The painting and the stereotype



In one of my previous articles, I was addressing the widespread question of "are all Romanians beggars and thieves" ? I will let you re-discover the answer to that.

However, despite that, and when living in France, one doesn't stop being confronted continually with the topic, even in the "intellectual" media. For example, on November 19th France Inter talked during 5 min about the tragi-comical destiny of 7 paintings stolen a couple of years ago in the Netherlands. 

Of course, the thieves were Romanians, and of course they were so unprofessional that they were quickly caught (they left their fingerprints on the crime scene).

But the story continues when one of the thieves' mother realized her son had brought the paintings home. She quickly burnt them to clean the scenes. So, besides beings (unprofessional) thieves, Romanians are also uncultivated!

One could not find a better example to fit the stereotypes. But when you hear that, don't forget to be weary. Facts - however funny – are not always a proof of truth, but one that we need stereotypes to live in our shoes.

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