Should We Open Our Schools?
No idea! But, here's a recipe for the most beloved food of my home town.
One of the big questions many school districts are dealing with right now is about the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. Do they open? Do they go virtual? Do they have some sort of hybrid schedule?
In reality, the situation is incredibly trickier than just picking out something and hoping for the best. There are real concerns that have to be addressed, and it goes well beyond the needs of students and the capabilities of the school districts. There are multiple factors that local school systems have been weighing and, as the spread of COVID-19 grows, it is likely that their decisions are less permanent than they’d like.
In reality, the optimal solution is something like rolling closures as outbreaks grow in schools. One school may see an outbreak and shut down, but the others stay open until something happens there. That solution would pose some issues for older teachers, custodians, administrators, cafeteria workers, and others on campus, and it would put a strain on families with older or susceptible relatives. Then again, there are few options that would do any better, and many that would only make matters worse.
My preferred solution though is a hybrid model with two weeks in the classroom followed by two weeks virtual. I’ve seen hybrid models that want to split the week or, at best, go week in/week out, but there is a reason that I would prefer to see it at two weeks each instead of one.
Most information that’s available to us shows somewhere in the neighborhood of two weeks that a person is contagious (you can see it ranging in various studies from a few days to ten or more). By letting out for two weeks, if there is an outbreak, you’re essentially isolating the students for about the amount of time they are contagious. If they are practicing healthy habits like social distancing and wearing masks, then you’re likely going to be much safer.
That two weeks also gives schools’ custodians a chance to really deep clean the campus to make sure that there is as little chance as possible that outbreaks can spread easily.
This is also preferable to a hybrid week schedule where some kids come on one day and others come the next because the school’s staff will be the common denominator without any breaks, risking spread simply by interacting with everyone without a long enough break to be able to isolate. Likewise, with two weeks off, you’re also looking at a less hazardous substitute teacher problem, where staff sickness can require outside personnel to come in and also risk spreading the infection.
Whatever the case, though, a week or two virtual at a time is preferable to all virtual because students have been out of school for a long time already, and with any more time like that, you’ll start to see major truancy-related problems in some districts. We want to keep students engaged, and we want to keep them focused as much as possible.
I’m not convinced yet that we’re prepared to go back to school full time, and I am worried that there are still not enough people taking the virus seriously enough that we’ll really beat the spread. The idea of herd immunity is nice, but the risks it poses to non-insignificant portions of our population.
After You’ve Canceled Everyone, Who Is Left to Lead?
Today, historical figures are deemed to be either good or bad, right or wrong. The study of history used to require a level of nuance but, over time, people have largely come to ignore it. And there is never another side to consider, either. Once a person is deemed unacceptable, you will rarely find any success in their redemption.
Sure, there are some objectively bad things that overwhelm the mind when you consider them. Adolf Hitler was, from start to finish, someone who clearly was evil and perpetrated horrors upon his fellow man. Likewise, Joseph Stalin was guilty of so many atrocities that it is impossible to separate any good he might have tried to do from what he actually did do.
But, those are just two examples of men whose entire legacy isn’t defined by one flaw, but by a multitude of bad actions that ruined not just their lives, but the lives of the people they were supposed to be leading.
In this day and age, though, we are being forced to confront and address more and more people with flaws that many would deem irredeemable, despite these figures’ life works that could be seen not only as redeeming but necessary to the growth and advancement of our country. Men like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, for example.
But to reduce either of those men to the fact that they owned slaves — despite Washington freeing his upon his death and Jefferson working tirelessly to end slavery in the early days of our nation — is to set the precedent that one flaw makes these men’s accomplishments worthless. That precedent will not stop with the distant past, instead feeding on the reputations and lives of people in the present and the future.
If one flaw, one mistake, in a person’s past makes them ineligible to be remembered or honored, then there isn’t a soul alive today or in the future who will be worthy to lead us. You may think that this is an extreme view, but up until last week, so was the idea that people might target George Washington as someone who should be cast out from the pantheon of American heroes.
Today, people are working hard to even destroy the futures of teenagers who say or do something stupid on the Internet (a place that more and more seems like it was created solely for people to act stupid in). It is an act of glorified cyberbullying, yet it is being pushed aggressively not by extreme activists but by our own American media.
If every child out there, or every adult whose childhood acts can be verified, can be pressured by society to go into hiding and never come back because of one stupid thing they have said or done, or even for a series of relatively minor though still hurtful things, then there is no one on the planet who can escape the tyranny of the cancel movement. Everyone has said or done something stupid. Everyone has had stupid or ignorant things they have said or believed. The distant past is not the only thing we should be judging people for, but their past and present as well.
We should be extending a level of mercy to those who have said or done offensive, racist, sexist, or other hurtful things in the past. If it is something that happened once, or was a belief that was once held, but that person has shown change and sincerity in that change, then they should be given another chance, shouldn’t they? Do we no longer believe in forgiveness? Or do we simply cancel and forget them, moving on?
Youthful indiscretions, uninformed mistakes, or whatever you want to call them do not discriminate by race or creed. They don’t happen solely among Republicans or Democrats. If you judge one person by a mistake, you are judging all people who make that mistake. If you cannot find it within you to forgive them (if they have shown they have grown and matured, learning from it), then it is you who are flawed, not them.
It should be unacceptable that we would choose to ignore history and ignore any redeeming qualities in historical figures — or even present ones — and focus solely on one thing that makes them worthy of being canceled. We should, as a country, be able to agree that some things do make a person worth considering as good, even if they took part in one bad thing. But, rather than doing that, activists across the country would rather take an out of sight and out of mind approach to statues, monuments, and any sort of historical recognition of people.
And the Democratic politicians who let them get away with it should be ashamed that they would so obviously pander for those votes, knowing full well that when they get into office they won’t address any of it.
I would say a pox on all their houses, but I for one hope they can find redemption instead of cancelation. It’s the least we can do.
Homestyle: Getting Into Gaming
On this week’s episode of Homestyle, my co-host Leigh Guidry and I talk to Ashley White of The Daily Advertiser. She, like me, is big into gaming, and we talk about growing up with video games, how we got into them, and what we’re currently playing.
Video games do get kind of a bad rap when it comes to kids spending too much time on them, but as we discuss, they can also play a pivotal role in spending time with your family. My oldest and I love to spend time racing in Mario Kart, and I wouldn’t trade that time for anything.
If you want to hear more, you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, and we’d love to hear your feedback. Subscribe, rate, and review the podcast here, and if you have cooking, crafting, or family activity ideas, you can find us on Facebook and on Instagram (@Homestylepod).
——————————————-
The Homestyle Podcast is a joint venture between myself and one of my best friends, education reporter Leigh Guidry. Throughout each episode, we discuss cooking, crafting, and other hobbies as well as how we make sure to spend time with our families despite how insanely busy life can be. The goal of the podcast has always been to take a moment to focus on what’s really important because, at the end of the day, family and life is more important than whatever distractions are going on in the world around us.
Recipe Of The Week: Natchitoches Meat Pies
In Louisiana, the term “meat pie” is synonymous with Natchitoches, my home town. A staple at the restaurant Lasyone’s (LAH-zee-onz), the savory pastry is on several menus around town, and you can actually buy “Natchitoches Meat Pies” from your local supermarket.
The Lasyone’s meat pies are, in my opinion, the gold standard, but here is a great recipe that you can easily make at home.
For the filling:
1 lb. ground beff
1 lb. ground pork
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper (green or red - I prefer green here), finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. vegetable shortening
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
For the crust:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg
1 cup milk
If you want, run your Louisiana trinity (celery, bell pepper, and onion) through a food processor to get it as finely chopped as possible.
Brown, drain, and separate the beef, then the pork.
Brown your trinity by using a little of the drained pork and beef fat. When onions and celery are translucent, add the meat back in and cook with the shortening and the flour.
Drain the excess liquid when done with the filling.
For the crust, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Cut the shortening into the dry ingredients.
Add egg and milk gradually while mixing until it reaches the consistency of a dough.
Break dough into smaller pieces (roughly 15-18 equal portions), and roll until very thin.
Cut the rolled dough into circles and add about one tablespoon of the meat filling onto one side of the dough.
Fold the dough over and crimp the sides with a fork.
Deep-fry pies in oil until golden brown (or bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees).
Final Thoughts
Disney has announced a new Tron movie, and apparently Jared Leto is set to star. A lot of people are upset about that, but I am more upset that Cillian Murphy is not automatically considered the villain of this film when he should have been the villain of the last one. Damnit, Disney, come on.