Tomorrow is the annual "Day Without Illegals Mexicans", or "Primero de Mayo", where the rising tide of illegal immigrants and their sympathizers will lay around all day drinking tequila, sure that we gringos are wringing our hands with dread and fear. I have already planned my day, practically by the minute, to make the very most of every opportunity. I publish it here as a template for you to consider how your time might be best spent without the hassles of dealing with 30 million extra warm bodies sucking up your time and money, if only for one precious day.
7:00 am: Instead of gratefully hiding behind the ease of the bus service, enjoy some talk time with the kids by driving them to school, luxuriating in the free flow of traffic and stunning lack of cement mixers and dump trucks.
8:00 am: Already out early, take advantage of the dead zone at the Home Depot garden department and buzz on over to Lowe's on a whim, because there may be a pattern here.
9:00 am: WoW! So ahead on time, call a friend to meet for coffee at that fun spot in the historic district. Enjoy sitting outside the cafe for once because the roofers working next door won't be there to throw debris into my jasmine tea or ogle my friend's vastly superior ass.
10:00 am: Get a new spring hairstyle at The Curl Up And Dye downtown and enjoy some window shopping without fear some leaf blower crew will spoil the new "do".
10:55 am: Try to grab a protein smoothie at the health food store around the corner, but see the sign in the window explaining their odd closure and expressing solidarity with the cause of the illegals. Make a mental note to die of scurvy before buying so much as a one vitamin pill in there. EVER AGAIN.
11:00 am: Consider an impromptu trip to Mega Hel-Mart. The parking lot is eerily vacant. (Are they even open?) Stroll the unusually wide aisles, read all the magazines, languidly browse the fabulous Mexican food section, and never once hear, "Will any Spanish speaking associate, please come to Customer Service.".
12:00pm: Celebrate hard working legal immigrants by grabbing a quick sushi or some Pad Thai way out on the edge of town. Dine in because voluminous travel time credits have accrued since this morning, so there is no real hurry.
1:00 pm: Catch a few commando sun rays in the backyard because the blind guy's pool next door won't be getting its chlorine check today by men who yell, "Mas chlorino!" and who think I don't know the Spanish phrase for "naked white lady ".
3:00 pm: Feeling energized, cruise to get the children from school. Get pulled over for doing 57mph in a 35 zone. Get off with a warning because the officer is so impressed with my ability to even get to speed, much less blow it away by such a large margin. And on a workday! (But it might be the sun tan and hair-do combo. Just a guess.)
4:00 pm: On the way to the National Archives for the kids to see the original U.S. Constitution before it fades away, drive by The White House, wag my arm out the window and scream, "Hola! Hor-hay!", and notice that Bushie still has not gotten around to installing one of those new "virtual fences" he keeps telling us is all the rage in national security.
7:00 pm: Celebrate hard working legal immigrants by splurging on Chinese take-out. Who needs nachos? Chop sticks for all my men! Fortune cookie reads: "May your every day be as sweet as today."
9:00 pm: OOooo....boo boo Moo Goo. Head to the hospital with what will certainly be diagnosed as salmonella poisoning. Good thing the place will be deserted, it being the "Day Without Mexicans" and all...right? No such luck. Seems that the only thing Pablo can't resist doing today is schlepping all twelve members of his immediate family into the only Emergency Room for thirty four miles to get a pregnancy test (Congratulations!), four throat cultures and an $8.00 Tylenol.
Well. It was sweet while it lasted.
9:07 pm: Throw up on Pablo's sandal.