Education, work, and the May Day "boycott"

In your neck of the woods you might have felt the impact of Monday's "boycott." I didn't, and I live in an area chock full of immigrants. The immigrants I know — Asians and Latinos for the most part — took it as just another day.

Apparently lots of folks did boycott school and work.

Parenthetical comment warning...

(Duh! You mean to tell me that kids, given a chance, to — with adult kudos, to boot — skip classes for the day would pass on that?)

Anyway, I was pretty impressed by a letter written by a Dedham, Massachusetts lady about the whole thing. I'm reprinting it here, just in case the link to the Boston Globe editorial page doesn't last:

"The two most important keys to success in America are education and work. Without each the immigrant is doomed to remain in the lower socioeconomic levels of American society.

"On Monday hundreds of thousands of immigrants abandoned either work or school to participate in demonstrations for improved status. They made a point of rejecting, for the day, the two things that have made Americans the success they are. I think they're missing an important connection.

"BEVERLY A. CAWLEY, Dedham"

Source: The Boston Globe Editorial Page, May 3, 2006