I was in Budapest this weekend with some friends, and we had a great time. I'm going to tell you all about it. I even took a bunch of pictures, and I think there are a few that turned out pretty well. But they're not quite ready.
That's because last night the security and fuel personnel in the Budapest Airport decided that the Sunday evening after a F1 race would be a great time to strike.
Before I get into the story, can I just say that I hate unions? I'm not 100% sure, but I think I hate all unions. I don't pay you. I don't decide how you working conditions will be set. You never asked me for a raise. So why do you want to make me late? Here's the thing: just because you can doesn't mean you should.
When we got to the airport, there was a huge line, and several flights delayed. It turns out that when those people are on strike:
- The airlines have trouble checking in bags because there aren't any security people to make sure they aren't full of explosive sneakers
- The planes can't leave because they don't have any fuel in them
- When they check in the people who don't have luggage, they still can't get to the gate to board the plane that isn't leaving since they're supposed to go through security first
- All the passengers assume that the flights will leave at more or less the right time, so they decide they need to get through security anyways
Consequently, you have to take my word that this could probably be really funny, if I wasn't so tired. More to come in the next few days, but now, I'm going to bed.
7 comments:
Ugh. The bus ride from Lyon was longer than the flight, eh?
Speaking of eh, I experienced more strikes in Vancouver, Canada than anywhere in my life... in two years the bus drivers, the emergency room doctors and nurses, the public school teachers, and some other group (I can't remember) all went on strike. The bus one was the most memorable: for four or five months the whole city of Vancouver was sweetly hitchhiking. Cute.
Maybe you'd have gotten home to GVA faster if you'd tried that.
Anonymous, it was probably the garbage collectors that were the other ones on strike in Vancouver. That seems to be the union that's on strike every 10 years when we make our trek of the decade to the coast. There's nothing like heaped over dumpsters of garbage all down the lanes in the East Hastings area - in the summer of course, when the smells get really pungent. Oh, Darryl - so sorry about your rough return trip. At least it didn't spoil your time there- you were oblivious to the problem 'til your weekend was all but a memory. This will help you to remember it more... Love you...
By the way, Darryl - I forgot to say it earlier - I'm very sorry if you inherited your dislike of unions from me. I think they have long out-lived their usefulness in most segments of our society. Obviously, there are many places in the world that unions could do some good, but not in our western civilization anymore...
Ha! And UGH! I can just picture E. Hastings... already yucky...then unbearable.
Thankfully, it was not the garbage men. I think it might have just been the ER docs and nurses in different waves.
The good thing about the bus strike was that we saw how sweet Vancouverites could be (score one point against their cranky reputation). And when I went back for the Sun Run this year and the bus for some reason wasn't coming... we hitched with this dizzy English couple and their fuzzy poodle (on my lap - but hey, it was a free ride to the starting line).
Unions are a mixed bag. Budapest is still run by the old Communists with new hats on. So there's a good chance the strikers were in genuine desperation about something. Unlike, oh, say, France. Or Vancouver.
Fair enough... the post-communist thing may change the situation a little bit. But why target us? I can't vote, I can't call my MP/Senator/All High Commander... but I can decide not to go back there, which is probably what I will do. There are a lot of places I like and want to go again, and a lot more that I haven't been and want to see. It doesn't take much to get moved to the bottom of the list...
i remember when i had a union job, unfortunately not all that long ago. it wasn't bad when i was working "full" time (eg, the most hours they'd give me: 33-35/week), but when i was doing one shift a week while going to school, the $9.25/week flat rate just ate up my wages. it worked out to like the first hour and 8 minutes of every shift went to the guy responsible for giving me a 20 cent raise after 50 hours.
i would have had to work for 87 hours per week to cover my union dues with that raise.
needless to say, such a dislike of unions is clearly genetic.
sorry, that should be 500 hours. ha. i wish!
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