Small World

I went to find gifts for my family yesterday. The flee market in Le Marais on Rue Reaumur has just about anything you could imagine: food, vintage clothing, books etc. I stopped at a table that had fedoras. The man selling them started speaking to me in French. I obviously couldn’t understand anything he said but I heard him say Frank Sinatra. I just smiled and said yeah Sinatra. He gave me a weird look and asked me if I spoke English. When I said yes he started speaking English to me. He asked if I liked Frank Sinatra, I told him I love Frank Sinatra. He asked what my favorite song was and I told him that was a hard question, but answered that it was Loves Refrain. I asked him what his was he told me his was Love me or Leave me. I was surprised because I might have said the same song. Most people just know his most famous songs, so I knew he must really be into Sinatra. I smiled really big and started trying the hats on. He asked me where I was from and I told him Oklahoma. I was extremely surprised when he asked if that was near Texas. I said YES, it borders Texas. He told me that his sister married an American and now lives in Austin, Texas, and that he has visited her multiple times and that he loves Texas but hates the heat in the summer. All I could say was small world. I found a fedora that I liked and asked how much it was. He told me he charges ten Euro but for me it was five. He was such a nice guy and I was extremely surprised to find so much in common with a Parisian. I have felt pretty alienated here in Paris and was beginning to think negatively about Parisians. This interaction was just what I needed to remind me of our commonalities instead of dwelling on our differences.