Originally Posted by Hotspring
I am no French nor Muslim. Just like applying a job with the US federal government, they would run a security risk analysis on a person before admitting him to the service. If the risk analysis include frequent trips to Pakistan as one of the high risk factor, then so be it.
You just cannot help with some people in a country that are full of hatre. Last night I was in Times Square at night, just off from LGA, got the verbal abuse by the Hispanic spoken only Hispanic language, for no apparent reason. In the future, would I hire "those" people, including the I.I. who have so much hatre to the normal, non threatening, Americans citizens? Absolutely NOT. I will not hire hispanics from now on. None. Call me racist. But this is due to my personal experience of one group of people with so much hate to others. Why would I put myself into this situation. So do the French government. I sympathise her position and I would choose to fly CDG rather than LHR, and have a peace of mind.
Every culture has people who are warm, caring, friendly, and generally good people. Likewise, every culture has its share of buffoons. Your first impression was obviously a bad one. Don't let it be your only one. I'm guessing they were probably teenagers.
I had a similar experience about two years ago, in Las Vegas, driving with my girlfriend and her two kids. A couple of Hispanic kids pulled up next to our car, and the driver shouted out (in English) 'How's your wife and my kids'. On the other hand, I work with Hispanic people every day. Those I work with are among the finest people I know. Obviously the kids in the car were looking for a conflict, much as I'm sure the idiots in Times Square were. Smile and walk away. I've got better things to do than get into a fight with a couple of teenagers, and so should you.