Workers of the World, Relax!

(This was written yesterday, as you can probably figure out)

Well, today is May 1^st, and you know what that means. Um…what does that mean? Really? Labor Day? What the hell?
Yes, that’s right, here in Costa Rica, and probably in most of the rest of the at-least-half-developed world, it’s Day of the Worker! I’m not entirely sure why a holiday that (based on what I might have been taught in school) was developed in the U.S. isn’t celebrated today in the U.S., but instead on some variable and forgettable Monday in September. I have a hunch, though, that it has something to do with hating Communists. So I guess for the time being, the world will celebrate Labor Day today, and the U.S. will have its own little shindig in September. Or is it August? Whatever.
I think the sentiment of today was best summed up on Wednesday evening by my friend and coworker Luis. As an aside, Luis is wacky as hell, and although I could devote an entry or two to his exploits and eccentricities, I would really need an entire new blog to do him and his character justice. Suffice it to say that Luis: 1) Had a small part in “1492: Conquest of Paradise,” where he met Gerard Depardieu; 2) Has described himself both as “a parrot” and “a hummingbird”; 3) Claims he was resurrected because he played the part of Jesus in a passion play; and 4) Once went to the hospital because he fell asleep while driving… while driving a motorcycle. In any case, when I got on the bus from San José to San Ramón yesterday, I saw that Luis was in the fourth row, but I didn’t say hi to him because his chin was on his chest and he was sleeping like a drugged baby. It was raining outside, and the windows of the bus had fogged up. In the condensation above Luis’ head, “someone” had written (in English) the phrase, “LAbor DaY oFF!” and had drawn a giant heart around it.
Luis, my dear friend, that’s what it’s all about.

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