European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Agazine letter from Paris by Matthew c. Vita Cox news services ran into an american woman a photographer irom new York Ina led Bank bar the other evening she was marvelling Al the Streels of Paris. Have you Ever seen so Many couples embracing she said i be never seen so much Public kissing. In Home everybody is slaying 10 feet away from everyone else you know  i agreed Wilh to maybe it s springtime in Paris Bui everyone Here scorns to be in love. Articles have appeared recently saying Iho French have a now work Ellie Hal they be become More health conscious. Fewer three hour lunches Over a bottle of wine. More Power arc Klasis jog my is supposed to to in smoking Oul. Well restaurant lattes around town seem As crowded As Ever Al lunch with groups of businessmen and Lomeii not too Many seem to be ordering salads and Pruner. There arc .1 few corp in s out in the morning circling Itic tile ice Garden near the louvre or winding in trip Way along the seme but in s not Central Park which resembles the Long Island expressway Tome Days the French especially the Young seem in to smoking As much As Ever whal s worse they All took so tical Why no Hon smoking areas yol and French women Haven t joined their american Sisters a rejecting the mini shift style Sill counts hem although sunscreens Are displayed of eminently in cosmetics stores which seem to number about two per Block. A sunny Day in Spring brings out the Best in Paris one morning which held such Promise with a Bright Blue sky and Light Breeze a dozen Art slide nos were scattered around a Fountain near the place de la concorde. The louvre was in eight. Across the fiver stood the new Muse d Ofsay. Plenty of inspiration around. A Nice place to study Art. On the champs Al sees Esters entertain Lou risks by sneaking up behind unsuspecting strollers and Irum Lerna How they walk. They elicit a great Deal of laughter and a Lew spare Hancs when they pass a hat at the end of a show. Outside a movie theater one evening though one of Thesa performers a masked Man in Uger skin Lycra pants and top was suddenly grabbed by a group of men and hustled away. They must have been plainclothes on Tor they put him Inlo a police Van Despic his desolate protestations pm quoi Pond uni one can Only guess thai shoot performances arc illegal. A lot of american think parisians Are standoffish and rude because to Don t speak it Ioir language. Like any stereotype in a not completely True. Imagine speaking Only French and trying 10 order at a new York Deli at Liin chime. Bui the French Are aware of the Imago problem. The tourist authorities have a promotional Campaign portraying their countrymen As hospitable warm and open to aul siders. Parisian taxi Drivers can still be a problem though. Many recently had taken to wiring the seats in the rear of their cars at a push of a Bui Ion. They could literally Send an electrical Shock through their passengers not enough la kill of maim but apparently effective in deterring unsavoury riders from robbery or assault both of which were on the increase. Ii was t aimed against tourists or americans specifically. In any event the devices were outlawed a few weeks ago. In the City of Light eve Yont teems to be in love Britain As usual laments declining standards by Marcus Tuason associated press most Peor e i Ako Iho Sejdale. Good natured Stridell Engligh Lile Lor , once again. The English Are publicly bewailing what they Call the collapse of Good manners As though Pic entire British Way of lilo was in jeopardy it s Odd Lor the place Lobo in mourning Lor the common decency is. Alter All London is a cily where Frallic never Lails to Slop Al pedestrian Crossings where people make a religion out of wailing in line and a voice raised in anger is considered Iho height of civic degeneracy but Lake a soon Almanack. Of instance. The preface to the latest Issue of Tho 125 year old cricketer s Bible contains a bitter attack on the custodians of the hallowed National game Tor letting standards slip on the playing Fields. Wisden s editor Graeme Wright Points to England Captain Mike Catling s out mouthed shouting Malch with a pakistani Umpire As being symptomatic of an unacceptable increase in violent  in Blain ii in t crime thai concerns him so much As the ill tempered outbursts one encounters irom otherwise Law abiding  he wrote this behaviour is Manifest on our roads on Public transport in inst Duranl i and Al sports grounds undeniably Britain has became a harder More argumentative place in recent years some ascribe it to television some to american Irilli Encis others to the combative style of prime minister Margaret thalcher. Tho 1985 rampage by British soccer lans Al o Brussels soccer stadium in which 39 people died provoked anguished blame fixing on everything from High unemployment blamed on Thatcher to poor education blamed on Liberal socialists. A More recent sign that things Aren t what they used to be came when the government presented its budget to parliament this year. Tradition dictates that lawmakers sit in Levere Lial silence through the speech and save their vitriol Loi later. This time however when big Ian cuts Lor High earned i were announced socialist members could not contain themselves. The ensuing uproar forced an unprecedented suspension of proceedings and a scottish socialist was expelled. Worse was to come last week when labor my Ron Brown seized the Royal Mace Symbol of the Monarch irom its resling Placa next to the speaker and dropped in on the floor denting it Brown a Maverick Radical was showing Oil his contempt Lor government lax reforms. He made a mockery of his mandatory apology to the House and was expelled Lor 20 working Days. Those who Harrum phed thai this was just typical of yobs British snobs Cak for Blue Collar hooligans were quickly reminded that the right Wing also has its unruly Streak in the shape of the upper class Hooray  Tho Hooray Henries who Tuow bread Rolls and smash up restaurants Aren t any less Yob like because they can Alt Ord to pay lot Clearing the mess up Al Craw  notes tha Rinass circulation mail on sunday newspaper. Indeed in 1976 when he was in opposition tory Michael he Sellme picked up the Mace and brandished in at la Borics singing the red Flag unlike Brown. Heseltine apologized unreservedly and went on to become Welense Secretary this tort 0 thing has led a preacher in Northern England to found the Pohle society dedicated to restoring Brush manners. Rev Ian Gregory claims membership is growing regardless of ample evidence that bad manners have been around Lor a Long time. Indeed a Public order acl was promulgated in 1936 in response to soccer riots and political violence. Still further Back in victorian times Iho great educator Matthew Arnold decried the populace s insistence on marching where in likes meeting where in likes bawling what it likes breaking what it  monday May 30. 19bb the stars and stripes Paga 13