I have been more -less unaware of May approaching. Probably the northern climate encouraged me to ignore how late we are into the spring. So the day before May 1 feeling a bit let down yet comfortable at the same time by the prospects of spending vappu, as it is called in Finland with picnic, drinks and chilling. It is the local tradition anyway, exercised with a hint of pride even that the working class somehow has never had a hold of this day. I felt some small emptiness though.

This has all changed when by some weird accident a socialist poster came to my view with its somehow desperate cry for attention among the possibly hundreds of vappu invitations to parties and cheap drinks o all kind.

I came late on Saturday morning, and I can blame for this only my imaginary dragon friend who took some convincing to leave the house on such a rainy and gray day. I missed the speeches that were meant to fire up the crowd. I didn’t mind. I have never been much for political speeches.

I think there were at least some200 people although I usually underestimate in fear of overestimating. The crowd dutifully lined up, ready to go, police escort comfortably on the front followed by the Finnish flag. This flag, marching in front of a socialist crowd hosting a handful of anarchists too, so this flag has reminded me how very much lost the cause of socialism is in Europe. The compromise that has created the systems we call social democracies, the new deal earlier on in north America has forced the movement’s hands into chains. Unknowingly probably but nevertheless. What possible reasons a socialist gathering can have for marching behind a flag of a nation-state?

Without getting hung up on this flag too much, I must admit there were lots of others, and banners, and balloons. Some I couldn’t understand, some were pretty straight forward and some balloons were just out of place the same as the national flag.

It was a nice walk in the rain. I met some friends and comrades. Was good to see familiar faces and it was nice to be in town on vappu with a crowd who thought that perhaps solidarity is

an important element of one’s life. I felt good, politically happy for a moment or two.

Coming to the end of the march however I quickly realized it was time for me to make myself scarce. No, there was no rioting taking place, clashes with neo-Nazi’s or such. Those would be regular pictures for a regular German labour day march I think. Or recently also Greek. In Oulu we simply begun a succession of some more speeches. Not my cup of tea.

Cycling home by the main road I wondered why so many people were gathering on the side of the road? I came to learn the reason as I got stuck at an intersection wanting to cross but the old-American-cars road show blocked my way. I thought I wait it out, let them old cars pass. When I realized that there may have been more cars on the show than socialists were marching downtown I got a bit disappointed and crossed the road in front of a tiny old fiat. It was red. I cycled on gloomy remembering the may day parades of my childhood, the whole arsenal of the army, air force and whatmightnot sparkling in front of the crowd. People used to go to the parade out of fear for their jobs, later decades for the free beer and later still for the cheap beer. The parade nevertheless was always the same old symbolism of a militarist regime. It was similar to the old-cars road show in many ways. After all, what could symbolize and parade better consumerist societies on a may day than pretty cars?