Consider the possibility that, as a result of the "Axis of Weasels" crap spouted in these United States, the employees in the French Consulate have been exposed to rude, abusive and perhaps even threatening behavior by Patriotic 'Merkins who want to send a message: We hate you Frenchies, but we're gonna go visit your country anyway so's we can spit on your war memorials.

We have a Code of Conduct posted in the library. It's to let people know what is expected and what is not allowed. Some people think that they can have sex in the stacks. Some people think they can roller skate in the halls. Some people think they can be rude and insulting to the employees. They can't.

A local garage recently had a customer arrested for swearing at the employees. He thought he, the customer, was always right. He wasn't.

Some people think they can use public employees that represent other nations for verbal punching bags to express their ire at the nation's policies. (This is especially reinforced when our leaders, who should be setting an example for civil discourse, are leading the charge in incivility.) They can't.

If I see a "No Trespassing" sign, I figure it means "No Trespassing". No one has to print a list of all the times that trespassing has occurred in order to justify the sign. If I see a "Mind Your Manners" sign, and I intended to mind my manners anyway, I say, "Good!" That means that everyone else is forewarned that they are to mind their manners as well. Perhaps I will be spared an unpleasant scene. Perhaps the employees of the Consulate, reassured by the support and implied protection of their supervisors represented by that sign, will be less defensive and more relaxed in their transactions with a forewarned and, in the case of those with uncivil intentions, chastened public.

The first duty of the French Consulate is to their employees. American sensibilities, while important, do not override that duty.