PARIS

It is because of endless meetings and mountains of paperwork, and a bewildering society-wide compartmentalization of duties and responsibilities, that France thrives. You will wait in line; you will choose your career in high school; you will be required to see two separate managers in order to return a pair of socks to a sporting goods store. Against the bureaucracy, the dossiers, and marketing exercises, you are powerless. Accept that you are powerless and prevail. Resist, however, at your peril.