Monday, May 01, 2006
Taking a stand on May Day
It's May Day, the traditional day in most countries to celebrate the contributions of the working class.
I wasn't very happy this morning when I saw this foreign cat trying to sneak in the back door. While amanuensis tried to interest me in the visitor's cute white feet, I began to yowl.
How dare this foreign cat try to enter my space? If it doesn't go away, I'm going to go on strike again.
Then I heard that many illegal immigrants are taking today off to protest the attempts of the US government to crack down on undocumented workers. Talk about mixed feelings!
It occurs to me that, as a feline without papers who spends many hours defending our home from invaders like the calico pictured here, I'm pretty much at the mercy of the government myself. Therefore, I'm going to take the rest of the day off too.
Do you know why the USA celebrates Labor Day in September rather than on May 1?
Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September in the United States since the 1880s. The September date has remained unchanged, even though the government was encouraged to adopt May 1 as Labor Day, the date celebrated by the majority of the world. Moving the holiday, in addition to breaking with tradition, could have been viewed as aligning the U.S. labor movements with internationalist sympathies.Since I've begun this catalog, I've found myself in league with my feline friends from Singapore to Reykjavik--so why not celebrate May 1?
Tags: catymology cats labor immigrants
3 Old Comments:
I'm curious: Where did you immigrate from? I know I immigrated to my house from PetSmart. ;)
I immigrated from the neighbor's house when they moved and left me behind. Luckily, my beanmon who is an immigrant from Singapore understood the plight of immigrant felines and took me in. I think I'm naturalized a'cause the V.E.T. said that I was a Domestic Shorthair. Mom just gotted her green papers though.
By 
PrincessMia, at
3:00 PM
I came across the Mississippi River from St. Paul four years ago. Before that, I lived with a guy, but I don't actually remember where I was born. All I know is that I don't have a birth certificate or those registration papers that the cat-show cats all have!
