Calling a friend and getting scolded

French people are not very good with telephones and, with a handful of exceptions, hardly ever call us. This is why, most of the time, we do the calling. I have a good friend in the Arve Valley, downstream from Chamonix, that I call quite often. 

I like him and appreciate his good nature filled with some refreshing common sense. Yesterday, I called him and his wife picked up and I must say that I don’t know her too much. 

She started badgering me, wondering why in the world, we would elect someone as old as Joe Biden. I responded “Because he was the only good option we had, against a fascist, a liar and an incompetent like Trump.” Relentless, she continued “But Biden is too old!” 

I attempted to add: “That was all we had. You French are lucky to have Macron who is both young and smart…” She cut me off said “No, he’s terrible!”. We went back and forth like this for about five minutes and I had to finally declare that I had not called to engage into a shouting match, but to say hello to her husband. 

I got on the line and I told him how upset I was to be attacked in such a way when I just wanted to say hi and inquire about his welfare in these days of pandemic. We had a shortened conversation and when I hung up the phone, I wondered if it were worth my while to call this friend again. 

After thinking about, I still think I’ll continue.