Wandering through the aisles of an auto parts store in France, I found myself with time to kill. My pneu (tyre), in for repair, wasn’t quite ready. The man behind the counter, with a shrug, suggested I patienter – wait a moment. The waiting room, or la salle d’attente, beckoned with the charm of a forgotten bus station: hard chairs and a stack of well-thumbed, outdated car magazines. Roaming the store suddenly seemed far more appealing.
It struck me then – was this their sales strategy? Lure the hapless customer in for a simple repair, point them towards the desolate waiting area, and watch them flee straight into the tempting aisles of car accessories! If so, it was working. Soon, I was browsing items completely off my radar – car tattoos (who knew?), emergency escape hammers, and then… fuzzy dice.
Fuzzy dice! In France? Suddenly, the foreign auto parts store transformed into familiar territory. Despite never owning a pair myself, les dés en peluche resonated with a vague, nostalgic familiarity. Were they an American icon, or a universally recognized piece of kitsch, like garden gnomes gracing French lawns? A wave of fuzzy, dice-related memories washed over me. For a moment, the sales tactic almost worked. Almost. I nearly succumbed to the allure of a “head light” – a battery-powered headlamp. Was it for peering into a car engine? Or perhaps part of some quirky French survival kit, alongside the “life hammer” (ingeniously doubling as seatbelt cutters, for those dramatic roadside emergencies). I could almost picture myself using that headlamp for late-night reading in bed.
Just as I was contemplating the headband-lamp-thingamajig, one of the salesmen called out, “à vous, madame!” My tyre was ready. Reluctantly returning the fuzzy dés to their shelf, I turned to the counter, a small smile of triumph playing on my lips. If their aim was impulse buys, well, no dice, mes gars!
This little detour into a French Car Parts store offered a humorous glimpse into the universal world of automotive accessories, sprinkled with a uniquely French flavour. While I came for practical french car parts like a repaired tyre, I left with a smile and a newfound appreciation for the global appeal of fuzzy dice.
