more unrest in France

Before I dropped out of french school, my teacher told me that 'manefestations' or protests (by law) can only happen on Tuesdays. So last Tuesday when I was out and about with my guests, we started to walk home when we heard noise and saw a "parade" coming our way. I suddenly remembered about the protest and so we decided to stand around and watch it. Is there any better way for a tourist to experience France?

It began with lots of young people carrying signs and banners protesting the proposed new law to allow employers to hire people but then possibly let them go after 2 years. I am clueless on all the implications and nuances of the law, but I do find the protests to be quite interesting. Seems to me that 2 years of employment is way better than none at all?!?!? But the labor unions are protesting it too because companies can hire students for a lot less than hiring experienced workers.

I wonder... is the American press blowing this incident out of proportion too? When students were burning cars and buildings, there was hardly any coverage of it on local TV because the news people decided not to give these thugs too much attention. But these new protests are getting plenty of news coverage.

So back to the parade.... the crowd at the front of the parade was pretty wild and vocal. One kid climbed up onto a street sign and was yelling. Groups were singing and chanting. And they dressed like American ghetto kids. Toward the back of the parade, the age of the protester got older and the crowd was much more subdued. This manefestation was very long. It must have gone on for miles. I felt the urge to yell, "throw me something, mister."

After the crowd dispersed, the street cleaners followed. I found this interesting since there was really nothing to clean up. The machines sprayed water and more machines sweeped the streets as if to clean the street of some hidden disease brought on by the protesters.

In the news.