Annoyed but not flabbergasted by the strike

By AHINOAM POLLACK
Most Israelis are taking the strike in stride, despite the inconveniences. One woman in Jerusalem said she was forced to pay NIS 150 for a messenger service to deliver colonoscopy results. Some soldiers who usually take trains to their bases needed to travel by bus, making for a longer trip. One man said he had to wait 40 minutes for his intracity bus. Those trying to send mail were annoyed to find the post office closed. Some Jerusalem residents downplayed the strike. "The garbage hasn't begun to stink yet," said one woman. Most people said if the strike continued, they would soon feel its impact. People with flights scheduled for the next few days feared they might be postponed, and those who needed to go to government offices before traveling were stuck. "We need to go to the Interior Ministry to renew our passports, because we'd like to go on our flight next week," Ohad Mizrahi said. Some people said they couldn't schedule appointments or see their specialists, and some were angry that they didn't have access to the courts. "I oppose this strike," said a security guard. "We're no longer a Third World country. We need to solve this problem in a modern way - talking around a table without breaking the backbone of the economy." "It's not good for the nation, but it doesn't effect me," one person said.