For example I have been told that the local school district has almost completely eliminated recess in the public schools around town. My first response was "Your joking." My second response was "Where are the parents?". My third thought, unexpressed, was "Maybe school has become like the nice homes on this street--no children allowed outside." My fourth thought was the show "COPS" should be outlawed (social middle class fear is such a powerful political tool to get bad policies in place). My fifth thought was "I wouldn't want to be a third grade teacher in this town or any other grade for that matter." My sixth thought was "Did they ban sugared cereals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner too?" My last and final thought "Why not just strip the education system of anything left which is meaningful to a well rounded and healthy child and send the kid into a prison block each day." That should improve their learning productivity--no distractions just four bare walls and A, B, and C.
Why is the solution to our education issues chemotherapy--if the toxity of the remedy doesn't kill there may be a small chance at success.
Enough said. Short-sighted policies stink. Human beings are not robots and children were not meant to be raised in a modern Dickens work block mentality. Kinesthetic movement, learning, and socialization go hand-in-hand.
Now on to the next rant.
This is more my personal politics and strategic planning ideas. I cannot find a restaurant small business supply in the area. Oh yeah I can find Sam's Club but I find I cannot write about my ill-feelings towards outsourcing and the lack of living wage jobs and social equality and shop at Walmart (which is, essentially, Sam's Club). I just can't bring myself and my small pocketbook to perpetuate certain things in our economy and then gripe about the consequences my shopping habits produce. And I am much more tied to remedying the consequences of Walmart mentality than I am to low prices.
That said I guess I may have to stop moaning about this problem and just buy retail. Which I wouldn't mind so much if a diversity of quality fresh foods were available in Greeley without doing the Stepfordville Whole Foods scene. Why can't poor people eat well with moderate expense? Why isn't there more small business competition in this town? Why are we endowed with the most egregious corporate pretty-darn-close-to-a-monopoly commercial choices? Why do I need to drive to Fort Collins or Denver when Greeley is large enough to produce this value for its taxpayers? The questions don't seem to have a sensible ending.
Okay, I know. There is an answer to my rant somewhere. There must be some logic to it. Otherwise the People of Greeley wouldn't be so quiet about these things. After all it will be their children and grandchildren's town in the future. Is the only thing that matters how green and well kept the front yard is and that the walkway to the door is swept? Or is there more to the quality of life in Greeley behind those closed doors.
Data compiled after the 2000 Census On Greeley Industry. Columns below represent number and percent respectively. If anyone has a local or State study compiled more recently I'd appreciate a link to the source. That's the problem with a census--it gets old quickly especially when there has been so much change in the era of technological advances. And I will need to find a comparable city in Colorado to advance any logical conclusions.
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining | 698 | 1.9 |
| Construction | 3,197 | 8.8 |
| Manufacturing | 4,552 | 12.5 |
| Wholesale trade | 1,198 | 3.3 |
| Retail trade | 4,469 | 12.3 |
| Transportation and warehousing, and utilities | 1,230 | 3.4 |
| Information | 1,066 | 2.9 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, and rental and leasing | 2,477 | 6.8 |
| Professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services | 2,378 | 6.5 |
| Educational, health and social services | 8,321 | 22.9 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services | 3,530 | 9.7 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 1,599 | 4.4 |
| Public administration | 1,635 | 4.5 |
I have long enjoyed the fact that gaps in legislatures' sessions are called "recesses." I guess that if recess is abolished at elementary schools, there will be no irony left to savor over this choice of terminology.