Well, well, well. Once again special interest rules the day. Once again, those thin-skinned, namby-pamby, lily-livered, weak-kneed, spineless vertebrates we elected went and did it.
Let’s just call a spade and spade: they caved in to some subversive special interest group — I don’t know which one, but I have at least one theory. Don’t recall reading about their rubber-stamping ways recently? That’s because they covertly made the proclamation oh, what, three school years ago?
I guess I’m a little late getting around to it. And, yeah, I am whining about the start of the school year, for the third year in a row, after Labor Day, instead of before the holiday. It’s August, the kids are hot. They’re bored. They ‘hate? their ‘stupid? siblings; they think their parents are mean; they’re cranky and quite frankly, parents are tired of the kids, too.
The start of the school year is to parents as Christmas is to kids. Andy Williams sings it best, when he sings, ‘it’s the most wonderful time of the year.? You can skip the part of kids jingle-belling and everyone being of good cheer — parents just want their kids back to school for eight hours a day!
This legislation surely wasn’t supported by parents. I have read the tourism industry was behind this travisty because it gives those businesses an extra week to make money. I don’t buy it.
I think the legislation was secretly backed by one of the most powerful lobbying groups known to mankind: Grandparents. Yep, they may be all smiles, smell like baby-powder and warm oatmeal cookies, but when it comes to spending time with the grandkids, they are all business and business is cutthroat, dang-it. Don’t let blue hair and bad vision fool you, they’re tough.
They got an extra week to be with their kids? kids and that was their second successful bid at grabbing control. Their first was to have grandparental visitation rights legislation passed (unanimously in both houses and signed by the gov) in 2004.
What’s next?
Are they gonna? twist their legislators? hands, make ’em scream uncle and sign into law mandatory play dates? Where will it end? Soon parents will have to ask their parents for permission to punish their own children. Maybe those in Lansing will enact new building codes forcing families to add-on or dedicate a ‘Grandparents? room.
It’s all a plot, I’m telling you. A plot for complete, utter control.
And, grandparents vote, too. Oh, they are cagey!
Who woulda thunk being active and participating in our limited form of representative democracy matters to politicans.
Sigh.
At any rate, parents are starting to smile a lot more these days — the start of school can’t come soon enough.
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Hey, wait a minute. I vote, maybe those in Lansing will listen to me. I have a suggestion after reading that all the local school districts in these parts earned a ‘C? on their report card from the state. I think the state should force some curriculum changes. Since only 70-some percent of the kids meet or exceed state standards in math, science and English and change is called for . . . how about, in high school, kids spend an hour-and-a-half studying/learning the three R’s versus the 50 minutes they get for each subject, now?
I know that will make me very popular with the student body, but hey, I already did my time (most of which was spent in the wood shop), so what do I care if things are harder now?
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Yes, the most wonderful time of the year, and now that that is said, it is time again to watch out for kids and the buses they ride. I can still remember the day, when I was a youngster riding to Bailey Lake Elementary School on Pine Knob Road. The bus was chugging along Clarkston Road, had just finished going up the long hill from Walters Lake to Clintonville Road, so it was moving S-L-O-W. As the driver began to make the big curve at Clintonville Road, some yahoo in the car behind passed the bus — on the curve!
There was no oncoming traffic, so disaster was averted. But, I always remember the collective inhale of the bus driver and 40 kids as that car swung out around us.
Drivers — leave for work earlier. Don’t be in a rush. You know the buses are out there, so be safe.
It’s for the kids (just like everything else).
Comment for Don Rush can be-emailed to: dontrushmedon@charter.net