A week of winks

A wink.
I think you're cute.
Just kidding.
That's the right answer.
Follow me to my office.  I have to tell you something.

It's a universal language.  Once you take one of my English lessons, anyway.  I used to wink at the refugees when I taught them.  Then one day, one of them winked back at me.  I was pretty sure she had no idea what she was doing, so I decided I'd teach a lesson about it.  I was right.  No one knew what a wink meant.  And I taught them that even if you give one,  your message might not always be clear to the recipient.

Then I started teaching 20-something year old French boys.  They were winking at their 40-something year old teacher and this time I was pretty sure they didn't know what they were doing, so I taught another lesson.  They claimed they knew what they were doing.  On the wrong day a wink from them only makes me sad.  It's like they think I am so old that it is safe to wink at me.  Like it's kind of cute.  In fact, I guess it reminds me of the way I talk to old people sometimes.  Maybe it is kind of belittling in a way.  They just seem so old and cute that I treat them differently than I should.  I don't think I'll do that anymore.

So anyway, it's been a week of winks in Paris. The 'follow me to my office' kind of winks.  And I've been giving them.   And to top it off, I looked up and saw this building winking at me as I pedaled by.  I'm not sure what it was trying to say, but with a little imagination, it turned a grey Paris day into a sunny one.  For a minute, anyway.

And I will leave you with this.
"When most I wink, then do my eyes best see."  William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare's not always clear to me, but with a little imagination, I can usually get something out of it.  What I get from this is that the 'follow me to my office' winks allowed me to start seeing things a bit more clearly.  I'll fill you in on the rest a little later.  "Nudge, nudge.  Wink, wink.  Know what I mean?"  Monty Python.