For the past three days, Paris has been sprinting in slow motion. On Thursday, all of the city’s metro, train, and bus operators went on strike to protest President Sarkozy’s plan to raise their retirement age from 50 to 65. Because of this pre-organized walkout, millions of people had to walk or bike to work and school, or just not go at all. Those with cars had to suffer through nightmarish traffic jams. On Friday, only some of the rail workers came back. Now the transportation system is running, but at a fraction of its normal efficiency. This situation may last until the workers’ unions can come to some kind of accord with the government, creating in the meantime a system of infrequent and over-crowded trains, especially at rush hour.

I live in the suburbs of Paris, taking three trains just to get to my classes every day. Needless to say, this strike has been a pretty big inconvenience for me and many of the students in my program. But what has surprised me the most is the way most Parisians are dealing with this debacle.

Most people don’t seem to mind.

So far, I have yet to hear one rant against the transportation employees and their refusal to return to their jobs. Even the Parisians who agree with Sarkozy about the retirement issue, such as my host parents, are perfectly okay with the strike. People do not call the unionized workers lazy or stubborn. Most seem willing to sacrifice their comfortable everyday routines so that one faction of society can stand up for an issue that, according to my host father, most of France does not agree with.

Sure, you can see the disgust on everyone’s face when we’re stuffed like sardines in a metro car, but most frequenters of the Parisian transportation system are used to a complete lack of personal space during an ordinary Friday rush-hour. And though many suburban trains only come once an hour at most, new schedules were posted all over the stations as well as on the internet, so people can work their schedules around the available transportation (as opposed to the other way around).

I keep trying to imagine this situation taking place in America, and I cannot believe that it would have the same peaceful results. Even in Chapel Hill, if the P2P stopped running, and the U and RU only came once every few hours, most students wouldn’t last long before becoming seriously irritated at having to walk from South Campus to Franklin Street (and back) on a Friday night.

And I’m not immune from this generalization. Here, my nights can only go as late as the last train to my suburb, which takes off tonight at 10:30pm (about two and a half hours earlier than my usual deadline). So much for a soirée at a friend’s place on the other side of the city. I can’t say that I’m taking these restrictions on my social life with a sense of community spirit, let alone an agreeable sigh followed by “C’est la France.”

You could say that my honeymoon with Paris is over. I’ve been here for almost two months now, and this strike is not nearly as idealistic or revolutionary as I once thought, forget about romantic. But as I’ve been let down in one way, I’ve gained a new perspective in another. I always heard that France is much more socialist, and even collectivist than the United States, but I never really understood how these terms were reflected in everyday life. I find it amazing how tolerant and agreeable people are about workers and unions standing up for their rights, even if they don’t believe that the workers should have the rights that they’re fighting for! But it’s not the issue that matters – it’s the French belief that every sect of society should be able to make a fuss about their own concerns. Liberty to stand up to the government, Equality for every citizen to fight for what they believe they deserve, and Fraternity – supporting your countrymen and their rights.

Now for some pictures that have absolutely nothing to do with what I’ve been writing about.

SeineRiver- looking at the Left Bank

Père Lachaise Cemetery – resting place of Jimmy Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde

Chenonceau Castle in the Loire Valley. It’s even more beautiful in person.