Gems from the draft box...

On the theory that it is better to laugh then cry, I share with you these gems from the most recent midterm season...

"I'm sorry I missed the exam, my liver hurt."

On the Identification section (what was it and what was its significance to American history?):

The Spanish America war was a war with Spain to win Texas and California.

Serve Me

I've been feeling distinctly under-served lately. This theme has been going on for several months and I'm struggling to think of any example lately where I've felt adequately tended. My biggest complaint is certainly with restaurants. I actually walked out of one on Tuesday when people who walked in after me were tended first -- despite my attempts to get the staff's attention.

That I live in a college town does mean that servers rotate quickly and probably are undertrained, but isn't something like eating out so ubiquitous at this point that most of us, even if we are only 20 and even if we aren't given much training, know what good service is? Of course, the ubiquity of eating out and purchasing services may have dulled our (societal) expectations. We just have our meal, maybe grumble a little that our water was never refilled or that the food took forever to come or that the bacon we asked for on a separate plate came in the pasta, and then move on, knowing that we'd be eating out again the next night or the night after that. Eating out is rarely the treat it was for my family when I was growing up, so I think we expect less.

Since my gig as a single parent has started, however, I'm finding that I crave a bit more out of my out-in-the-world experiences. My kids help with food planning, prep, and clean up only grudgingly. It is a chore to get them to do anything and, frankly, 95% of the work of a meal falls to me. I'm working to shift this dynamic a bit this summer, but for the time being, couldn't someone run and fetch for me? I'm happy to pay for the service. I'm just tired of feeling like I have to police the service.

And I could use a good long foot rub. But that is a whine for another day.

See Me

Once again today, I ran up against the misguided image people have of me and my blood is boiling. What makes this so infuriating is not so much that the image is wrong -- how well can I expect people to understand my interior anyway -- but that people deploy it as if it is a "cute" little quirk of my personality. Except that what they are implying is not cute. To suggest that I'm some sort of overachiever, who doesn't know her own limits, who can't control her energy, who never listens to advice that advocates patience is just insulting. And I'm at a loss as to how people can't see that.

As anyone who has ever ridden a mountain bike or served on a panel with me knows, I do know and (and sometimes overly-) respect my limits. High energy does not mean recklessness. Independence is not just knee-jerk stubbornness. To make these traits into the defining characteristics of my personality, is to question my rationality. And it is not cute.

Care and Feeding of the Young

So... we have a childhood obesity problem in this country. Perhaps you've heard something about it? In my own town, the school district has decreed that there can be only one birthday party a month and that is the only day on which sugary treats may be had. I don't disagree with that policy (and considering the health statistics that are out there for kids in our area it would be hard to disagree) but I want more.

I'm working with a tiny number of staff and parents in my kids' schools to encourage biking and walking to school, but, beyond that, I would like to challenge restaurants to do better. Subway has apple slices and milk. Taco Bell has bean and cheese burritos. Okay, fine, but I realized the other night as I sat in an independent, non-fast food restaurant that "kids' menus" generally really suck. It feels like it doesn't matter where I go, there will be, for a couple of bucks, the following options for the precious small humans in my care: hot dog, hamburger, chicken fingers, grilled cheese, mac 'n cheese (Kraft-style), and spaghetti with meatballs/sauce. All served with a side of fries and a soda. Even my children, who love mac 'n cheese and grilled cheese, sigh at the lack of choices.

Since I have two kiddos, one might think they could split an "adult" menu item and that would be about right in portion and price. Yeah, it would, but we don't live in a world where siblings can agree on pizza toppings, let alone an entree. So here is what I want: I want the option to order kid-sized portions of the 'real' food that that a restaurant makes. If you are a Mexican joint that has awesome potato tacos (and locals know who I'm thinking of here!), let my kids order a plate and get one taco with beans and rice instead of three. You get the idea. C'mon, if they were going to eat PB & J, I could have stayed home!

This whole rant was actually inspired by a place that I went to today with the kids for lunch. I was happy to see (at first) that this chain restaurant had not-a-one of the typical items I listed above. But then I realized that what they do for kids is take "real" menu items and remove the vegetables and add chicken! When our food came (I had managed to get tofu subbed for the chicken), the kids' eyes drifted longingly from their plates of brown lo mein with brown tofu chunks to my plate with its vibrant and substantial ring of perfectly steamed broccoli. I shared, of course, and we were all happy enough (though we probably met our sodium intake for the month after just this one meal!) but I'm annoyed at the assumption that the way to appeal to kids is to feed them minimal variety devoid of the most nutritionally beneficial foods.

So, I guess I'm launching my own "double V" campaign. V for vegetables and V for variety for all of us. I'm going to start with my local joints, of course. Join me?