The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating.
I don't know how much of the current atmosphere in France has made it to international news bulletin, so: strikes are popping up all over the place. Public transports, students, now the electricity company as well. Student meetings have voted for strikes all over the country and are blocking the premises so classes can't be held, public transports are going on a second strike tomorrow which might just last at least a week, and apparently we might get power shortage this weekend due to our electricity company striking too.
Given who we have for a president, I'm actually pretty afraid the unions will get crushed this time, Thatcher-style. For all that those strikes are a royal pain the ass, I'd much rather have them than not be able to strike.
My own university's been blocked since Friday. It's never happened to me before. Such huge striking movements happen every other year, it seems; two years ago we 'won', but I wasn't in university. Two years before that we lost, and in Nancy where I studied we didn't block the university, we simply informed people and encouraged them to strike with us. I say 'we' because I was actually part of that movement, I worked with those people. I committed.
This year, I simply can't. This year, I'm part of these students that actually needs to go to class. The fifteen of us in my class are already trying to figure out ways to have classes despite the block. We've already got a class set up to be had in a bar on Thursday afternoon. We need those classes in a way I haven't in any previous year, because we're learning something very specific, how to do out future job, and we need to learn it. This isn't a class on Ambiguity in Macbeth and Dream, it isn't a class on humour in the Monty Python - much as I loved both those classes, they were hardly necessary. They were a joy, a priviledge, a pleasure. This year's a necessity.
It's just so odd. I should be involved in the movement. I agree with what they're fighting for. What they're trying to do to our university system is ludicrous. It will kill the non-profitable courses. Who the hell will want to finance the departments of philosophy or literature? It's insane. But I can't actually participate. I'm already spreading myself thin between the bar and my classes, and I need to keep working on classes. The amount of homework they ask of us is simply unbelievable, for somebody who needs to work on weekends. I simply can't afford to get involved.
To make things even better, I'm working on Thursday night. The Beaujolais Nouveau night. With all of our boss' friends being there. Haughty right-wing pricks. Booya. All of us waitresses are depressed at the idea.
Given who we have for a president, I'm actually pretty afraid the unions will get crushed this time, Thatcher-style. For all that those strikes are a royal pain the ass, I'd much rather have them than not be able to strike.
My own university's been blocked since Friday. It's never happened to me before. Such huge striking movements happen every other year, it seems; two years ago we 'won', but I wasn't in university. Two years before that we lost, and in Nancy where I studied we didn't block the university, we simply informed people and encouraged them to strike with us. I say 'we' because I was actually part of that movement, I worked with those people. I committed.
This year, I simply can't. This year, I'm part of these students that actually needs to go to class. The fifteen of us in my class are already trying to figure out ways to have classes despite the block. We've already got a class set up to be had in a bar on Thursday afternoon. We need those classes in a way I haven't in any previous year, because we're learning something very specific, how to do out future job, and we need to learn it. This isn't a class on Ambiguity in Macbeth and Dream, it isn't a class on humour in the Monty Python - much as I loved both those classes, they were hardly necessary. They were a joy, a priviledge, a pleasure. This year's a necessity.
It's just so odd. I should be involved in the movement. I agree with what they're fighting for. What they're trying to do to our university system is ludicrous. It will kill the non-profitable courses. Who the hell will want to finance the departments of philosophy or literature? It's insane. But I can't actually participate. I'm already spreading myself thin between the bar and my classes, and I need to keep working on classes. The amount of homework they ask of us is simply unbelievable, for somebody who needs to work on weekends. I simply can't afford to get involved.
To make things even better, I'm working on Thursday night. The Beaujolais Nouveau night. With all of our boss' friends being there. Haughty right-wing pricks. Booya. All of us waitresses are depressed at the idea.