Thursday, August 05, 2004 :::
 
Lots more time on the old hands these days, as a certain pudgy balding English teacher has decamped to a certain red-tile-roofed university on the West Coast for further excavations into the archive of one Allen Drury. That has been as rewarding and as frustrating as always--frustrating because archival work does not suit A Mind That Suits, (and that was unintentional.) Rewarding because Allen Drury was one of his best frinds from an early age. There is even preserved in the archive, amidst all the papers from Presidents, Senators,and famous actresses, a note saying emphatically, "F R C R, Kenny," with the last word starting small and building to a triumphant, emphatic enormousness. His mother added helpfully, "which, being translated, means "You must come see us soon."" His mother then continued with her own brief comments, and then added, "Kenny says, Do Not Throw This Out." Mr. Drury, ever the gentleman, obliged, and anyone can see it if they ask for the family correspondence folders.

Should you worry about what your child is eating when you are away from home? The emphatic answer is "yes," if said child bears a Y-chromosome. A skinny lad next to a balding English teacher who is most emphatically not skinny had a tray bearing BBQ chicken and fries, a salad, nachos with that hideous melted cheese, and a bowl of--Fruit Loops. Ah, yes, the balanced meal. The one difference between Florence Moor Dining Hall when A Mind That Suits was but a lad and today is that students then lined up for meals promptly at 5, such that at 6:30 the hall was empty. Students now insist on eating later. The dining hall stays open until 6:45, and students cram in then. At least the guys do. The old system, based on labor costs and not human physiognomy, were torture on the guys, who were expected to go from 13 or 14 hours without food, which the teenage male body is not designed to do. They eat the way they do because they have to. Notice how skinny they are even with all the eating?

Which brings us back to the initial point, which is that the adult responsibility is to make sure they eat the right stuff, because even the teen male metabolism cannot do anything constructive with a diet of junk.

::: posted by A Mind That Suits at 11:27 PM


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What doesn't kill me, makes me laugh... usually.