Ras-le-bol !

The French can sometimes be a grumpy lot, especially when it comes to economic matters – high taxes, high prices, high unemployment.  The economy is stuck in the mud and won’t move forward.  People are mad at the government because it doesn’t do anything.

This crankiness is captured by the expression “ras-le-bol,” loosely translated as “had it up to here!” 

There’s been a lot of ras-le-bol lately, after the government introduced legislation to make modest changes to French labor laws. 

Oh, boy.  The only thing that makes people madder than the government not doing anything is when the government tries to do something.

Ras-le-bol !

There have nationwide demonstrations against the law, with millions pouring into the streets.  Even the young, who are supposed to be the primary beneficiaries, have been shutting down schools and starting fires in protest.

The reaction has been so extreme you would think the government was legalizing child labor.  Or maybe slavery.

Lately the unions have called for blockades of key economic targets, especially oil refineries.  This has led to panic buying and shortages of gasoline.

We found this out yesterday when we got an email from Christian, telling us we needed to fill up our gas tank before it was too late. We had been unaware of the rapidly escalating crisis and foolishly let it get low. 

We rushed to our regular gas station, only to find it shuttered and empty.  Same with every other station in town.  We started calling around to try to find one that still had gas but no one would answer their phone. 

In a panic, we headed to a town with several stations.  There was a long line at the first one, but after about 20 minutes they told us all to go home because they had run out of gas.  The next two stations we tried were already closed.

Finally we found one limiting purchases to about four gallons.  Better than nothing!  After a half hour we made it to the head of the long line and gratefully took our meager ration.

While we were there we heard the rumor that a station down the highway still had gas.  We raced off, feverishly hoping it was true.  And it was! 

We worked our way into the long line, but it wasn’t easy.  Cars and trucks were arriving from every which way, blocking the highway as they tried to squeeze in.  Cursing and cheating were rampant, and the hot sun didn’t help. 

After an hour and a half of staring down other drivers, sweating profusely and saying bad words, we made our way to the front of the line.  Praise be!  

Now all we had to do was…wait a minute…what’s this?  The pump was designed for big trucks and only fit certain cars.  And it didn’t fit ours. So after all that we had to leave empty handed.

My reaction?

Ras-le-bol !

KVS