Striking is sport in France, a type of national pastime. They love to strike, and they do it fairly often. But usually, they are kind enough to tell us exactly what days we will be incredibly inconvenienced so we can make plans in advance.
In my early years in France, I wasn’t aware of this cultural activity. So I was not prepared. I planned to meet friends in Florence for a long weekend, but when I arrived at the train station, nothing was running. Having never experienced une grève, I wasn’t sure what was affected or what to do. This was also long before we had smartphones or ample access to the internet. So I went to my friends who lived nearby and considered my options.
The one train that was running was going to Paris CDG. So I thought I’d just get to the airport and book a flight to Florence. Easy peasy. But when I arrived at the airport, it was chaos. Everyone was stuck with nowhere to go. All the hotels were full. I boarded a hotel shuttle, hoping to find something. Along the way, I met a woman from Quebec, and we decided to look for hotels together.
In the end, there was only one room we could find, so we decided to share it. It was super strange sharing a room with a total stranger, but she was kind, and if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had her computer with which I was able to book a flight to Florence the next day.
So, when my friend reminded me that there was going to be a strike this coming week, I realized I had some work to do. It turns out that this will be an air traffic control strike for two days, on the day I was supposed to be flying to Montreal for work. Given my previous experience, I just couldn’t bear the idea of sharing a room with a stranger, or sleeping on the airport floor if everything were to go sideways. I decided to beg my colleague to handle the work event for me, and rebooked my flight a good few days well past the strike.
And it seems like I am being rewarded for making a prudent decision: the weather this upcoming week looks gloriously summery. It feels like I was gifted an extra bit of time. This time around, I think la grève might just be working out in my favour.
