May Day

I never gave May Day a second thought until I got to Seattle. And that's only because in my office building, when you come into work on May 1, you get fresh flowers given to you with a big smile and a wish for a Happy May Day! Which then prompted me to Google May Day to see what on earth we were celebrating anyway. :) So May Day in my experience is about coming in to fresh flowers in the office, which is really nice. I've got two beautiful yellow tulips on my desk. And when I go downstairs to get coffee momentarily and come back in, no doubt someone will add to that. But May Day is also, it seems, about labor protests here in Seattle. Every year on April 30 we get an email telling us about all the routes that will be totally messed up by hundreds or thousands of people protesting and marching. I'd like to really care about what they're protesting, but to be honest, all I can see is that they disrupt my bus routes and cause havoc on the commute home. It's really hard to be sympathetic to someone who wants to be heard by disrupting other peoples lives. My boss decided to leave early today to avoid the mess, and I told him I would do the same (working through lunch to make up the time). I think I'll even treat myself to a trip home on the Water Taxi today instead of the bus. I'm leaving early, so I'll have extra time. I won't have to worry about any protest delays, and I'll enjoy a beautiful, sunny May Day afternoon on the water. How great is that?