The Riots

I was glad to see that Jimmy asked me a question because, to be honest, I knew I had to write something, but I wasn't sure what. That's not say nothing has happened in the last week, but certainly nothing as thought provoking as the events of last weekend.
However, I was a little hesitant to write on the subject of the riots because I am sure it is something that my mom doesn't want to think or hear about. So, it is probably a good thing that she doesn't read the blog very often. But, she does watch the news, so I am sure that she is aware that there are riots in Paris.
To start, all the information that I have comes from sources like cnn.com, bbcnews.com and lefigaro.fr. I don't have a television that works in my room, so I don't ever watch TV. Morever, this is not a topic that many teachers talk about either.
I live south and a little bit west of Paris. The riots have been occuring in the North of Paris. So, as far as distance is concerned, I am on the complete opposite side of the city from the riots. (There was some sabotage on the TGV during the transportation strikes, but I am assuming that Jimmy was talking about the more recent Riots).
My suburb is extremely quiet and nothing happens here. That is both a good thing and a bad thing. It can be kind of boring, but it is safe. The closest we get to excitement is when I yell out angrily at the fact that I have stepped in dog poo on the sidewalks. We also have a lot of gypsies who gather at my train station, but they are not violent, just poor. Actually, they are pretty interesting because they all gather at my train station in the morning just after rush hour and plan where they will beg and just sort of have a commitee meeting about the state of begging in Paris. The kids run around, the dads smoke cigarettes, and the women talk about how difficult life in the big city is. Everybody is in good spirits, then as if struck by instant depression, they put their heads down and hold out their hands and walk quietly and dejectedly onto the trains. It is quite the unique sight to behold. I am quite convinced that gypsy begging in Paris is a form of performance arts. The women and children have it perfected. The men not so much. If you are a man between the ages of 16 and 40 you are going to have to rely on someone else to beg for you because you are not getting a dime on the train! Watching these people is one of my favorite things about waiting for the train in Massy. Enough of this digression.
This is from BBC World news and their assesment of the problem, "In the out-of-town high-rise neighbourhoods there remains a large population of young men who thanks to unemployment, poor education, destabilised family structures and racial discrimination have very little stake in French society. Some of these are happy to resort to violence against symbols of the state, and many more lend tacit support." So, a bunch of teenagers let there passions take control of them and overcome with anger and the lusts of youth, they decided to tear apart their own suburb. This was the best way in their immature, irrational, and inflammed minds to get peoples attention. It is true that they received attention, but I would venture to guess that most of the message was lost in the flames and molotov cocktails. Two of their own ended up dead, and as far as I could find, they were the only 2 who were killed.
The BBCNEWS also went on to say that they think the worst of the striking is over.