typical french

i got to work late today, again. if it's not the tramway construction growing around the city, it's another manifestation (protest) holding traffic up. today it was the latter. but organized by the high school students of lycée massena who are protesting a new law passed by the french government. the law called le Contrat Premiere Embauche (CPE) which translates to First Employment Contract. it allows employers with 20 or more employees to fire staff under 26 years old within 2 years for no reason.

manifestations and grêves (strikes) are legal here. the government allows employees to protest and strike as they please for whatever reason against their employers. normally, of course, the protests and strikes are aimed to disrupt the flow of business, but the question that i ask as these protests happen almost every week, how effective are they? especially since the strikers know that they'll be going back to the same job anyway as the unemployment rate in france is so high.

in the case with the CPE law, i think it's a weak answer to the ridiculously high unemployment rate in france. in addition to the shortage of jobs, it is damn hard to land a job out here anyway as almost all employers only hire people who have received a degree in the position they're filling. yes, you even need a degree to be a secretary. and then it's even harder to fire an employee as their ammo are manifestations and grêves... get it?

but supporters of the new law say that it generates more jobs because at least it gives people aged 26 and under the opportunity to find temporary employment. i say that all it does is lead people in their 20s to live en chômage, on unemployment. sure, getting unemployment checks help ease one's situation as they're in between jobs, but with the monthly unemployment allowance, after rent and the basic neccessities for living, it leaves little room for 20-somethings to contribute to the lifestyle. not to mention that their parents are still supporting them, e.g. buying their groceries, helping with the rent, etc.

with all this in mind, one of two things happen: people around my age resort to working retail, at the supermarket, or at mcdonald's (the latter two being the higher-paying, non-degree jobs in france), and that's only if they get hired; or if they can afford the investment, they pick another career path, go back to school for it, and hope they get a job when they graduate. whatever the case may be, by the time people my age can contribute to the culture and the economy, they're in their 30s. and that's only if they can afford to contribute by then. oh yes, and did i mention that there aren't laws that protect employees against discrimination? first of all, the creation of laws against discrimination in france is a new thing. needless to say, discrimination is yet another huge issue within the unemployment mess. is this all the french youth have to look forward to?

which brings me back to this morning. i obviously don't agree with the new work law. but what changes, other than symbolic, do these protests make when the majority of protesters are high school and university students? they haven't worked a day in their lives.

mr. nice

i just finished reading an autobiography by howard marks called mr. nice. it's the first biography - let alone "auto" - that i highly enjoyed reading. it's so good that i'm going to read it all over again. howard marks was one of the biggest marijuana dealers in the world from the late 70s to the 80s. what's interesting about him is that as much as he loved money, he never got so greedy as to push other drugs that were trendy at the time. plus, he was highly educated and made connections with a list of high-profile characters all over the world. the message i received after finishing the book is that studying law and the basics of banking are essential to being a successful hustler. that is if you're dealing with money in the millions+ or your business happens to be illegal, like pushing weed.

in relation to having read the book, last week i met a 23-year-old pilipino named david at the shop. first of all, i have to brush up my tagalog very soon before i totally lose the rhythm. let's just say, i'm finding it very difficult to maintain speaking three languages. and right now, tagalog is my weakest. anyway, we struck up a conversation about what each other's doing in nice. he was in town for the week to do some work. after, he was to go to firenze and pick up "the professora's car" as he called it. who's the professora, i asked? she is some doctor who knows his fam in italy and hooked him up with this job. driving? he said that's what he does - gets paid 4k a month to do it. so he drives the car from firenze to roma to napoli. at the time, i was thinking to myself, damn that is one hooked-up gig. all he has to do is drive. but when i told mackenzie about david later that night, he said that david's probably driving hash around. no way, i thought. but then i remembered some of the details of mr. nice, and how marks talked about transporting the tons of stuff around tucked in all kinds of panels in a car. it all made sense. in any case, if david is really pushing stuff around italy, good luck out there, homie.

did you know that over 20 million people smoke weed per day in america? or was it 20 million pounds of weed that's smoked per day?

it's a man's world

in this case, that is not reassuring.

subsequent titles for this entry:
mamas' boys
i'm not a baby, i'm a man!
oh, grow up
accounting for everything
business for cavemen living in the 21st century

that's as far as i've gotten with attempting to express my observations on the type of environment i work in. actually, i may have come close to expressing my angst against the crap i go through at work during dinner last night with mackenzie. maybe he can help me write my work experiences into a cohesive story. that, or come to nice, invite me to dinner at texas city, and buy me some tequila (which is exactly how mackenzie heard all the crappy details). let's just say, talking about women as if we were car options, staring at female clientele while they're trying on the merchandise, or yelling while using "ass" and "fucked" in the same sentence in front of passers-by and employess hardly makes for good business.

just to be fair: before moving to france, the best job i ever had was with a company where i was the lone female. our business dealt with skateboarding, music, and girls (à la maxim or FHM). i've edited stories there regarding drive-bys, sexual preferences, turn-ons, diseases, pyrotechnics, pirates, strippers, porn, skating, how to get chicks, etc. our work environment included in-door golf, playboy centerfold posters on the walls, and piña coladas. all while maintaining a high level of professionalism - not only did i get paid 1) a fair salary and 2) on time, i felt absolutely secure and equal and my creativity levels were at its highest. not to mention, my superiors' small children hung out at the office, and i met my husband there.

i can't even sell american apparel underwear without some sexually-charged joke being made about it. don't even get me started on the business basics this enterprise lacks...

nothing to say at the moment

thomas, mack, manu, & soffia in 4wheels, originally uploaded by mjane.

our intern, originally uploaded by mjane.