Scabs.

So it's that time of the year again.

It's the first week of the league in the French national sport, and the competition is already hotting up. What is the national sport of France, I hear you say? Is it football? Petanque? Eating? No, no and a resounding no. The national sport of France, of course, is going on strike.

The opening match is a hotly-contested battle between the government and the postal workers on Wednesday, followed by an early evening game against the electricity workers. The rail workers will also be playing on Wednesday, facing off against, in an amazing paradox, Parisian commuters who will be both enormously angry about the inconvenience and totally sympathetic to the cause.

Day 2 of the league is a slightly more disappointing affair. Teachers and civil servants. Not really that bad compared to the tough opening games, but I'm sure they'll make their voices heard. No sign of the police carrying out any action yet, but my guess is that they'll stick around for a while to tear-gas some demonstrators, then come out in sympathy.

Liberte, egalite, off work for a day.

Why oh why do I have to work for an English company? We're too bloody polite to strike. The Germans just get shot if they try it, the Spanish and the Italians don't do enough in the first place for anyone to notice, and the Scandanavians just commit suicide first. But don't forget the Belgians. Actually, yes, forget them.