Education Needs a New Old Focus- Home EC!

Be patient and the title will make sense...Just a warning though- this is a rant...

I have to work for a living (outside of writing), as most of us do, but what you may not know is that  I cook at a convenience store. It's not glamorous, but I like to cook- usually. I have always liked to cook and even after working all day either on the farm (when we had a dairy) or off the farm at a regular job I still preferred to cook my meals at home. I enjoyed preparing healthful and tasty meals for my family. They used to teach this at school in a class call Home Economics, or Home Ec for short. I think this must have been cut with other classes that are necessary to life like Driver's Education. A lot of really useful life skills were learned there, and now some schools have a class just to teach students how to do a budget. That used to be part of Home Ec - how to shop for groceries, how to cook, how to make a household budget so you kept the lights and other utilities on. Now students look at you like you sprouted horns for mentioning that they might have their own bills someday and they need to learn how to take care of money.

Why do I bring this up? I work nine to ten hours a day with a mandate that I have a certain amount of food out before I leave. Now keep in mind I have to also clean the kitchen and do a few other things around the store before I can clock out. So when I say I am frustrated because people come in for
EVERY SINGLE MEAL or every night for dinner (wiping out all my hard work in a second and causing me to start over) you might say,' but that's job security', or 'that's literally your job to feed the masses." Someone actually asked, "What kind of restaurant is this?" when they couldn't special order burgers in five minutes one day and another clerk told them, "It's not! It's a gas station. If you want a restaurant; go a couple blocks." (Thank you co-worker. I loved your answer.) Other people have said, "It supports the economy and helps keep restaurants open creating jobs." Excuse me, but the occasional stop to grab something quick because we're on the way to such-and-such and we don't have time to make dinner is one thing, but every single night is just plain LAZY! I work all day too and I AM ON MY FEET 99% of the time. I still want to go home and make dinner for my family, but that's hard to do if someone is in there buying out the hot case because yet again they don't 'want' to cook. If you have something scheduled every single night of the week that keeps you away from home then you my friend are over scheduled and are missing out on some real family time. Every body has an activity but are you discussing anything that doesn't involve that activity with your family? If you ate at home over a nice dinner you'd have that opportunity.

This is where education has failed. This is where somewhere down the line parents have failed. They didn't teach the concepts necessary to plan a meal, shop for groceries, or cook the food. Learn to go to the grocery store, and please for goodness sake, don't use it for an opportunity to hold everyone else up in the aisle while you have old home week with someone you could just as easily go their house or call. Just so you know, I hate shopping too. I seriously despise it, mainly because people block the aisles and I can't get what I went to get so I can go home. It isn't fun at all for me, but I do it because it is necessary if I want to make food- which is the part I enjoy. Homemade food is better for you too. You can control how much salt and fat and sugar is in it. You can make favorites and desert and actually afford it. Restaurants require a tip and if you don't leave one they just might tack it onto your bill for you and you don't get a say in how much. That is not good for YOUR economy.

My boys did not leave home without learning how to cook so they could feed themselves. One is married and she is not a fan of cooking- not sure she knew how before (sorry for outing you D-I-L). As a result, they are a lot of takeout. My son finally said, "You know, we'd save a ton of money if we just cooked it ourselves and with kids coming, we have to save money somewhere." He took on the job of cooking a good bit of the time and they saved a ton. She cooks now too, maybe not anything elaborate but she is putting in the effort and over time has learned to cook more and more. The kids are involved and it makes it fun for them now too.

If your school isn't teaching basic home skills, tell them they need to start (or re-start!). Teach your kids to cook and that eating out isn't the norm but the exception. They will get used to it. 

By the way, I do have to stop at some point. I am not allowed to stay all night until the store closes. We have one cook a day since the store is not a twenty-four hour establishment and the area is really small. We get a lot of through traffic being on a US highway, but I am talking about people who live nearby and just refuse to cook for themselves.

We Can Come Together

There was a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas last week. Another one in Ohio. These are the latest of many in recent years and anti-gun groups are using these to try to take away our Constitutional right to bear arms to defend ourselves. Pro-gun groups are angry and fighting back. The protests go on and on.

This is NOT about that. This is about a story I saw on Good Morning America about a man who had no one except his wife in this world and she was a victim of the shooting in El Paso. When he made arrangements at the funeral home for her he told them to invite all who cared to come because he was afraid it would only be him and the necessary staff in attendance. This happens more often than we we'd like to think - a person is buried without anyone or only a couple people paying their respects.
Well, let me tell you about the most amazing thing that happened. Word got around about this lady and this man. It went viral over the internet. People from all over the country sent flowers and condolences. People came from all over El Paso and the country to attend the funeral. THEY CAME TOGETHER, not as for or against anything. Not as any political party either.There were no protesters outside inappropriately holding signs during a funeral. They showed respect for this man who lost his whole world, love of his life.

How come in our country, where we all came together after 9/11 and cried for all the victims of shootings, can we not put aside our differences instead of protesting at funerals, stomping on one another verbally and physically, calling one another names, can we not just come together and get our country back on a compassionate track towards one another? It shouldn't take a tragedy.