Joan of Arc, Where are you?

I held my tongue during the recent protests in France... the ones where French youth were protesting a proposed law that said they could, indeed, be fired from their job.

During those protests a lot of Americans were scratching their heads. To illustrate our inability to understand the position the young French were taking, let me recall an incident from the mid-1960s. At that time a group of Kansas farm boys went to the Soviet Union to participate in a cultural exchange.

When they returned they were asked for their impression of Soviet farming methods. The one story they all wanted to tell, and laugh about, was that there was a five o'clock whistle on the collective farms. When the whistle blew... everyone quit for the day and went home.

What made it so funny to them was that baled hay, or other crops, were often left in the fields when rain was forecast. On their Kansas farms, as on farms all over the United States, farmers know that hay bales left in the rain will likey grow mold and be ruined. If you have baled your hay in the afternoon and rain is likely, you continue working to get that hay picked up and hauled to the barn, regardless of the hour. I personally have hoisted bales of hay onto a horse-drawn or tractor-drawn wagon late into the night.

And, when you finally do crawl in bed and you hear thunder and hear rain pounding down, you have a wonderful sense of pride that you did your job so well your crop was not destroyed.

It seems the French youth are being denied the opportunity to feel pride in their work. In fact, it seems they are being taught not to be proud of their work. The lesson is, just put in your time and draw your pay. If you quit too early... if you screw up... don't worry, you will not be punished... you cannot be fired!

To me, this is anti-French. France has a proud history. They did not become the nation they are by shirking their duty, and letting the government protect them when they failed. The heroes of France's past were the kind of people who did get their hay out of the field. Whatever the task - whomever the foe, they persevered and they triumphed.

Now, one has to wonder if this new generation of Frenchmen will ever again triumph over a powerful adversary... be the battle economic, scientific or military.

One can only hope that the genes of the great French heroes are still present in some French youth, and will some day make their presence known.