Swedes are interesting people. In the few weeks I've spent in Malmo, I've almost always come across some kind of march or protest parading the street. Where do these people get the time? Oh yea, they are "professional demonstrators." And who funds them? The 45% tax that is taken out of my paycheck! The most frustrating example is the one we encountered this weekend. It was your average Saturday afternoon and Tommy and I went out to go grocery shopping. When we got to the car, which was parked LEGALLY on the street, and for which parking had been PAID, we were greeted with a ticket on the front windsheild of the car. In fact, every car on the block had a similar ticket. What the hell? Looking around we saw a temporary sign that had been put up (not too much earlier than our arrival, we assume) that stated: "No Parking Between the Hours of 1-8pm" The ticket was written at 1:07pm. We got to the car at 1:15pm. What was the reason for the restricted parking? Because demonstrators were going to march the streets, and they needed to clear the path. We were charged 700 Swedish Kroner (approx. $100 USD) so that those goons could parade around and scream their heads off about injustice towards the lower class. Hell, maybe I should have joined them and made some use of that money collected off parking tickets!
Apparently there were 10,000 demonstrators in town marching for human rights and social reform. According to local news, for the 10,000 demonstrators, they funneled 4,000 police into town. The pictures in the slideshow were taken mostly from the window of our apartment in Malmo. I'll tell you one thing you get for a $100 parking ticket - a front row seat.
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