Sorry to use North Jersey speak in the title, but, really, she shudda lissenned. "She" is Pat Russo, the soon to leave chief executive of Alcatel Lucent.
At the end of April, 2006, I heard about the upcoming merger, and I actually contacted Pat Russo because I thought to myself, "She's going to be butchered - she knows nothing about French culture." You see, I'm an intercultural trainer and coach in Paris - and I'm originally from New Jersey (South Jersey, not North Jersey). And I know how complex the culture is here - I've studied it and have lived it since 1991. And I know how different things are from the US. I love it, but (to use North Jersey speak), ya godda no wut yur duwin. In fact, I still have the return email Pat Russo sent me on May 3, 2006 suggesting that we try to arrange some time to meet. We never did, and now you know the results!
Of course, I wouldn't be totally upset by my failure to deal with French culture if I too had a 6 million euro golden parachute. But I do regret that we never met, and that I was not able to help her. At least now I'm going in the other direction at a French university called Sciences Po where I'm currently teaching a course called "French-American Intercultural Communication". For your midterm exam, please explain the influence of the Puritans on Michael Jackson's "Thriller".
P.S. I'm from South Jersey where we do not speak like Mafiosa - we prefer to speak like Cockneys.
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