May Day

As I type this, the date is May 1. Also called May Day. Also called International Workers’ Day to commemorate the Haymarket Affair in Chicago. Also, on this day in 1942 the US government seized the nation’s jukebox factories and instructed them to produce war materials. But enough history.

I drove to Walmart just before noon. I felt like eating pizza for lunch and their deli pizzas are pretty decent. I also picked up a seafood salad, the one topped with faux lobster – or more properly, surimi. Surimi is a Japanese word that means “ground meat.” In this case, the ground meat is a white fleshed fish such as pollock that has been pulverized into a thick, gelatinous paste. Then other stuff – spices, oils, egg whites, even other fish – are added to make the surimi taste like crab or lobster or whatever.

As I left the store, I made a new rule for myself: never go to Walmart on the first day of the month. Of course, if everybody observes that rule and we all go there on the 2nd day, then the rule doesn’t accomplish anything. So I’ll go on the 2nd, and all you guys: keep going on the 1st of the month like you do now.