'I'm not your slave'
The fact is Parisians employed in any service industry simply do not buy into the Anglo Saxon maxim, "He who pays the piper calls the tune."
 |   In France your waiter expects to be addressed formally as Monsieur, in exactly the same way he will address you  |
The revolution of 1789 has burned the notion of equality deep into the French psyche and a proud Parisian finds it abhorrently degrading to act subserviently.
This Sunday, a Parisian friend of mine waited in line at the fruit and vegetable stall of his local market.
When it was his turn to be served, he asked the seller for a kilo of leeks.
"They're at the other end of the stall," snapped the vendor waspishly. "Take a bit of exercise and get them yourself."
There is no mistaking the undertone, "I'm not your slave."
Exert taken from -
BBC News - In Paris, the customer is not always right
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