Someday we will be able to brag to our grandchildren about restarting an economy. The stories will be glorious.
I once had a diesel car. It was a 1979 Cutlass. Not sure why they put a diesel engine in a Cutlass, but they did. This seems like a relevant point because, I could never get that car restarted when it froze up in the winter. I’m hoping we got something other than a ’79 diesel under the hood of this economy or it’s going to be a long year (decade). Might need some jumper cables and ether.
This pandemic has taught me that as a child I was right, and my mother was wrong. She used to say, “is that a want or a need?” She spent a good portion of her life as a single mother of two, so needs were a priority. Anyway, the rules were pretty simple back then. Turns out that by 2020 standards, her rules were wrong. In this new world of essentials (needs), I have discovered that the line between wants and needs is dramatically different than she led me to believe. According to “essential” lists put out by states, marijuana is a need. She would have never bought into that. Little Debbie cakes are a need and not a want based on the new “essential” services. I’m no health expert, but I’m guessing Little Debbie cakes will kill far more people than the coronavirus, but I digress. Alcohol is an essential. Let us not even argue that point. Life is never consistent folks. If twelve-year-old me had told my mother that my marijuana, Little Debbie cakes and a little “nightcap” were needs and not wants, I would have taken a slug to the chops; but in 2020, they’re all essential. Maybe not for 12-year old’s, but essential, nonetheless.
Speaking of slugging your kids, that has also changed. Apparently it’s frowned upon to physically discipline your kids at this point in the world evolution or de-evolution. That sure took a long time. My mom was a lefty. Had to dodge that thing from time to time. If you didn’t duck at the right time, it was lights out.
I’m giddy in anticipation for 2021 and beyond in the world of education. I am a frequent critic of the public educational system. I think it is top heavy system that has gotten away from their core responsibility of educating children. This is not a critique of the teachers and administrators. At this point they are only doing what the system has become. How they explain the future importance of testing and classroom education will be interesting going forward. Public schools are celebrating across the nation the efforts to “feed” children during this pandemic. I admire the effort as well. At the same time, districts across the country have struggled, if not given up, with educating children remotely during this event. By and large, most districts have thrown in the towel on actually progressing education forward. At what point will state and federal educators begin to move their priorities away from social services and back to educating students? It is a rabbit hole that is difficult to get out of because the needs they are filling are not frivolous. It is important that children not be hungry and have clean clothes and access to mental and physical health; I am just advocating that it is not the role of schools. Federal and state policies have forced our educational systems into being a public steward for eliminating or managing hunger and other basic needs, while sacrificing the pursuit for educational excellence. During a time that we should have been able to build up or show off ability to educate in new environments, we have instead had the resources of our educational system providing base line social services; it’s one of the perplexing issues of our times. It will be interesting if anyone notices going forward. Guy Speckman can be reached at gspeckman@me.com or looking for some large jumper cables.
