Street Talk [8-28] 

What do you plan to do over the Labor Day weekend? How do you think this Labor Day will compare to Labor Day weekends past?

Eric Gadley, Buffalo, NY, banker, 47

“We’ll be at home in Buffalo, New York, back at work. We’ll have off, but it’s so close to the end of our vacation. We’ve been in Florida for the last ten days: about a week in Orlando doing the typical things to do there, and then four days in Miami Beach. We’ll probably break out the grill and do some cooking in the backyard. Have a friend or two over and relax. It should be pretty much the same as Labor Days in the past.”

Rolando Aguirre, Key Biscayne, exporter, 72

“We’ll be at home doing the typical things: have some friends coming over, grill something and basically just stay there chatting. We might ride a bike around Key Biscayne where we live. Compared to other Labor Days this one will be sad. Because of “W.” Everything is going backwards. I see the country is going in a bad direction. Our internal and external politics is a disaster. The Bush administration has been lying to us all the time.”

Patrick Joshua Higgs, Miami Beach, unemployed, 20

“I’m going to party as hard as I can. Let’s just say that by the time the weekend is over I’m not sure I’ll have a pulse left. I’m going to party very heavily. I’m homeless and I’m looking for donations. I sleep behind the Loews Hotel, directly behind it on the ocean.”

Brian Anthony Venables, Miami Beach, unemployed, 21

“Fun in the sun and party all night long, preferably on Ocean Drive, indoors and outdoors. I’ll try to hit every bar with my swilly cup. I think this Labor Day will be a little drier than usual. I don’t expect as many people as in years past. A lot of people are still scared a little because of 9-11 and some unpleasant experiences with the police officers here giving them a hard time.”

Cynthia Barbarito, Miami Beach, advertising, 34 

“We have no specific plans, actually… maybe going out on a friend’s boat… definitely either a boat trip or maybe some down-home barbequing… some friends coming down for the weekend and maybe the beach. This will be our first year here after moving down from New York. There’ll probably be much better weather than we had the last four years in New York.”  

(photos & interviews by Tony Guzman)