Qué?*

My station, towards the eastern part of the city, is not an especially clean one. On a regular day, there is grime caked along the floor tiling, graffiti on the ads, stray beer bottles, cigarette butts, and pages from 20 Minutos*. Yes, sometimes you can't ignore it, but you just follow along and deal.

Recently the voyage has been less pleasant. Since the cleaners' strike began on Monday, the station's orderlinesss--relatively speaking, of course--has been shot. There's "intermittent service" (MetroMadrid's words) but the trash bins are overflowing and passengers are trailing newsprint to the platform. On the way back from work, for example, I passed by a woman who was haphazardly tearing up sections from a daily and littering all over the floor. An elderly lady stop to either ask--or admonish--her, but I walked on by before I heard the answer.

Now, I understand the right to strike for better working conditions (and pay!). This is crucial to a functional labor force. I also understand that, lacking these specific workers, the cleanliness of the metro system will deteriorate. What confuses me is why someone would contribute to this problem, because I highly doubt that it's a question of class solidarity.

And again, some stations--and to a general extent, neighborhoods--have always been much cleaner than others, strike or not.



*Qué? is another free daily given out at many subway stations.