And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... since my father’s death nearly half a century ago (he did not like it) I have made it a practice to have Limburger cheese and crackers Sunday evenings. My mother joined me until her death 13 years ago. Sunday night was the second time in all those years that I had to go without. Shopping oversight. And I was ticked!

Even though I had just finished watching the Cubs win.

While I was upset, I recalled the words of a nun in my high school who, when she knew things were not going my way, always said “just offer it up!” I wasn’t sure then what that meant but I thought it meant accept it as penance for sins committed in the past or those to come.

It was the second time in a week that phrase came to me.

I was amazed and ashamed of myself for fretting so much while I was without cable television for ten days. After all, I grew up in the days before there was television.

That “off’ period covered hurricanes and earthquakes, and since I could not see the damage, I was not totally aware of how bad it was.

I later learned some of those affected were, and some still are, without power, so no lights or air conditioning, and no phone service. And some without water or food or fuel for their vehicles. And some whose homes have been totally destroyed. Some experienced deaths of relatives and friends. Lack of services and sustenance could last for days, weeks, maybe months.

And I was upset by lack of TV.

Mediacom has me back on, and agreed not to charge me for the missed time.

An article in one of the Sunday papers noted that the value of liberal arts degrees in English or the humanities still carry their value while some other degrees do not.

I have always felt that a sound basis in language and general knowledge are superior to specialized learning except when specialized learning is required, i.e., medicine, rocket science.

As “city kids” in the days when there were rural schools, we wondered how those completing eight grades in “country” schools could be as prepared as we were for high school. After all, in some cases, one teacher might have 30 students in eight possible grade levels.

We soon learned that some of them were better prepared than some of us.

I thought about that when I read a story recently about Iowa’s new plan to improve education. I did not clip the article, so I can’t confirm what I thought I saw. But I thought there was an indication that educational success was going to be rated partially on a number of factors, including race, district economic conditions, average income, school building condition, etc. Those not as “privileged” were not expected to do as well.

I think the phrase for that is the bigotry of reduced expectations!