Waiting For The 1 In 5

iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Waiting For The 1 In 5 ~

Waiting For The 1 In 5, originally uploaded by Paris Set Me Free.

The basta.. i mean the poor overworked, underpaid dears of the SNCF etc. are on strike again today.

Well, it's understandable. In a desperate attempt to stop the country from going completely bankrupt HNG (His Nicolas' Government) are trying to raise the minimum retirement age to 62 so that there are still some of this ageing population around to pay for all the other retirees' golden years.

Trouble is, the train workers only have to work up till 50 or 55, depending on how dangerous their job is. Those who choke on the toxic fumes, year in, year out, as they stoke the coal-burning furnaces of the TGV and the Paris metro obviously deserve some compensation, after all.

Not to mention the intrinsic danger to the index fingers of all those courageous drivers as they push the 'go' and 'stop' buttons, day after day, in their cramped little cabins...

And then there are the passengers. The 'customers'. The 'clients', as they would like us to see ourselves. We're looking forward to a real fun day today, as we try to squeeze into the '1 train in 5' which they claim will be running on some lines. Shame I'm claustrophobic...

(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)

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