Beginning of Week Ramblings

Sorry to throw you all - I know I usually save ramblings for the end of the week. But we at aliyahbyaccident like to switch things up, keep you on your toes, make life interesting, so we're doing our ramblings at the beginning of the week. Also, we didn't have time to post on Friday.


1. Why is it that alcohol is so freely available here, and yet purchasing Tylenol requires feats of ingenuity and many meters of patience? If you want beer, wine, whiskey, Scotch, vodka - just go into any supermarket or makolet and fill your cart. You can even start drinking in the store, like a woman today did in the middle of Rami Levi. (Okay, she was drinking from a juice carton, but still.)


But regular OTC painkillers are only available at the pharmacy, and if you want to buy more than 20 pills, then you have to wait in line for the pharmacist, because the mega-boxes are only available BTC, and in front of you, naturally, are people who have never purchased Band-Aids before in their life, and need to hold intricate discussions with the pharmacist about the how-tos of their purchases. ("You're saying that the sticky part goes on your skin? Could you show me?")


If you didn't need that Tylenol before coming in, you sure do now.


2. In other shopping-related angst: I got a Bagger Boy at Rami Levi today! Hoo-ha! However, that explains why, when I was putting the packages in the car, there was one bag filled to bursting with 2 jars of tomato sauce, a large can of diced tomatoes, a package of rice, a package of sugar, and a can of baked beans. And another bag containing 4 rolls.


3. Another non-strike strike: Last night we got a text. The saya'ot (assistants) in the ganim were preparing to strike. Usually, this means that gan opens at 8:00 (when the head ganenet arrives) instead of 7:30, and it will only open if there is a parent volunteer who can fill the place of the assistant. The text said that the tzaharon morah would fill in, thereby depriving us of the privilege of assisting in a class of 35 3/4 year olds. However, this came at a cost of 10 shekel per child. I was more than ready to pay, because the other option was

A. Volunteering myself (Ha!)

B. Not sending Yaakov (Ha ha!)

In the end, the strike was canceled, and everything was "ragil."


But can someone please explain how this system works? I know we haven't been here all that long, but why is it every time the gans strike it's the saya'ot that strike? Do the head gananot ever strike, or are they just very happy and content with their jobs? And if that's the case, maybe the Saya'at Union should hire whoever works for the Head Ganenet Union because he or she is clearly doing a much better job.