You know you've become a Parisian when ...

You muttered Merde under your breath when the pilot said it was raining as your plane landed in Paris. Before, the same announcement used to make you think of romance, walks in the rain with a soulful guy, and crossing the wet Pont des Arts under the shimmering street lights.

You did not notice that you just bumped someone on the sidewalk on rue Vieille du Temple in the Marais district in Paris. You used to turn around and apologized profusely with a big smile.

Without thinking, you move your foot to one side or the other to avoid dog poo that is still present on the sidewalks in some areas of Paris despite the law saying you have to pick up your dog's poo. You used to either have to constantly look down or throw away your shoes after stepping on a poo of a particularly sick dog.

After waiting a long time in line (a queue), you take your time to greet, joke and carry small conversation with the person serving you in the shop despite the long line still behind you. You used to try to be real quick in order not to make others wait.

You walk into a coffee shop and you say Bonjour loudly as a general greeting to those present already (some will answer Bonjour back, some will ignore you which you don't care. It's just become a habit like for all Parisians). You used to just walk to the counter or a table and wait to order your coffee.

You drink espresso all the time except in the morning when you drink coffee with milk. And, in the café, you order for them as 'un express' or un serré for the espresso and 'une creme' instead of café au lait, and quickly and efficiently to make sure the zipping waiter hears you. You used to wait politely for the waiter to notice you, which could take forever.

You're quick to help someone with little things, like holding the metro door from closing when someone attemps to rush on after the doors-closing signal sounds or giving a pen to someone who needs one as he/she is talking on the phone (you've also been listening to AND understand what he/she has been gabbing about on the phone).

You recognize the pickpockets as soon as you get on the metro and before the announcement saying 'presence of pickpockets' (no kidding, they do that now) by the metro conductor. Before, you probably would have greeted and smiled at these same pickpockets.

You still try to weasel in onto a crowded metro despite protests from other users.

You stay stoned face as some crazy person is harrassing other metro users and discretely move to another car to avoid the said crazy.

You only wear your tennis shoes to play tennis. You used to wear them everywhere just because they're so comfy. Now, you wear leather shoes to walk or go to the market.

You wear scarf to accessorize even when it's hot. And you spent an hour getting it to hang just right around your neck.

You participate in a protest or a march, especially when it's a nice day out. You used to just watch on the sidewalk.

You complain about how things are and then you complain some more when they change ...(from an American friend).

(UPDATES will be added as I get more tips from others....mostly from visiting American friends)