This just in...

A suspicious letter arrived today in the mail, bearing the logo of the RATP and the SNCF, the local and national train companies. I immediately saw that word perturbé again which was a daily sighting at bus stops during the strike in October and November. I immediately thought "What now?" "They haven't cancelled our train to Aime/La Plagne for skiing in February I hope".

I read on cautiously. I was taken aback by the following phrase as well: "nos clients les plus fidèles". And they were talking about us. Hee Hee! After 5 months of taking public transit, we are now considered some of the train system's most faithful clients. Woo hoo! The tone of the letter is vastly improving and I'm calming down a bit.

The next part is simply astonishing, and I have to read it several times to make sure I got it right. Finally, the whole letter was making sense, and it was still unbelievable. It turns out that the RATP and SNCF are sorry for the service being disturbed (perturbé) during the strike. As we are such faithful (and pleasant I might add), clients, the train companies would like to reimburse us for our troubles. Donc, in the month of February we can expect either a bank transfer, or a check or a reduction in payment to make up for our losses. The amount will be in accordance with our subscription level and geographic zone. Wow!

I guess I should send some of the money to my brother and sister-in-law who were put off of the bus on a few occasions as a result of the strike. I should also send some to my friends who were here during the strike, especially Mark who was recovering from an operation on his leg, but who pressed on street after street to see the sights and keep up with our active program, despite his obvious pain.

Strikes were something I had come to expect while living in France. But to be reimbursed for services unrendered during the strike is almost comedic for me. But you better believe I'll be looking in the mail and my bank account in February. Will they somehow take into account that the dollar is even weaker now than in February? They might want to jack up our allotment.