This is NOT Normal

When Dave made his big trip to the U.S. a few weeks ago, his company gave him a "new" laptop. On his way back to France, he decided to charge the battery while waiting at the airport. While plugged in, another soul in search of electricity also plugged in his electronic device, but his foreign adapter was resting on the stability of Dave's cord that was plugged in below his.

Being such a nice guy, Dave said he was going to get something to eat, but was happy to leave his cord so the other guy could charge up his iPod or computer or whatever it was.

Now that cord lives somewhere in the JFK airport in New York, permanently.

So Dave called his new office and they sent him another cord via UPS. When the UPS man arrived, he told Dave that he had to pay 48 euros. Now, keep in mind that the company had already paid 30 dollars to have this box sent from New York.

We went back and forth with the UPS man as to why this fee was necessary, and whether or not this was normal. He said it was a customs charge and "C'est La France! Il faut toujours payer!" (that's France, you always have to pay!).

So, Dave paid up and got the package. The problem now is, the new cord doesn't work! Ha ha. That's not very funny.