As the Left would say, progress!
Paris is a post-apocalyptic hellhole of public urination and litter. Hurrah for the incivility brigade
It was 1am and we were just leaving dinner at a friend’s house behind Montmartre. We were tired, but the taxi we’d called for never appeared. So we headed down to the main road to try to hail a cab, along with a number of other stragglers now wishing, like us, they’d kept Metro hours.
Within minutes, several men had urinated in plain sight very near to us; one had clambered up on a little raised platform with some shrubbery on it just to do so. Nearby, a woman yelled in French “You’re no better than beasts!” but the beasts took no heed. Faced with this scene, not a taxi in sight, we walked the three-and-a-bit miles back to our flat. This was Paris in 2016.
Despite its extraordinary charms, the City of Light can also feel like an anarchic, post-apocalyptic hellhole – people litter, spit and pee freely in the streets, as if the city were their personal lavatory, bin and ashtray combined.
Ubiquitous dog poo only adds to the fun, while young women unlucky enough to be stuck trying to get home after hours will know that the loutish menace only intensifies with the incessant sexual harangues of the litterers and the fowlers. So what, the French might shrug? C’est la vie, or at least, la vie parisienne.
But is it? The fun may finally be over for Parisian boors. On Monday, the city sent an 1,800 strong “incivility brigade” into the streets to try to curb the uncouth behaviour of locals and tourists alike. And while there have previously been fines in places for “incivility”, this time the officers will be in uniform, armed with tear gas and batons. Those caught fouling or littering can expect fines of €68 (£57)
More here. H/T: Fjordman
Hi KG – “foulers” you mean – “fowlers” are people who hunt wild-fowl…….
All the best,
Phil