I never said the real estate agent wasn’t generically rude. He was also specifically sexist. Put in other words: his rudeness and “sales technique” took a specifically misogynist tack. This is the problem. Had he wanted to dismiss the electrical work, there are myriad ways he could have done so without being sexist. I wrote about this experience, and not others, for the very fact that a “real estate agent” is anonymous and yet everyone can relate to the label. I’m not going to write about identifiable individuals here. I experience this kind of shitty, cowardly, underhandedly sexist remark all the time, and not just from real estate agents; a dismissal of intelligence/competence/knowledge/etc. out of hand because I’m a woman. Every woman experiences this. It’s everywhere. (Not to say that all men are like that — they aren’t, thank goodness. But this sort of experience is common.) It would be great for this to be recognized so that people could think about why it’s “acceptable”, consciously or unconsciously, for someone to use sexist language to “do their job”. Because it’s not acceptable.

I encountered nothing like the wiring in your apartment. One would have to be colossally ignorant or stupid NOT to recognize the wiring was defective. Modern appliances had arrived and some user had taken a cheap shortcut to wiring them. The real estate agents, like the previous owner, wanted to take a seemingly easy path and leave you to get the place rewired before you occupied it. I can;t imagine they did not recognize that the wiring was dangerous.

Alas, stupid attitudes, comments, and stupidity “tout court” are human, and not confined to either sex, or gender. I was once with a group of women and the subject of cancer arose. The talk quickly turned to breast cancer. One said that I could not possibly understand how painful and difficult that was. My mother died of breast cancer in 1951, when I was a teen-ager. ‘Nuff said.

I was disappointed that the French have killed off Provençal. I saw Provençal on public buildings in Nice and nearby, but sadly, it’s a dead language, unlike Catalonian, though Franco tried to kill it. Still, Nice is a lovely city, especially clean, with pleasant, hospitable people, and I was pleased that I was not alone in attending Mass, as I had feared. I also found a Subway near the hotel, which let me eat a couple meals. Perhaps some restaurants offer lowfat foods, but I didn’t have the time to find them.

anne, it’s not just real estate agents, far from it (as I’m sure you know!). I’ve certainly kept the electrician’s info, I appreciated how straightforward he was. And unfortunately the deed isn’t to be signed officially until June, so I will have to deal with my agents some more (sigh).

As a tenant I’ve been quite lucky, the only tradesmen in my apartment have been my landlords, who are pretty handy with all things :) Heck, they even lent me a laptop for several weeks when I was computer-less, and rescued me with their spare set of keys one day that I’d locked myself out…

You should take the electrician’s contact details in case you need one in the future - it’s always great to find a tradesman who treats you seriously! You might also ask him if he knows any good plumbers. As a Homeowner (doesn’t it sound wonderful!), you now have control over what work is done, when it is done, and best of all, who does it. As a tenant, I’ve had some very rude tradesmen in my home over the years.

Isn’t it great to think you won’t need to have anything to do with estate agents for a very long time?