I actually got to use "C'est Moi" yesterday

I read somewhere that there is a method for adding words to the vocabulary. I think it's basically the same principle as creating a habit. You have to do it, use it, think about it with regularity and then it will "stick" in your brain.

It gets harder with age, too. When I was young, I only had to read it or think about it for a second and it was stored in my brain for later recall. Maybe it's because I've got so much stuff floating around up there -- french words, English words, schedules of what's open when, what's where, phone numbers, to do lists. The brain is a wonderful thing.

I blogged recently about the phrase, "C'est moi". It seems that it is used idiomatically to mean, "you're welcome". It's real meaning is, "It's me". Unless you're identifying yourself in a picture, the term usually involves a confession. I did it, it was me, etc. So, even in English this is a phrase that I rarely use.

But, the phrase, "C'est moi" keeps popping up in my daily life here in Paris, so it's been on my mind.

Yesterday afternoon, I was tearing back and forth between the Orange store and our apartment. I was trying to buy an iPHONE (eePHONE in French) but I didn't have all the proper documentation. To buy an iPHONE here I needed my passport, a RIB (bank paperwork so they can deduct the monthly charges directly from our account), a debit card for the same account, a credit card to pay for the phone, my LiveBox password and serial number, my "fixed" phone number so they could access my account, and my existing cell phone. In the US, you walk into a store, tell them what you want, they get it, turn it on and you pay for it. In France, it's the better part of an afternoon, even if I'd brought the proper stuff in the first place.

I was returning to the store, laden with all the documentation to continue the purchase of the phone. I'm sure that the salesman at the store didn't think I'd return after he gave me the list of things to bring back with me. But, I'd thought about this purchase for a long time and I was determined to complete the transaction. I was walking fast through the streets, hoping to beat some of the after work traffic in the store.

The afternoon rush hour, 5 to 7 PM also seems to be the time that all the really old people in Paris venture out of their apartments to run their errands. I'm sure there's a reason for this, or maybe it's just habit. They all come out at about this time, Monday through Saturday (Sunday everything is closed) dressed and coiffed, ready to buy their bananas and yogurt. Canes clacking on the sidewalk, stockings sagging, out they all come.

Streets are narrow and a small person who is walking slowly with a cane in one hand and a panier in the other takes up the whole sidewalk. It's rude and a bit dangerous for them if you to push past them.

But I was in a hurry to get my iPHONE. A woman with a cane stepped out of her building and started walking at a snail's pace right in front of me. Cars were on both sides of the street making it impossible to me to bypass her in the street. I walked along for at least 20 seconds before I had to make my move. I approached her from the back and when I got next to her, I twisted sideways to pass. She noticed this and sweetly said to me, "Excusez-moi". I felt terrible! She knew I couldn't pass and that she was going slowly. "She knows she's old, she knows I'm in a hurry", I thought. She also knows that I've been rude. What can I do? Evoke my new phrase, of course!

"C'est moi, Madame", just came right out of my mouth without even thinking. Used properly, too.