It's been gray and rainy (a solid 3 days of rain - reminds me of Seattle, except the rain is heavier and colder here) the past few days, so instead of walking along the lake, I walked to the shopping area to find some jeans for Kenny. On my way back, there's a pedestrian underpass that goes under the Mont Blanc bridge. And I saw what looked like a group of 8 or so teenage boys, huddled around and trying to block passers-by from seeing the kid in the middle, who from the buzzing noise I heard was using a mechanized tool of some sort, maybe a drill, to try to damage the plexiglass windows that allow you to look out on the river.
I was going to call the police on my cell, but then I realized - I don't know the number! It's not simple like in the US, where you can just call 911. Here, there are multiple different numbers for police, fire, and ambulance. There happened to be a phone booth just as I left the pedestrian tunnel, so I stepped in and dialed 117 for the police after I looked up the number. I wimped out and asked for someone who spoke English, but there was a long wait, so somebody came back on the line and said, in French, "Do you speak just a little bit of French?". And I do, I'm just a little embarrassed of my pidgen French. In any case, I spoke with them, made myself understood, and they thanked me for my call.
I should have stuck around and watched the police come, but it was darn cold, and I was eager to get back to the office. Next time I walk by, I'll check and see if the teenagers really did drill a hole in the window.
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