Strikes???!!!

Oh la la! France is so different than America, it's pure craziness. Today across the entire country there were strikes. When French citizens get upset about something they all go on strike. Or as we say here "faire la greve." Originally, today was supposed to be a transportation strike for tramways and buses across the nation. However, lots of other citoyennes and groupes jumped on the band wagon! I saw many, many people qui font la greve for the high school system, colleges, the gaza conflict, gay pride, and even museum staff. I was especially impressed by the museum strike - I never knew life at the Musee Fabre was so tough (= Currently, I am taking an art history course at the Musee Fabre and my class, our teacher, and a security guard were the only people allowed inside!!! As of now, the greves are pretty peaceful. However, when I came out of the grocery store someone let off a sonic boom and I jumped out of my shoes! I feel like I am not describing this very well, but there were thousands of people down town for les greves when I got out of my art history course. Can you ever imagine this in the States?