Hoo boy. I know we beat this particular saying to death around here sometimes but… what could possibly go wrong?

The organizers of the Women’s March have been working behind the scenes and chosen International Women’s Day (which happens to be tomorrow in case you missed it) to be “the Day without a Woman.” If I’m understanding this correctly, this means that a whole bunch of ladies aren’t going to be showing up for their jobs. Time magazine explains the particulars.

Women across the country are going on strike.

On Wednesday — International Women’s Day — some women will take the day off from their jobs and household responsibilities, including childcare and chores. Others will boycott shopping at any business that isn’t owned by a women or minorities. And others, who are unable to take the day off, will wear red — “the color signifying revolutionary love and sacrifice” — in solidarity.

The planned strike is a culmination of efforts by organizers of the Women’s March on Washington, which is arranging A Day Without a Woman, and the International Women’s Strike, which will encourage women in over 50 countries to take similar action. The two groups are separate but standing in solidarity with each other. And both share similar goals: to make a statement about the economic power of women, to call attention to issues facing marginalized women, to fight outdated conditions that keep women oppressed and to find ways to keep women actively engaged in fighting back against President Donald Trump and his policies.

Okay, so apparently not everyone who is participating will be taking off from work. Some of them will be expressing themselves in other ways by boycotting stores and other businesses which are not owned by women. Fair enough I suppose. But this idea of a general, gender specific strike across the country may lead to the law of unintended consequences coming into play yet again.

Does everyone remember that Day without an Immigrant we had not too long ago? That certainly worked out well, huh? A number of the aforementioned immigrants (legal or otherwise) returned to work the following day only to find out that they were suddenly and unceremoniously unemployed. And seriously, what did they expect was going to happen? As we recorded here, there were any number of businesses, particularly smaller ones, who found themselves in a lot of trouble when a measurable portion of their workforce suddenly failed to appear. Deliveries weren’t made, orders went unfilled and the only “message” anyone was taking from it was the fact that there were customers who were suddenly looking at other options when their suppliers began to appear unreliable.

Allow me to put on my prognosticator hat for a moment and make a quick prediction for you. There’s probably already a hotline set up (not literally, but you get the idea) for any women who lose their jobs on Thursday to obtain a direct video chat line to CNN, MSNBC and all the major papers so they can become instant celebrities. Whatever employer they work for (or I should probably say “worked”) will be roundly lambasted as some organization helmed by evil, misogynistic tyrants. Who knows? Some of the newly jobless may even pick up replacement gigs in the media. But the majority of them will likely wind up on the unemployment line until they can find new jobs.

If this is some new form of protest which is gaining in popularity it was a pretty bad idea. The women’s march, no matter what you may have personally thought about it, was actually pretty darned effective. They had a huge turnout and it took place on a weekend so people didn’t need to worry about requesting time off. The media coverage was wall-to-wall and if there was any chance of making an impact or significant impression with the nation’s elected officials they certainly gave it their best shot. This, on the other hand, is not a protest. It’s a disruption. In that sense, it’s little different from the Black Lives Matter marchers jamming the nation’s highways. The only impression you’re leaving is one of anger. And if you wind up getting fired, I don’t think there’s a court in the land who would take your side.

But hey, what do I know? I’m just some old curmudgeon standing on the porch and yelling at the kids to get off his lawn. Best of luck, ladies.