What transport strikes?

Isn't it funny how sometimes Naples is a city that seems to go out of it's way to inconvenience me, and then when big things happen it hardly makes a bleep in my radar?

Take the recent transport strikes. There have recently been public transport strikes with the buses and metro either closed or on limited service. Luckily, I have always needed to be at work before the strike begins and don't return home until it's well and truly over.

Then this week there the trucks have been striking. Anyone with a car has potentially been stranded with petrol impossible to buy, and the supermarket shelves are mostly empty as customers have been panic buying and deliveries have been delayed. Did it affect me? No. Thank goodness. That's what comes of not strictly following the local habit of shopping everyday for exactly what you need to eat that day. I always have some pasta, rice, tins, vegies on backup. But reading the BBC website it seems that lots of people have had their knickers in a twist as a result of the interruptions.

But still it's the little things that get my knickers in a twist. Smart cars that refuse to acknowledge pedestrian crossings, rubbish overflowing from the industrial bins on our street, people throwing half smoked lit cigarettes towards my coat at the bus stop, dirty old men and their wandering hands in a crowded bus, if I want to sit down at the cafe with my coffee it costs me extra...

Italian lorry drivers end strike

Unions representing 80% of the drivers were on strike
Gridlocked roads Italy's lorry drivers say they are suspending their three-day blockade that has led to shortages of petrol and food across the country. The two main unions representing the strikers say the government has agreed to address their concerns about rising fuel prices and long working hours. Thousands of drivers have been blockading motorways since Monday. The strike has caused huge queues at petrol stations, and shops have begun running out of fresh food.
Several unions representing 80% of the country's drivers were involved in the strike.
They were protesting against rising fuel prices and demanding more money for the transport sector in the government's 2008 budget.
Petrol stations across the country have been running short of supplies, and there have been long queues at the pumps. There has also been panic buying, leaving many supermarket shelves empty.