Fuck! who's going to do all those jobs that everyone else is to lazy to do?

You're an asshole.

What's the Day Without Immigrants? Is it an organised thing?

It's an organized thing. I live in a ver immigrant-heavy neighborhood, and so there were LOTS of places that weren't open. I'm sure those businesses lost a lot of money, but it really made a strong point about their importance in my community.

I blogged about this, too.

Oh I see. It seems timely in the light of the proposed amnesty.

Absolutely, and I wouldn't have known any of this without my neighborhood shutting down, so it's done some good.

Read about this, sounds really good, and apt considering yesterday was also International Workers Day.

(PS- (dons peacemaking hat) abby, i think Steve was making a point about the importance of immigrant work...just in a sarcastic way!)

Oh. I hope that was sarcasm. Doesn't always read that way online.

you wouldnt have known about htis if you hadnt gone to hyde square? do you read the papers or watch the news?

I am an Asshole! But probably not for the reasons that you think. Just as my sarcasm didn't read in the way that I wanted it to, your point was misunderstood. I thought (wrongly) that you were being negative to a much maligned part of the community.

Apologies.

Thanks for having faith in me Kel x

Just to clarify - Of course we knew it was a day of immigrant protest. But I am willing to admit that the real-life (not just conceptual) importance of the protest didn't become really clear until Abby and I walked up to to that closed restaurant. Don't know if you live in J.P. or not, but it's a pretty diverse community. It's great - we have tons of neighborhood-wide festivals, parades and such. It was shocking to me to realize yesterday that our neighborhood is still not integrated enough, and that lots of my neighbors are hurting and discrimiated against. It was no hardship for me to miss a cheap meal. It was probably a hardship for the business owners to miss a day's profits, and I hope they get thier point across.

Respect. If the same thing happened here da country would grind to a halt. NHS, Trains, buses, small shops, service sector, cleaning etc. Pretty much da whole of London's infrastucture (as well as other major cities) is built on Black and immigrant labour.

'We run da country like electric needs da fuse'