Tuesday, May 02, 2006

May Day

Didn't see any immigration protests in Kaufman yesterday. All my Hispanic students were in class...they didn't want to lose their final exam exemptions.

I remember a May Day tradition growing up that no one in Texas seems to have heard of. When I was kid, in class we would make flower baskets as a class project. Then we were to leave the basket on a neighbors porch, knock or ring the doorbell, then run away so they didn't know who left the flowers.

Everyone did this in our neighborhood. It was a nice way to express appreciation without trying to receive recognition. But no one seems to have even heard of such things in Texas. Yes, people knock on doors and leave "gifts," (i.e. Billy Madison) but that's not what I'm really talking about. You could get shot in Texas for knocking on someone's door and running off.

In 1997, when I was in Europe on May Day, I was amazed at the large number of people who participated in May Day parades. Everyone was decked out in red and many businesses were closed for the May Day holiday. This was seven or eight years after the fall of communism and Spain was and is a democratic nation. So I was suprised by how large the red celebrations were. I don't think they were all communists...maybe just members of the working syndicates...but still interesting. I didn't hear anyone singing "the Internationale" but it was a real worker's holiday.

Anyway, hope you had a great May Day and no I didn't wear red.