Day 68: Noise

Dinner:

• Salade grecque
• Onglet à l'échalote et aux olives
• Polenta
• Yaourt de brebis et framboises
• Carré de chocolat noir 92%

There are many good things about living in Paris .... I'm not sure what they are right now. But one of the down sides is the noise of traffic.  Although I'm lucky enough to live in an area which is usually quiet on the weekend, It's still in the centre of Paris which means we get our fair share of traffic noises:

1. engine noises (until everybody switches to electric),
2. angry honking (until everybody smokes weed while driving - probably not the best idea), and 
3. Siren noises from police, fire trucks, ambulances and ... officials!

I have to say that I find the last one of the above outrageous.  I can understand why we need to make way for ambulances and fire trucks since lives are at stake.  And I might be persuaded (with difficulty) as to why police should have priority but I cannot see how there can be any justification for Presidents or Ministers having a right of priority.  This comes back to the idea that somehow some people are more important than others or that their time is more precious than someone else's.  On past evidence I would say that Ministerial and Presidential action is often negative and actually the more rushed it is the less chance of it being positive.  So maybe we should actually do the opposite, lets slow them down, I suggest that we replace official limousines with official rickshaws this would give our representatives more time to think about their actions and would be a great environmental example.