Paris: Strike, Irritated people and apartment search

Paris strike and irritated people
Today, the 16th of November, is the third consecutive day of transportation strike that is plaguing Paris. The first day, the strike was the worst but I think many Parisians were ready and either cancelled appointments, took RTT (since now we work 35 hour week, we have extra days to take in the month) or made alternative transport arrangements. But the second day of strike, as it is renewable strike that was indeed renewed since the discussion between the unions and government did not advance, nerves are starting to be frayed and many express their ‘ras le bol’ (fed up, have it up to here etc.). Today, the third day, was the worst that I have experienced on Paris streets. Traffic jams everywhere, sidewalk full of people (as many people simply decide to walk to work), bikes, rollers, scooters etc etc. Riding on the bikelanes we had to avoid people on foot, scooters who decide to join us and even a car with its tires hugging the raised edge of the bikelane on one side and the sidewalk on the other. Intersections were completely blocked with cars facing every which way, pedestrians weaving their way among cars and cyclists doing the same. People were honking like crazy and added to that the sound of whistles from traffic police trying to manage the traffic and sirens from firetrucks and polica cars. Verbal fights ensued when a cyclist bumped another, when a pedestrian walked and blocked cyclists on bikelanes, when cars prevented people to cross streets etc. A young woman was shouting pédé (from pederast which is a derogatory name for gays) to a male cyclist who bumped her (I wanted to shout bitch at her for using this word, why not called him un connard or a stupid fuck or a bastard ?). Don’t even talk about metro. On the news, we could see that people were prevented from going to the platforms they were that full. Trains ranged from not running at all, to one every hour, to the best line (line 1) that runs every 10 to 15 minutes. People are on edge and this is expected to last through the weekend. We will wait what Monday brings.
The french are in general understanding and accept without question the right to strike. This time, transport workers wish to keep the special conditions they have for retirement (accorded to works that involve physical effort and unusual working conditions such as long hours, night time and weekends workdays) that the government is attempting to take away. But on the third day, patience is starting to run thin.
Add to the general situation, the students movement that in some universities included blocking off the university so courses could not take place.
I think we are at an explosive time here at the moment. Wait and see.

Apartment search
In the mean time, I have been doing a lot of visits of apartments to rent which is no mean feat when there is no reliable means of transport due to the strike. These visits range from group to, if I am lucky, individual visits. The group visits are interesting as people deal with potential competitors for the apartment differently. They can be friendly as one guy that I met on a visit with whom I ended up having coffee. Though in the end, I did understand his strategy: telling me a sad story that would make me cry a river so I won’t apply for the same apartment! And that worked too, because he was so cute and adorable. There are those who right away make you think if look could kill…and these are those who would make themselves first in line, dominate the conversation with the agent showing the apartment and attempt to weasel their way to the agent’s heart (if indeed he or she has one). Agents are something else, too. One behaved as if she was the owner of the apartment (though indeed she has the power to decide whose application gets through to the owner) and treated you like shits in need who made her lose her precious time. I am not one to talk about racism, but boy, this time I cannot help but think that if you speak with an accent and your skin is not exactly snow white, don't expect a royal treatement. I think that as soon as they see me come in, they form the image that I am an immigrant with a small salary that will probably put the whole village in a small studio. Of course, they would ask for a garant (guarantor) who is in principle a person who would pay for you if you don’t pay your rent. The problem is that they may ask that the garant earns 4X the rent (whereas the renter has to earn 3X the rent). My specific problem: most of my friends who could be garant actually earn less than me (in fact almost all earn less than me). So here is a funny situation, I who earn more than everyone else needs these others to guarantee the agent that my rents would be paid. Sometimes, these people just want to follow the rule or the accepted practice (that there is a garant) and forgetting the logic of the situation and the individual cases where this might not make sense…

Paris strike continues (today 20 nov)
I am beginning to have had it up to here with the transport strike. I have pedalled to the north of paris on a bicycle which was no easy task for anybody because it goes uphill in a very steep incline; I have fought people in metro where we were squashed in like sardines with aggressive and complaining people, have waited for buses, trams and metro forever and ever, and have spent way too much time in transport jumping from a bus stuck in the horrendous traffic jams (everyone who has a car of course decides to take their car) to walk a long time to find a metro line that runs. I have spent the night nourishing my tired legs. A few days of strike I can take, but this is getting ridiculous. How long will this last ?
The president just said that for the retirement plan, given the actives, reform has to take place...hey, I have an idea, what about immigration?