France on Strike!

Here in France, in case you've missed the news, everyone is on strike. Okay saying 'everyone' might be a bit of a stretch, BUT it seems like everyone. France is raising it's minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 and the reform isn't sitting well with French citizens. At first I thought the strikes were a bit ridiculous. Hundreds, if not thousands of people here in Toulouse, and in other large cities around France, walking through the streets shouting and singing their displeasure at the pension reform. However, I'm starting to realize that the French citizens mean business.
A nationwide strike began yesterday with the intention of continuing into Wednesday. The major effects I can clearly see are the multiple teachers that have canceled class - conveniently since I'm sick and my 23rd birthday is tomorrow - and announcements on bus lines and metros and airline websites that transportation in general will be 'perturbed' (disrupted in French, annoyed in English, so the word works both ways).

So what's the big deal? Well aside from what news articles have sited, I have asked several French citizens of various ages for their opinions. The youth are worried that there will not be job openings for them when they are finished with their academic studies, and the middle-aged/elderly who have been working since the age of 18 are not happy that they now have two more years to work. Unlike in America, France is rather static about employment. High schools and colleges emphasize that students must know as soon as they can which career field they foresee for their future, and they must stick with that choice. 'Just going back to school for a second or third career option' isn't a luxury they have. 

Today I was confused when I came out of class and saw the entrance to one of the academic buildings blocked by multiple desks piled on top of each other. Now students are joining the movement against the reforms. I'm not even sure if I'll have class tomorrow, or if I do, how I would get there. Oddly, the heightened strike action comes just a few days before fall break for my university. Although I had intentions to celebrate Halloween elsewhere, since Toulouse does not celebrate the holiday, it looks like the combination of my cold and the strike will keep my break within the confines of the city. And since I live on a main road between two metro stops and government buildings, the strikers march right below my window, so I'll get a first hand look at the 'manifestation' (as they call it).
~Tam in Toulouse