{"id":1552,"date":"2023-05-20T21:04:41","date_gmt":"2023-05-20T21:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/?p=1552"},"modified":"2024-08-23T18:59:03","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T18:59:03","slug":"oui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/oui\/","title":{"rendered":"Oui"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<aside class=\"other-formats\">Other formats: <a title=\"Oui (PDF)\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/ebooks\/en\/pdf\/oui.pdf\">PDF<\/a> | <a title=\"Oui (\u00edslenska)\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/is\/oui\/\">\u00edslenska<\/a><\/aside>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/oui.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1025\" height=\"1025\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/oui.png?resize=1025%2C1025&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Oui \u2014 Illustration by B\u00f6rkur Sigurbj\u00f6rnsson\" class=\"wp-image-1553\" style=\"width:256px;height:256px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/oui.png?w=1025&amp;ssl=1 1025w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/oui.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/oui.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/oui.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/oui.png?resize=900%2C900&amp;ssl=1 900w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/oui.png?resize=500%2C500&amp;ssl=1 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1025px) 100vw, 1025px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Illustration by B\u00f6rkur Sigurbj\u00f6rnsson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>I sat down at a nice looking caf\u00e9 to have breakfast. Tomorrow I was to give a conference presentation about graph theory but today I was going to ramble about the streets of Paris and get to know what the city had to offer. I did not have any particular itinerary planned. I was simply going to go on a random walk along the city&#8217;s street network and see where my feet would take me. The only thing I knew for certain was that I had decided to try not to behave like a tourist. I was going to blend seamlessly into the crowd as if I were a local.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A waiter came over to my table and asked what he could offer me. I pronounced the sentence I had repeated constantly in my mind since opening my eyes this morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCroissant et caf\u00e9 au lait,\u201d I said as confident as I possibly could. Nevertheless the sentence did not sound quite as good when I said it out loud as it had done in my mind all morning. The intonation was different. Stiffer. Out loud, the words flowed like a pile of rocks falling off the back of a truck in pouring rain, but not like the calm brook on a sunny day I had imagined all morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUn croissant et un caf\u00e9 cr\u00eame,\u201d the waiter murmured as he dutifully wrote down my order in a small notebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than walking away from the table and into the kitchen to prepare my order, the waiter stood at my table and poured over me a river of french words whose meaning was completely beyond my level of comprehension. It had not been part of the scene I had imagined all morning that the ordering process would include anything beyond a simple request and an unconditional execution. Now I had to stay strong and don&#8217;t admit defeat. I couldn&#8217;t give up. I couldn&#8217;t lose the cool. I had to imagine how a proper Parisian would react.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOui,\u201d I said casually when the waiter finally stopped talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The waiter nodded, smiled and walked over to the kitchen. I had to admit to myself that it could be a challenge to try to behave like a local without knowing hardly any french. Was I perhaps getting myself into trouble? What could it possibly have been that I had said yes to? It could hardly be anything serious, though, since the waiter had taken my answer as if it had been quite expected. I could therefore relax again and turn to my premeditated plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I observed the people in the street and tried to find something in their conduct that I could imitate in order to fool people into thinking I was a local. A quick observation revealed two aspects that were noteworthy about the Parisians. They smoked cigarettes and walked across the street against a red traffic light. I decided to pass up on the smoking but I was determined that on my rambling along the city streets I was not going to wait for a green light if the traffic allowed me to cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t long until the waiter returned and put a cup of milky coffee and a croissant on the table in front of me. The breakfast looked exactly as I had imagined it. My yes to the waiter&#8217;s oration did not seem to have done any damage\u2014whatever it had been I had said yes to. I decided not to dwell on that thought any longer. I would just have to accept my fate and go through the rest of my life without ever knowing what the waiter had said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group book-ad has-text-color has-background\" style=\"color:#000000;background-color:#65aab1\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:33% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/among-other-things.png?resize=683%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Among Other Things \u2014 Book cover Ana Pi\u00f1eyro\" class=\"wp-image-2143 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/among-other-things.png?resize=683%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 683w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/among-other-things.png?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/among-other-things.png?resize=768%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/among-other-things.png?resize=1024%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/among-other-things.png?resize=1365%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1365w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/among-other-things.png?resize=900%2C1350&amp;ssl=1 900w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/among-other-things.png?resize=500%2C750&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/among-other-things.png?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Among Other Things<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This piece of flash fiction appeared in the flash fiction collection Among Other Things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you enjoyed the story, we encourage you to support the publication by buying a copy of the book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Among Other Things<\/em> is available as paperbacks from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Among-Other-Things-B%C3%B6rkur-Sigurbj%C3%B6rnsson\/dp\/993594669X\/\">Amazon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/among-other-things-b-rkur-sigurbj-rnsson\/1146128813\">Barnes and Noble<\/a> and e-books from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Among-Other-Things-B%C3%B6rkur-Sigurbj%C3%B6rnsson-ebook\/dp\/B0DC4VDQZC\/\">Kindle Store<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/among-other-things\/id6636554661\">Apple Books<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/among-other-things-1\">Kobo<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.storytel.com\/in\/books\/among-other-things-9136592\">Storytel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also support the author through <a href=\"https:\/\/patreon.com\/UrbanVolcano\">Patreon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/buymeacoffee.com\/borkur\">Buy Me a Coffee<\/a> or by rating the book on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/217146264-among-other-things\"> Goodreads<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-499968f5 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-50\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/among-other-things\/\" style=\"border-radius:50px;color:#ffffff;background-color:#000000\">book details<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A flash fiction by B\u00f6rkur Sigurbj\u00f6rnsson. The storyteller tries to blend into the crowd of the streets of Paris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28],"tags":[8,57,66,30],"class_list":["post-1552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flash-fiction","tag-bars-cafes","tag-human-behavior","tag-street-life","tag-travels","col-md-6 col-sm-6"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/oui.png?fit=1025%2C1025&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1552"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2186,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions\/2186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}