Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 32

feature 

Currency
- By Nancy Larkin Taylor

Currency is a word that usually means money, cash,
moolah, etc. But other things can serve as currency as well,
especially in winter sports.
I found that out on a skiing trip to France in 2015.
On just my second run on my second day in the Alpine
resort of Tignes, I slipped and fell.
It really hurt. I wasn't certain whether my arm was broken
but I decided to sit on the slope until the ski patrol stopped,
just to make sure.
I was about to get a lesson in international currency trading.
The next thing I knew I was being raced head-first downhill
on a stretcher, trying to wave to my son as I caught him out
of the corner of my eye ascending the ski lift.

Since my son and I could not grab my skis from his greedy
French hands and run to the tram, he won that argument.
I was ski-less.

My French rescuer was hardly warm and fuzzy. As I lay on
the stretcher at the bottom of the hill, he began his cross
examination about whether I had purchased insurance with
my ski ticket that day.

After a time, I grudgingly accepted the rough logic in
the trade. In the U.S., we pay more for daily ski tickets
but rescues are free. In France, apparently, you only get
a free ride down if you fork over several more Euros
for "l'insurance."

"`Mais non," I replied.
"Then you must pay for the rescue," said he.
"Send me a bill," I replied. "But let me get off the slope
now s'il vous plait. I need medical attention."

In retrospect I would have paid a thousand dollars for a ride
down the hill if necessary, so I shrugged it off and accepted
it as the cost of doing business.

He demanded I give him 300 Euros first, about
$450 at the time.

However, for the next 12 months, I was hounded by Tignes
Ski Resort representatives, demanding 300 Euros for my
stretcher ride.

"I don't have cash with me and I'm not walking to the
lodge for a credit card swipe in this condition," I told him.

These letters put the U.S. collection threats for garnishment
and property seizure to shame. They were on police-like
stationary. I feared immediate imprisonment the next time I
stepped on European soil.

"Alors, I will take your skis and poles," he replied.
I had used my brand-new - and rather expensive - pink
skis for exactly one day and a half.

Only after I sent several letters on letterhead, with the help
of my French friend Eric, in which I proposed they sell my
brand-new skis and poles for much more than 300 Euros

32



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bucks Writs - Summer 2018

Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 1
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 2
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 3
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 4
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 5
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 6
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 7
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 8
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 9
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 10
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 11
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 12
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 13
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 14
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 15
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 16
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 17
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 18
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 19
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 20
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 21
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 22
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 23
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 24
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 25
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 26
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 27
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 28
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 29
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 30
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 31
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 32
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 33
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 34
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 35
Bucks Writs - Summer 2018 - 36
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Fall2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Summer2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Spring2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Fall2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Summer2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/BucksWritsSpring2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Winter2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Fall2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Summer2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Spring2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Winter2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Fall2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Summer2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Spring2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Winter2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Fall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Summer2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Spring2017
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com