We’ll always have Paris
But will we want it?
I think a lot of people love Paris because they think they’re supposed to. There’s so many annoying things about it; the frequent strikes over who knows what. Transportation out to both of the trade shows we attended (TexWorld and Premiere Vision) was disrupted by the strike (we never saw any strikers, just no trains). Frankly, it seemed like such a waste to target these two shows specifically. How will that encourage businesses to return next year if they’re already on the fence? If you’re not local, why would you come and endure the hassle? So, does the French transit worker win at the expense of everyone else? Their existing pay, working conditions and benefits are model so it’s beyond me to imagine what they really wanted other than to take a long week off to go fishing. Even the French are frustrated by seemingly random pointless strikes. It’s rumored the new demand will be a 30 hour work week, that the existing 35 hour work week is perceived to be too strenuous for the obviously overly delicate French transit worker. One girl on the train told Eric, “this is Paris, everyone is miserable”. Maybe that’s why we saw so few children. Too much misery, not enough love.
I’ve never actually been there, and it’s probably just as well, since I’d spend all my time looking for Leslie Caron.
