Tous en grève!

My brother is planning on meeting me in Brussels on February second, Groundhog's day. This, unfortunately, is the very date of the next government employees strike in France. No one seems to be able to tell me whether this will affect international train trips. I even tried going to the train station and asking them, but the woman narrowed her lips to a thin line and would only say that the train schedule would not be available until the night before. As one of the teachers at school said, strikes aren't any fun if they don't disrupt people's plans.

This might not bother me so much if

A. The people seeking change in governmental policies weren't the teachers, not the train workers, and

B. I were an actual citizen and in a position to effect any kind of change.

As it is, I'm still waiting to hear from the lady I babysit for on Wednesdays as to whether her husband will be able to come take me and the kids to the train station during her regular afternoon conference call, as that is the only time I can leave so as to be out of Paris before the strike starts.

But with any luck the day won't repeat itself endlessly, trapping people where they are indefinitely.