Get the tear gas for the Trots...
My walk to work this morning was disrupted by a demonstration. The bloody Metro workers are on strike, which means firstly, no tube to work, and secondly, they feel the need to disrupt traffic and pedestrians by marching through the main streets of Brussels, letting off firecrackers.

I cannot understand for the life of me why public sector workers are allowed to strike. The Police can't; the Army can't; so why should those who provide an essential public service (fire brigades, transport workers) be allowed to disrupt the lives of everyone just because they want a few more poxy shekels?

The Belgian Police react brilliantly to protest marches, even the student ones we had recently; it's clearly the excuse they need to wheel out the riot trucks, don their body armour, and feel like Real Men for the day. There were umpteen battalions of heavily armoured coppers wandering the streets today, in gangs, clearly spoiling for a fight. They should have just turned the water cannon and tear gas on the bloody Metro workers, regardless, to teach the ungrateful bastards a lesson for disrupting the lives of the rest of us.
- posted by Foxy @ 29.10.04