I strike, therefore I am French

I couldn't resist attempting to share with you one of the greatest French cultural experiences of all time, ranking right up there with cheap wine, baguettes, and cheese you don't refrigerate: the nation-wide strike. Today is the occasion of a very exciting "greve generale," or a strike in which all of the salaried workers in France are invited to participate. This means pretty much every public service is disrupted in some way: trains and buses, the police, airports, gas and electricity, and schools, since many teachers are on strike as well. (This is not to be confused with the two-week period in December when the high school students were on strike and barricarded the schools so that no one could enter or exit.) A lot of workers in the private sector are joining in too: cashiers, factory workers, and apparently many ski lift operators. Hundreds of thousands of French people have either taken to the streets en masse, or just decided to stay home and catch up on their soap operas.

When I walked through downtown Nantes this afternoon, I found myself having a little bit of a laugh attack seeing everyone marching/standing around in the streets, shouting slogans and drinking wine. There was even a marching band and - I kid you not - an accordian player to provide entertainment. And the funniest thing about French strikes is how they actually seem to be more efficient and organized than the normal, "functioning" French society. At the post office today there was a sign saying, "We are on strike from 1:00-2:30 and after 6:00." And even though many fewer trams and buses were running in Nantes, the transport officials let us know in advance what the adjusted time table would be, so that we could still get to our appointments on time. I love strikes that go out of their way not to actually inconvenience you.

What are they protesting you ask? It's sometimes difficult to say. Apparently this particular strike is concerned with the effects of the economic crisis. Which just goes to show you: an American's first reaction to a global economic recession is probably not to take up placards and take to the streets. But this is how change is made - or more often resisted - in France. When French people hear how seldom we strike in the United States, they react as if I'd just told them that we regularly employ indentured servitude. To them striking is one of the most important demonstrations of a free nation. To Americans, I imagine it looks like the French take an unaccountable pleasure in disrupting the functioning of an economic system that already makes do with a lot less efficiency than ours.

Then again, I suppose most Americans would be in awe of the fact that in France, Brianne and I can afford a two-bedroom apartment, fine wines, and weekend trips to London while working twelve hours a week and taking eight weeks of paid vacation.

Here's a picture to give you a little taste of our greve generale. And you can follow the link to watch a video of marchers in Paris. Happy Strike Day!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7858563.stm