French productivity?

There are times when I forget why I rather live in America than in France: Effectiveness! Yesterday, as I was trying to get a SIM card for my cell phone while I'm in France. I visited the Orange store to get that done on two cell phones and it looked like lining up at a soup kitchen or some maligned DMV.

The personnel acted slow, confused and demotivated. What was more impressive was the resignation of the folks waiting, seemingly accepting a treatment that would have been normal currency during the worst days of the USSR!