A Roman Snow Day Waking up and discovering school is canceled is the best feeling. Even though I am twenty years old, I still get a tinkle of excitement when I realize I have an unexpected day off. It’s like I revert back to my eight-year-old self for a split second. Unfortunately, Rome doesn’t have a huge record of snow days, but they do have something just as good- bus strikes. For many Romans and tourists alike, bus strikes are code red for difficulty to travel within the city. A limited number of buses and taxis run throughout the streets during strikes. Without the use of public transportation, alternative routes and ways to reach your destination have to be made. Lucky for me, bus strikes also mean classes are canceled!! I am unable to make the hour commute across town when drivers refuse to get behind the wheel. Unions conveniently strike on Friday, which translates to a long weekend. I’m sorry for all the headaches the strikes cause to everyone else, but I can’t help but look forward to strikes. From my experiences in Rome, bus drivers tend to strike once a month, normally towards the end month. The strikes are always announced in advanced. I always had an image in my head of strikes as huge rioting rallies with picketing, shouting and waving banners. Not true, the bus strikes aren’t as crazy as I had anticipated. They are announced in advanced so police are on hand to monitor and make sure everything stays under control. The strikes are a demonstration to make the government respect their demands for shorter hours, a larger salary and other general complaints. Over the past 3 months, strikes have meant a long weekend to me until last Wednesday. At 3:30 in the afternoon I was on my way to the Vittoriano for a field study when taxi drivers unexpectedly went on strike. The sea of white cars in Piazza Venezia caused gridlock in the heart of the city, leaving Italians and tourists stranded at airports and train stations across the capital. Unions have been negotiating fare increases with the Mayor but suddenly protested when authorities said they wanted to issue 500 new taxi licenses. The atmosphere of the piazza felt like a street party, with shouting and streams of people walking in the street. It reminded me of the all night celebration La Notte Bianca held every September. It was exciting to see the start of the strike but unfortunately my field study was canceled. And, to top it all off, I didn’t even get a Roman snow day out of the strike.
originally posted by: Aimee
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