For most of us, the closest we came to Monday's mass demonstrations over state and federal immigration policies was on the evening news on our home television screens. The "Day without Immigrants," as organizers called it, appeared to have little impact on outlying urban areas such as Pleasanton. Some companies that had advance requests granted vacation days off to those who wanted to join the marches in San Jose or San Francisco. One Main Street restaurant, beyond those that normally are closed on Mondays, shut down to give their Latino employees a chance to participate. Several contractors reported a shortage of day laborers they needed to complete home roofing jobs or new houses. Yard maintenance crews largely absent from Pleasanton residential streetscape, including a contractor for Hacienda Business Park who postponed Monday's work to Tuesday.

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