I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Ksenyak about Franco-American relations. My wife and I just returned from almost seven weeks in France, and when I tell people here where we were, I’m invariably asked if we were treated poorly. My answer is: Absolutely not. It isn’t the French who are behaving badly; it’s the Americans. The French we encountered were mystified by the American attitude toward them and had no such blanket insults for Americans. I can only conclude that Americans are more juvenile, more like children stamping their feet and sticking out their tongues when a playmate rejects the capricious and egocentric rules they insist on imposing and, therefore, refuses to play their game.

Even if we grant that the welcome signs on July 4 were in the interest of promoting tourism, the fact remains that the message is not undermined by a sudden upsurge of anti-Americanism. Perhaps being part of the “old Europe” also means being more mature

David Sears

ENGLISH INSTRUCTOR