Audrey Telfer, Sciences Po Exchange, Fall 2014
The French love their strikes. Last Sunday, I was sitting in my homestay’s living room finishing up some homework, when my host, Sylvie, came running through the back door straight to the TV. She put on the news, which was discussing the Air France pilots’ strike.
The strike was planned to start the following day and last all week. Air France was estimated to lose 10-15 million euros a day due to cancelled and refunded flights. Air France projected that 40% of their flights would be operating during the week.
Oh no.
Sylvie, thinking I had misunderstood the French, immediately tried to reassure me that the strike would not impact me. It wasn’t like the Metro was down and I couldn’t get to class. But that wasn’t what I was thinking about.
I had a flight booked with Air France for that weekend. I was going to England. It had been planned for months.
I was immediately chastised for being upset. “This is how we work in France. There are strikes and life moves on” Sylvie said with an air of superiority and finality. I was absolutely not allowed to be upset or even annoyed that my travel plans were now in the hands of the Air France pilots. The money I had spent on the hotel and activities in England already was at the mercy of the pilots. I was not allowed to be upset, this was France.
So I took a deep breath and decided to appreciate this quintessential aspect of the French culture. I am in France and I will experience the good and the bad.
And any worrying would have been moot, luckily, my flight was operational!