cafe philo 2 at Montparnasse

For those who were wondering about my silence - I finally downloaded these from my laptop - I wrote them on the train!)

Cathy Kudlick started the café philo sessions in Nov and this is the second. I am not sure if I could continue going. But there I was in Brussel’s café in the 14th arrondisemnt near Montparnasse. The lady knew we were coming and there is a nice ambiance. Marie was taking the chair tonight. She came early and said she was tired, “her brain is in her feet”. There were fewer of us – 9 of us. Except for 4 of us, the others were not at the previous discussion. I get the feeling from the introductions that a number of them were activists in the true sense of the word and were not there just to discuss disability in a philosophical sense. Maudy, for example, is the person behind an organization for women with disabilities.Tonight’s topic was if anger is positive or negative for people with disabilities. Somehow we started almost immediately on the discussion of the word ‘ anger’ and what it could mean to different people. For John Luc it is a ‘motor’, a driving force, it makes him take action. For another the anger would be better described as a passion. Some were uncomfortable with the word – ‘anger’ – is it “en colere” “in anger” as that of a child’s who throws a fit because of its powerlessness?I was more involved with the discussion this time and did not scribble down my notes so my report here is going to be a bit hazy as it is dependent on my memory. We ended in good time and most of us stayed to have dinner together.

 Leigh, who offered me a bed for the night, came to pick me up and joined the dinner party. He was game in trying out his French as he has only been in the country for two months and the others were very patient and tolerant with him. I have noticed that some are not quite as open – I’ve had many experiences in which people would finish my sentences for me. I was impressed by the acceptance of this group in having a Scot in their midst and Leigh was, as he told me later, very pleased some real and interesting and friendly French people. And of course, in a restaurant with a name Brussel’s café, we had ‘moules frites’ mussels with chips. Leigh was also happy to find a shop close by that rents out kilts.Champs Elysees was all lit up and impressive. I had John’s digital camera with me but he forgot the memory card – that was a shame. Leigh’s apartment in La defense was very corporate, new and efficient. I was surprised that the bathroom and the toilet were not accessible in that the doors were not sufficiently wide.