case, there is no such thing as a multiple listing service so each agency has it's own apartments.  If you're in the market to buy something, you have to either look on the internet (Se Loger) or another website to find all the products and then contact the agent directly.

I hadn't thought about sheet protectors in a long time until recently.  We don't/shouldn't use as much paper with the ease of use and portability of computers these days. 

We went to buy a new couch and to my surprise, the store didn't have all the models available in the store or on-line.  We had to sit at a table and look through -- you guessed it-- a binder with papers in sheet protectors.

When we found the model we wanted, we referred to fabric samples to find what we wanted.  Putting the two together to find the price and delivery status, the rep in the store opened yet another binder with more sheet protected pages of specs and prices.  It was very laborious and took quite a long time.  Several phone calls were required before the price and specs were delivered to us for approval.   Why they still use paper is beyond me, especially since they don't have any kind of catalog.