We were at the grocery store the other day, the one two blocks from our apartment that we frequent several times a week and at which the clerks know us as "the Americans," when the teller at the checkout began asking us about May Day.
"Do you celebrate the first of May?" he asked, in Spanish of course.
"Um, not really," replied Eric.
"You don't have a day to celebrate the worker?" asked the clerk incredulously.
"Of course," replied Eric. "It's during the first week of September."
"But why not May Day?" he asked, as the line of people behind us continued to grow steadily.
Eric began trying to explain to the clerk how for a long time in the United States May Day was seen as a communist holiday, therefore prompting the government to distance itself from it, but it began to seem very complicated. Finally the clerk just waved a friendly "Hasta Luego" to us and we gathered our groceries to head out to the street.
Happy May Day everyone.
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