May Day Mayday!

Today is supposed to be the Immigrant walkout to show us native-borns and citizens what life would be ike without immigrants.

Well, so far, except for an enterprising man selling commemorative T-shirts, it's been pretty quiet. I did see a group of young kids, about high-school age, strolling on the Embarcadero. Weather-wise, it's been the nicest day in a long time and many of us were out enjoying the sun and blue sky.

BART was carrying extra trains from my station, not in support of the rally but because a retaining wall collapsed yesterday and closed two lanes of traffic on I-80. But the trains weren't crowded. Very little construction is going on, so there are no pile drivers or jackhammers.

It's actually kind of quiet, which is really nice.

Meanwhile, as columnist Debra Saunders points out in her column dated April 30, "When I read, "no escuela" (no school) on MAPA flyers, and that the Los Angeles Times reported that in Southern California some 40,000 students may have skipped school to join in past protests, I think of the 18 percent of Latino high school seniors who have not yet passed the state exit exam."

And without passing the Exit Exam, the student will not receive a high school diploma. (Just so everyone is clear, to pass the High School exit exam, a student needs to show s/he can pass Middle School level math and 10th Grade level English.)

I expect my wastebasket will not be emptied tonight. And that's about all that will affect me personally.