***
1
My wife (L-----) and I lived in Grenoble, France, from October 1970 to June 1971. I was working in a one-year position; we had just been married on October 3.
My salary was automatically deposited each month for me in a checking account at the Banque de France. The salary seemed low, even lower than some U. S. internships despite the fact that it was in fact for a fairly high-level, full-time professional position. But there were generous benefits and government salary supports - such as small a monthly payment to allow us to buy milk and another monthly payment to support my particular profession... And in France at that time, the cost-of-living itself was remarkably low, too.
The result of all this was that at the end of the year, we found we'd actually saved almost half my annual salary.
2
I'd been lucky enough to land a good job in Washington, D. C., starting in fall 1971. A nice little nest-egg for getting started in our new home - which turned out to be a two-bedroom apartment in Silver Spring, Maryland - was just waiting for us in our Banque de France account.
But there was a little problem.
The exchange rate between the French franc and the US dollar, which had been frozen for a long time, was freed up just as we had been preparing to leave France in summer 1971. The amount of French money we could take with us in cash out of the country was severely limited, but the folks at the Banque de France had led us to believe that the exchange rate would stabilize in a few days, at which time we could write a check (cheque) on our foreigner's account (comte etranger) for the full balance so that we could set up a new account in America. By the way, it was clear that the franc was losing against the dollar at that time, so that the Banque de France was losing a little more every day they held onto our money - and we gained a little more - but, never mind, because the rates were in flux, the funds could not be moved.
3
Before we'd left the U. S. in 1970 we'd sold my wife's car, putting the proceeds in a savings account we could use to buy another car when we got back. That process worked fine, and because we were going from her big gas-guzzler (as they said back then) to a subcompact, we actually had enough cash to buy the new car. We got a particularly good deal from my wife's Uncle Pat who worked for a Ford dealer in the Midwest.
We also had a few items of furniture each of us had accumulated and stored during our single lives, so we could sort of camp out in our unfurnished apartment... temporarily! But we'd planned on fitting the place out right away so that we could be more settled and more comfortable... And then, we had this nest-egg that we could spend...
But wait a minute! We couldn't spend it because it was being held in France!
4
It seems like it wasn't until we actually moved our few things into our new apartment that Mr. Fogarty, the building manager, got around to mentioning, well, you know as everyone does, don't you, that there's a code that says 80% of the floor area in any apartment has to be covered by carpetting.
No, we hadn't known that, which meant we were going to have to take on still another expense, without the cash which was still over in France that we'd thought would cover everything we would need to get settled.
Anyway, it seemed only logical to buy the carpeting first, before we got any real furniture that we would just have to put on top of it. So, we looked at Yellow Pages or something and figured where there was the biggest collection of discount stores where we could get the most for every dollar. We'd have to just give up on our commitment to pay cash for everything. No one else did that, after all. So we would just buy it on credit.
I had a Visa Card deep in my wallet since I hadn't used it in 10 months or so, along with my Texaco card from even longer ago. Same kind of thing for my wife.
5
We thought this carpet-buying thing would be one hairy big deal. But we measured every room two or three times and figured out just what we wanted. And for a while it looked as though negotiating the heavy car traffic to the stores would be the hairiest part of the deal.
We went into this one big place, and a guy came over to wait on us. L----- said, "We've just moved here, and we discovered that it's a code that our apartment..."
"--Has to have 80% of all the floor space covered by carpets," he said waving an arm around. "And let me guess," he added. "The floor is parquet, parquet flooring, right?"
That was right. He knew his business, our business. "I've got just what you need," he said.
L---- was telling him the basics we'd been talking about as he led us over to some big rollers along one wall.
So after the carpet had been selected and written up for the order, The salesman asked for my credit card. I gave him the VISA I had dusted off before we set out that morning. The salesman disappeared into a rabbit's warren of little cubicles at the back of the showroom. After a moment, he beckoned for us to join him. We settled into a couple of chairs near his desk, as he stared into some little machine. He said the card had been discontinued; did I have another?
"Well," I said, "only my Texaco card, which we haven't used for nine or ten months." By this time we'd explained that we'd been living in France and that if our funds were not temporarily frozen in the Banque de France, we'd be making our current purchases in cash. He accepted the gasoline card, explaining that all they needed was to show we had a good credit record.
L---- was relieved at that. "Neither of us has ever missed paying in full our monthly credit card bill," she correctly explained.
Of course the Texaco card had been discontinued too, as had L-----'s credit cards. "Why don't you just verify that we've always paid the monthly bill in cash?" we asked. No luck.
The salesman was by now fully engaged in trying to make this sale. He pondered one thing or another. Then, he had a bright idea: "Oh yeah!" he exclaimed. "Do you own a car?"
Yes, we did. It was right out front.
6
So after the carpet had been selected and written up for the order, The salesman asked for my credit card. I gave him the VISA I had dusted off before we set out that morning. The salesman disappeared into a rabbit's warren of little cubicles at the back of the showroom. After a moment, he beckoned for us to join him. We settled into a couple of chairs near his desk, as he stared into some little machine. He said the card had been discontinued; did I have another?
"Well," I said, "only my Texaco card, which we haven't used for nine or ten months." By this time we'd explained that we'd been living in France and that if our funds were not temporarily frozen in the Banque de France, we'd be making our current purchases in cash. He accepted the gasoline card, explaining that all they needed was to show we had a good credit record.
L---- was relieved at that. "Neither of us has ever missed paying in full our monthly credit card bill," she correctly explained.
7
Of course the Texaco card had been discontinued too, as had L-----'s credit cards. "Why don't you just verify that we've always paid the monthly bill in cash?" we asked. No luck.
The salesman was by now fully engaged in trying to make this sale. He pondered one thing or another. Then, he had a bright idea: "Oh yeah!" he exclaimed. "Do you own a car?"
"Who financed the deal?" the salesman asked triumphantly. "CASH?!" he burst out when we told him. "Nobody buys a car with cash!"
So after a minute, equilibrium recovered, he asked: "How can I verify that?"
8
Uncle Pat was at work that afternoon at Friederich's Ford several states west, and he confirmed that we had indeed paid cash. Our salesman strode away murmuring to himself, but when he came back from his boss's office, the deal was made.
By the time the carpet had been delivered and was rolled out on our parquet floor, which meant we could look for furniture, we'd found that Texaco and L-----'s gas card company had been more than happy to renew our old credit cards on the telephone.
We didn't have any more trouble, despite the Banque de France. But from then on, when out shopping, we always kept Uncle Pat's business card with us, just in case!
***
