strikes

you may have been hearing about the strikes in france. many have checked in on us to make sure we are not suffering. actually, i live in my little ex-pat bubble. since i don’t have a car, the gas shortage doesn’t affect me, and there doesn’t seem to be a food shortage. i’ve learned over the years that strikes are a seasonal happening in france – every fall they happen. however, this one was a big one, and all the news coverage says “not since 1995 has there been as big a strike”. the one in 1995 was protesting the same issue – trying to raise the retirement age. we were here then too. i was pregnant with jj. i wonder if the bad strikes have something to do with jj being in paris? i remember trying to get across town without public transport with terrible traffic jams. they have since instituted laws against total shutdown of public transport, so things do not get that bad. the general understanding here is that people know that things need change, but they just don’t like sarkozy and his methods. the strikes are more a statement against him. i was telling someone that maynard was a bit scared of the little dogs and she said “yes, the little ones are much more vicious. like sarkozy and napolean!” we laughed. Print this post