Online Only: Pitiful in Paris

There's a disturbing new psychological disorder out there; one that's affecting the lives of everyday people like you and me. \nIt caused one woman to believe she was being attacked by microwaves. I mean, that's terrifying! Can you imagine trying to heat up some leftover pizza after a long hard day of classes, only to have your kitchenware turn on you? \nIt caused another man to believe he was the French monarch Louis XIV, the "Sun King." \nThat's pretty intense. Can you imagine what you could do to your credit score trying to emulate the opulence of the Sun King's court at Versailles? \nIt's caused embassies to repatriate tourists, including two women who believed they were being spied on in their hotel room as part of a plot against them. Big brother is watching indeed, overseas no less!\nA third of the patients suffering from this disorder get better immediately, while another third suffer relapses and the final third remain in a state of psychosis. \n(For the record, Dictionary.com defines "psychosis" as "a severe mental disorder, with or without organic damage, characterized by derangement of personality and loss of contact with reality and causing deterioration of normal social functioning.")\nSo what is causing these horrible symptoms in these otherwise everyday people?\nWhy, the city of lights, of romance, of fashion and croissants, none other than Paris, France! \nHave I gone mad? No, dear readers. It's called "Paris Syndrome," and it afflicts an average of a dozen Japanese tourists in Paris each year. \nThe underlying factor behind the grave symptoms these poor, unsuspecting tourists suffer is sinister indeed. The thing that sends them over the deep end is ...\nParis not living up to their expectations. \nGasp! Scream! Swoon! Shudder! \nLudicrous! Who would've ever thought a foreign country couldn't live up to the preconceived, romanticized notions people not native to that country might have of it? \nShocking. Utterly shocking. \nA psychologist interviewed on the story claimed that when "fragile tourists" come to realize the actual travel destination is not like their ideals of it, a "crisis" can ensue. \nThat might be one of the stupidest things I've heard in my life. Are people from industrialized societies leading such cushy, happy lives that they have to invent pointless crap to complain about? \nSeveral Japanese are quoted as saying it's shocking to find Paris not living up to their ideas of a "dream" city, that the people are rude, assistants don't look at you or help in shops, people using public transport are "stern-looking" and people steal purses. \nThat's one of the most pathetic things I've ever heard. Suck it up and deal with it. There are going to be times when customer service is less than exceptional, people can be aloof and petty crime exists pretty much everywhere. \nOf all the things a person goes through in life, unfriendly Parisians cause people to break down? \nI doubt those Parisians are worth such a breakdown. \nHell even a croissant, in all its buttery goodness, is not worth a breakdown.