FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

la grève (grev) noun, feminine
1. strike

Also:
un(e) gréviste = a striker
une grève de la faim = a hunger strike
une grève surprise = a lightning strike
une grève sur le tas = a sit-down strike

Expressions:
faire grève = to strike
se mettre en grève = to go on strike
être en grève = to be on strike

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Citation du Jour:
Dans grève, il y a rêve.
In the strike, there is a dream.
                      (Anonymous)

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A Day in a French Life...

I have two new colleagues to keep me company today: 9-year-old Max and 7-year-old Jackie. I must say, they ARE experts in reporting (just don't call my daughter une rapporteuse*) and they DO know the French language better than I (I'll never get over the fact that I spoke French eons before they were born, and now they regularly correct my grammar).

"What, pray tell, are they doing home today?" you ask. "In France, don't kids go to school on Thursdays?"

Why yes, they do! Indeed, they should! (On Wednesdays they don't go to school. They make up for that by attending l'école* Saturday morning. Lovely emploi du temps,* n'est-ce pas?)

But today, yes, today (hopefully only today!) is la GREVE. Teachers are on strike and a sign posted across the school's entrance reads: "FERME." (Pronounced, fair-may). Very unfair if you ask moi.*

So I have two choices:

Put the kid colleagues to work:
I could relegate them to the packing and shipping department of Four Frogs Press: have them lick stamps and attach 1 euro and 45 centimes worth of timbres* to the 1-book orders and 2 euros 13 to the 2-book orders. Then we could go to the.... post office. Wait a minute. La Poste is on grève too!

Which leaves us with le deuxième choix:*

Go with the flow. Speaking of flow, I forgot to list the other meaning for grève, which is:

--shore (of sea) or bank (of river).

I think that we will walk down to the river today and skip stones across its shimmery surface. We'll chant:

     Que sera sera
     On sera grévistes, voilà!*

Yes. In the spirit of camaraderie, we'll strike too. Our cause: (Well, we can't think of a cause just yet). But we'll take a moment to observe la grève, and remember that some things are just out of our control. That what will be will be.

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*References: une rapporteuse (un rapporteur) = a telltale or tattler; emploi du temps (m) = schedule; une école (f) = a school; moi = me; un timbre (m) = stamp; le deuxième choix (m) = the second choice; Que sera sera, On sera grévistes, voilà = what will be will be, We will be strikers, so there!