Employment

Herbal Tease

Being a consumer can feel like a crapshoot. Last night we went to our local “Modern” Mexican restaurant for dinner. I ordered una Ensalada de Cilantro y Pollo. A minute after submitting our order, the server returned to inform me that there has been a recall on Mexican cilantro and that I would need to order something (anything) else.

While waiting for my substitute meal, a quick google revealed that cilantro from Mexico was found to be contaminated after many people suffered from a gastrointestinal illness. The FDA banned the cilantro imports. So how did the cilantro become contaminated? Human waste.

Investigators found toilet paper with feces in the cilantro fields. Let’s tease this out, shall we?
First, I can’t un-think this. This was not a piece of errant toilet paper. The implication of the findings is that not only is this disgusting, but the disgust is beyond what we think of as edible or unsanitary. Finding used toilet paper in the fields, implies that workers were (are?) not allowed to go to the bathroom when nature calls. Now that should be unthinkable.

Next time you are ordering farm to table, consider what happens between the farm and the table. Healthy food should be clean from contaminants of any and every sort. And sorting the food needs to be in sanitary conditions (which, apparently much of the cilantro sorting facilities were anything but sanitary). The food chain is actually more than what gets eaten. It’s all the processes and conditions of getting the food to your belly.

It seems as though we would rather risk health to create more crops or processed foods or consume products and produce from anywhere in the world where it would be cheaper for us to import, because it costs too much to produce here. We profess certain labor practices and other such pesky regulations that other countries may not employ.

Even those who attempt to adhere to a diet and health regimen as close to nature as possible need to tease out the processes and conditions by which herbal teas and remedies and other “natural” products deemed better and healthier are brought to the market. Without regulations and information, we assume an awful lot, and I am concerned that we are often being teased with the idea of betterment that actually includes questionable practices, rather than with actual better conditions and products.

Of course, this isn’t merely a cilantro problem or an herbal problem. Nor is it merely an agricultural problem. Whether it’s herbal or wearable or anything else usable or consumable, demand standards for products as well as work conditions and practices. It may seem like old news or common sense, but these issues don’t die, and they resurface only after health or safety crises.

The cilantro recall was appalling to me, not because there was a contaminated crop, but because of why the crop became contaminated. It reflected horrible practices and conditions that couldn’t be limited to cilantro, and a broader disregard for human beings—both the agricultural workers and the consumers. Don’t be teased by abundance and availability or marketing. There’s a backstory. Tease out the conditions and practices behind what you consume or want, and demand standards and practices and regulations that ensure health, safety and decency.

B’More

The Gray Matter–The matter of 25 year old Freddy Gray’s death from a severed spine after being in police custody last week, has inspired peaceful protest for police reform, as well as outrageous violence, rioting, looting and arson. Gray was arrested by Baltimore Police 2 weeks ago. What exactly happened after he was taken into police custody is unclear, or at least unanswered to the public. The issue of police brutality has been painted in black and white, and the recent high profile cases of deaths occurring at the hands of police officers has much of the public outraged by excessive violence from the police.

The police departments have suggested that these tragedies have occurred within the confines of the law, and that violent suspects,or suspects near violence, have caused the police reactions. Kill or be killed. Is it just the rogue cop or two (in each precinct)? It’s got to be more than that.

Those who say that they understand the rage underneath the current violence in Baltimore because there are no longer decent jobs due to globalization, must be younger than I (and/or unaware of history). I was born and raised in B’more, and lived there until I was 17. Baltimore always seemed deeply segregated to me. Racially, economically, ethnically…..and there was a terribly impoverished inner city long before globalization. I moved from Baltimore in 1981. It was always an extremely dangerous (and sad) place to me, despite its other charms. There are beautiful areas, historic, cultural, quirky, and also the hideous stuff that provided the stories for “The Wire” and “Homicide”.

It is easy to lump all the recent police brutality incidents together; all these racially charged incidents together; impoverished areas with high crime rates together. There are indeed similarities and patterns.There also seems to be an unwillingness to acknowledge the entrenched tragedies on all sides: thugs who are cops and thugs who are not cops; an entrenched system of economic failure and a culture of violence; lack of vision; lack of hope; lack of change; lack of leadership; lack of decent homes, schools, or jobs; not being more.

The violence following the protests and funeral for Freddy Gray yesterday were disturbing and sad, but sadly, not unfamiliar nor unexpected. We wanted B’more to BE MORE. We want all of our communities to BE MORE for all of us. We want our police to BE MORE for all of us. We want our elected officials to BE MORE for all of us. We want our schools and medical facilities to BE MORE for all of us.

Maybe the takeaway from B’More is just that. Be More than your circumstances. Be More than your fears. Be More than your anger. Be More than your habits. Be More than your desires. Be More than you’ve been, or than you might have been. Be more for all of us.

Purple Hearts

Today is Veterans’ Day, 2014. What began as Armistice Day at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, marking the cessation of combat on the Western Front of  what became known as World War 1, is now a day to honor our military Veterans beyond WW1. (The last U.S. World War 1 veteran died in February, 2011 at age 110.)

Today we honor those who served in the armed forces. The last year has highlighted the ways in which we have not honored veterans the rest of the year, especially when the VA scandal revealed staggering incompetence and data manipulation that put veterans’ health and lives at risk. While VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has been replaced with Robert McDonald, the dysfunction is being sorted out and reorganization is slowly being implemented.  Last night, McDonald announced a complete restructuring of the department, designed to make it easier for veterans to access information and service. This restructuring is the largest in the department’s history, as it seeks to focus on actual customer service for the agency that serves 22 million veterans.Veterans should not have to thank the VA for their service.

The VA scandal was more than a disservice to those who served in our military. The scandal became yet another example of dysfunctional government. Democrats and Republicans may have agreed on the unacceptability of the status quo with regard to the VA, but beyond that, they retreated to their posts blaming the other. Actually, the VA scandal was but one of many examples of dysfunctional government whereby governing gets lost to politics, and venom spewed at enemies.

Just a week ago, the midterm elections revealed how few are truly engaged in civics and the political process. PBS reported that the 2014 midterm election turnout was the lowest in 70 years! 36.4 percent of eligible voters turned out in 2014. Attack ads reigned supreme with a dearth of ideas. Policies that have made a difference were ignored. Preying on fears and the tribalism that we call party politics has yielded us a midterm election decided by the lowest turnout in 70 years. The combination of disengagement and vitriol  seems to be the norm on the home front, but we would never want our soldiers to carry these behaviors with them. And they deserve better at home!

Today we honor our veterans for their service. They should inspire service in various forms in us. Missions demand engagement and integrity, and actual accomplishment. These are the qualities embodied by the men and women we honor today. Service deserves to be honored, but not through the prism (prison?) of Republican or Democrat– Red or Blue.

Today, on Veterans’ Day, I’m thinking about a purple heart. The Purple Heart has been the traditional military decoration awarded by the President to those wounded or killed while serving in battle against our enemies. This award for heroism reminds us of the incredible sacrifices some have made for the American ideal and to keep enemies from harming American civilians. I imagine an additional purple heart. We may still have red states and blue states, both mental and territorial, but we’ve certainly lost our purple heart.  Today, we can honor veterans through actual support with services and opportunities (healthcare, education, jobs, housing,etc). It will demand service from our own purple hearts–not red or blue– to accomplish missions beyond obstruction and disengagement; towards actually transforming the status quo peacefully.

Target

Yesterday, the revelation that over 40 million people may have been hacked at Target over the last few weeks was stunning and terrifying. I suspect that Target wasn’t the only target. I would not be surprised to learn that other stores were also targeted. Certainly the holiday shopping season (the fifth season from Thanksgiving to just after New Year’s) is the perfect time to breach a retailer’s system. Of course, it’s not just the retailer who is ruined. Millions of lives are, at best, disrupted. For some, the impact may be horrific, especially at this time of year.

It is easy to feel paranoid these days. So much seems out of our control. To be up to speed (which is quite fast), one must surrender to more and more channels and networks, further and further removed from an original action, that through incredible technology, allows actions and transactions to occur instantaneously. We tend to forget that because so much of our transactions are instantaneous, that there is actually a network out there–wherever there is. It feels immediate and therefore gives us the sense of interaction. Or maybe we are just more willing to surrender to what seems so much easier than waiting. We feel like we can accomplish so much more than we used to. But, there are daily reminders of nefariousness. It is easy to feel like a target.

Like terrorism, cyber hacking seems to prey on obvious targets through innocent civilians who are merely living their lives. It is cruel and terrifying, and after each incident, we redouble our efforts to create better protection. But the fear and paranoia lingers as we increase safety measures. There is a sense that we are always targets.

When we are able to put aside the threats of terrorism and hacking, we worry that we are being targeted by the NSA, or advertisers, or even by political ideologues. It seems as though we are targeted by anyone and everyone. While some target us for our potential business or donations, others target us as “the other”, and therefore the problem: teachers; unions; single parents; poverty stricken; Wall Streeter; drug addicted; super wealthy; politician; left; right; religious; atheist; ……You are either with us or against us. Marketers seek their target audiences. We target others and get targeted by others all the time.

While it is easy to be concerned about nefarious targeting and the fear of being an innocent victim, I am actually more concerned about the prosaic targeting that is part of our culture and constantly exhibited by individuals regardless of beliefs or station in life. We live in echo chambers. It is tribal. We seem more focused on targeting frustrations at others than on working through problems, integrating different components. Yes, compromising.  The holidays may be a time to reflect upon targets. We like New Year’s resolutions as they redirect our attention toward personal improvement (usually not at the affect of others). When we target others, we diminish them. They become one dimensional. When we include others–even differing opinions and ways–the target shifts toward building; toward more dimensions.

2013 was a year of many difficulties that became compounded by targeting individuals or agencies for blame, rather than acknowledging what (or who) was problematic and  focusing on improvement.  We had plenty of target practice this year, perfecting the aim with our weaponry, literally and figuratively.  We can aim for much better–changing the old targets. There is so much that we can’t control–or rather–there is only so much that we can control. We can choose new targets that do not diminish. The narrow targets, those that are from a single point of view, diminish. This holiday season, when we try to take a break from our troubles and  enjoy our families and some peace, we can redirect and begin a new target practice. Don’t target others. Aim positively. Happy Holidays!

Making Change

What do cashiers have to do with The March on Washington? It’s probably not what you think.

As a child, I was regularly asked to walk to the neighborhood market a few blocks away to get some groceries for my mother. The grocers knew my family, along with many others in the neighborhood. Still, my mother taught me to always check the receipt (and give it to her), and she taught me how to make change. If the items totaled $17.45 and I gave the grocer (or cashier) $20.00, I had to know how much change I should get back.

As a young child, mental math (as we used to call it) was not my forte. In early elementary school we were taught math facts. We were drilled with flash cards. It was basic memorization of addition and subtraction, and then, multiplication tables, soon to be followed by short division flash cards. As one who never had a flair for remembering numbers or dates, or memorization at all, this mental math approach was arduous and mostly problematic for me. Yes, I did force myself to learn elemental math facts, but I was utterly turned off and avoided whatever I could. At least I did learn the basics. I learned that I had to subtract: $20.00-$17.45= $2.55.

But subtracting in my head (especially when I was quite young) was likely to lead to careless errors. So, my mother taught me how to make change. Essentially, she was teaching me that I could add instead of subtract. I remember struggling with the concept because I didn’t get that I was merely doing addition instead of subtraction. It just seemed like a magic trick that it all added up. Then, when I got the concept of counting back change from the total to the amount I gave, it was no longer like a magic trick–just magic in the way that something perfect seems magical.

Flash forward several years, and cash registers become calculators. Cashiers no longer  need to do anything but make sure that if the cash register says $2.55 change,  they can count the correct bills and coins. They do not have to figure out the change. For a generation now, cashiers have not had to do any math beyond counting what they are told to provide. On the occasions when I do make cash purchases, I am always dumbfounded that cashiers don’t (and often can’t) make change. They can’t figure the difference. There’s no human agency in making change; no critical thinking. I suppose it doesn’t matter all that much if cash registers are more efficient calculators than the people who use them, but I wonder about this ability (or lack thereof) to make change.

For me, the process of making change resonated more than merely knowing the numbers. That has always been true for me. It struck me this week as we have been commemorating the 50th anniversary of The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,  that while August 28, 1963 marks the historic date, the processes of change inform how we make change. Noting the differences from where we started to where we are now is not sufficient if we are to be the ones who make change. We must understand the processes of change–of additions, subtractions, multiplications and divisions, and miscalculations.

The March on Washington 50 years ago was historic for many reasons. Of course, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream ” speech was pivotal, and remarkable, and truly one of the greatest pieces of oration in our history; but the peaceful participation by so many was equally historic and inspiring. Everyone who rallied at the mall in Washington was participating in making change, and inspired so many others to become agents of change. It is easy to just take the change that others make. It is easy to allow changes to be dictated by technology. It is more important, though, to be able to make change.

If Memory Serves….

Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day, celebrated today, the last Monday in May, is observed in remembrance of those who died in service to our country. More accurately, Memorial Day is a national holiday recognizing military personnel who died during war. For many, the memorial aspect is secondary to the barbeques  and pool openings and retail bargains and the unofficial commencement of summer. For others, Memorial Day is about patriotism. For them it is literally about their loved ones being wrapped in the flag.

Decoration Day was initially a day set aside to place flowers or other decorations on the graves of Civil War soldiers. It was not a national holiday at the outset, and Northern states observed Decoration Day on a different day from Southern states. After WW1, the nation as a whole began to commemorate soldiers who died in war, and Memorial Day has become a tragic tradition that unites us in loss, as so many have died in so many wars,with the expectation that there will always be more.

Unlike the Civil War, or even the World Wars , Korea and Vietnam, today the country acknowledges those lost in wars, but many citizens have not experienced the loss personally. Military families are no longer all families. But service should be in all families. Whether or not it is military service, perhaps we can use this Memorial Day to consider service in its myriad possibilities for bettering our communities and our country.

Many people give their lives to service. They may not lose their lives to service, but find that in serving others, they are creating better communities. We need to consider these acts of national pride as well. In addition to military personnel, police and firefighters have chosen careers that put themselves in harm’s way in service to our communities. We should remember them. We should acknowledge them. We should be more connected to those members in our communities who service us. Teachers service us. No, they do not risk life or limb except in unusual circumstances, but the choice to teach kids is in service to our communities and to our nation. We have begun to encourage young people to serve–not just militarily, but in numerous ways in their communities. This Memorial Day, as some decorate graves of fallen soldiers, and others fire up the grill, let us consider the prospect that the term servicemen or servicewomen need not be limited to the military. If memory serves, then let us all be servicemen and servicewomen. Let us give more of our lives without losing them to violence in the name of freedom.

Same Opportunities Means Differences, Creativity, and Change

Our society talks a lot about diversity, but we talk about diversity as multi-colored or multi-gendered sameness. On the one hand, we want the same opportunities for everyone regardless of race, gender, creed, sexual orientation, economic status…..etc….On the other hand, we get stuck on what we mean by the same opportunities. Too often we focus on the sameness rather than on the opportunities.

The last couple of generations has seen a revolution in civil rights, and access to education and jobs. Millennials have been more color blind than their predecessors, partially because they grew up exposed to more racial and cultural diversity than their parents and grandparents did. They also grew up in a culture of gender equality (or as some would attest, post -Feminism).  This is not to suggest that racism and sexism and other bigotry does not exist; it does, but the culture at large has wandered through the desert for 40 years, and has transitioned to a new normal that is much more fully integrated by race and gender than at any previous time in history. There are still some firsts yet to come, and more diversity is necessary, but the idea that schools and workplaces, much less any place, should look the way they did a couple of generations ago, is anachronistic and stunting our progress. Millennials  have also shown their distinction as civil birth-rights with their ease and support of marriage equality. They schooled their elders on both sides of the political divide, that marriage equality is a civil right. We’ll see when the elders on the Supreme Court ultimately get it. Millennials seem to be most entrenched in same opportunities.

One of the (fairly recent, historically speaking) civil rights laws that many Millennials may not have been aware of was the Americans with Disabilities Act ( ADA 1990). Like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which made discrimination based on race, religion or sex illegal, the ADA of 1990 protects against discrimination, in this case, based on disability. The power of these civil rights laws is the inclusion of so many who were previously excluded (and worse). The cultural impact is even greater: We have access to so many more gifts and gifted individuals who are different from us! It is equal opportunity for variety–not sameness. The more difference the better!

One of the cultural remnants of the ADA however, has been the seeming pathologization of so many previously “normal”, if unpleasant, phases of life and dispositions. It became beneficial for many parents to have their struggling kids tested and identified as having some sort of disability in order to get an IEP (Individualized Education Plan).   The IEPs are a reasonable first step, but are often not adhered to, and are difficult for teachers (and parents) to manage. The upsurge in disabilities is partially due to a new recognition of disability. At the same time, school systems have been decreasing arts and recess, and adding testing and uniforms, and earlier school times–all counter to enhancing individual academic, intellectual,social and emotional growth. Being more aware of disabilities and ways to manage them has been a great leap forward; but we must be careful not to create a culture of disability/pathology where everything is a problem that needs medicating in an environment that doesn’t allow for different rates of development, and uses inappropriate measures of assessment and  notions of success.   I spent years parenting and teaching in a culture that on the one hand suggested pathology was everywhere, but where there was also little interest in creativity or in diverse kinds of education. Perhaps there would be less pathology if more diversity of human nature were encouraged and nurtured. Diversity is more than skin deep. It is more than racial and gender orientation. To assume that everyone can be educated the same is small minded, at best. Sometimes, the real opportunities lie in diverse learning institutions and workplaces.

For Millennials who have grown up to expect opportunities for all, they are discovering a cruel economic situation that demands creativity. Creative thinking (and work) is not merely for artists.    Any strides that we have made in Civil Rights and educating, and having people become more included and productive, has come from a break from the status quo; from sameness to opportunity. Learning institutions and workplaces must continue to evolve to include more diversity of individuals (inside and out). Perhaps that will mean a shift in scheduling and organization from one that no longer supports what is truly a more diverse population and a creative culture.

Good Work

For many, work may or may not be enjoyable, but it is doable. They have the proclivities and skill sets to manage their tasks, and with the appropriate disposition and drive, will continue to reap the rewards of their work as well as have opportunities to expand. This is true for any work, including school, from the earliest years, although certainly skill sets, habits, and mastery develop over time.

For many others, work and school may or may not be enjoyable, but can be extremely difficult to do. They may have circumstances and/or proclivities that impede their abilities to develop skill sets and manage their tasks, and perhaps for a variety of reasons, lack the appropriate disposition and drive to work. It is certainly easier (and more rewarding) to teach,parent,coach,manage, and inspire talented and driven kids and adults. What about those, who for any number of reasons, do not respond positively to the work? For those who are successful (in any sense), it is difficult to understand why those less successful don’t just adopt successful practices. It is frustrating for those trying to educate, parent, coach or manage those who don’t “get with the program”.

Our attempts to develop good students and good workers are fueled by our cultural concepts of work (and success). We seem to be a bit confused. In the last generation, we have seen not just an increase in busyness, but a cultural shift that supports busyness. Perhaps we are confusing busyness with good work.

We can do a better job of supporting our next generation meet the adult world and its attendant tasks, by allowing kids to experience work as more than being busy. For some kids, work is particularly effortful when circumstances and proclivities inhibit abilities and attention. They are often not able to be effective. While we may not all be able to do ideal work or derive joy from our jobs, we can do good work in our communities. Many schools over the last generation have added community service requirements. (I don’t like the term community service as it connotes parole.) The intention to create caring citizens is indeed admirable. Now we need to extend what was started, to  truly value work that contributes to others as good work.  Too often kids accumulate hours without connecting to new people or ideas. This is busyness, even when the tasks are for good causes. Much of the busyness of our lives is necessary, but we could still be less busy and do better work, by expanding “the program” and including all types of kids and adults. Contributing to others and broadening and strengthening our communities, and yes, bridging our schools to the greater community, strengthens the best in all of us and enables us to discover skill sets that may not have been tapped thus far.