I happened to be in Brentwood on Friday morning when I noticed five gardeners on a break outside developer Rick Caruso's sprawling manse -- yes, five; Caruso says he's got a big yard -- and asked if they intended to show up for work Monday.
No, they said with smiles. They're taking the day off to participate in pro-immigration rallies that could rank as the biggest demonstrations in Los Angeles history.
"Does Mr. Caruso know this?" I asked.
He gave the OK, they said of the man who owns the popular Grove shopping center at 3rd and Fairfax.
When I called Caruso to check it out, he backed up his employees.
"My policy is: 'We're going to be very respectful of your right to go to the march,' " he said.
He doesn't want this to become a regular thing, Caruso told me. But he gave all of his employees the option of taking a personal day off, and he welcomes a national debate on immigration policy.
That sounds generous, but lots of laborers in Southern California don't have the luxury of personal days and other standard perks. Later Friday, I met with Danira Hernandez, a housekeeper who has decided not to boycott work Monday.
I met Hernandez, 39, a while back at a birthday party for my nanny's son. She and the nanny grew up in the same Honduran plantation town, came north for work and ended up sharing a small apartment with other adults and children. Hernandez is a voracious reader and news hound, speaks fluent English and buys tons of books for her sixth-grade daughter, who rarely brings home anything but A's.
She has mixed and complicated feelings on the politics, purpose and timing of two rallies planned for downtown Los Angeles and the MacArthur Park area tomorrow, but her decision not to march was based on simple math.
"I can't afford to."
We met around lunchtime Friday in the high-rise Glendale condo Hernandez cleans once a week. The furnishings are modern and artsy, with a big-screen Panasonic, spectacular views and two dogs who sometimes go on family trips and stay in hotels Hernandez may never visit. She keeps a total of seven houses dusted and scrubbed, working six days a week, and clears about $2,000 a month.
Hernandez doesn't go to a dentist, needs new eyeglasses but doesn't have the time or money and is delaying surgery for a fibroid tumor because of the cost. In other words, she could be the queen of the rallies scheduled for tomorrow.
