It is election Day! In Pennsylvania there is no in-person early voting; thus, today is the day to make your voice heard. I voted earlier this morning and voted straight Republican for local offices and judges. With some of the decisions of judges these day, I can’t see how anyone could stay home and let others pick judges for them. Now, did you vote? As of this posting, you still have time regardless of U. S. time zones. Please vote!
I spent most of my life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Seven years ago, I moved some 20 miles (or more) northwest of the city. I still read Philly newspapers and listen to Philly talk radio. Philly has not changed politically one bit. It is a very Democratic blue town. You can always count on Philly to deliver the Democratic vote. I remember back in 1984 when the late Ronald Reagan was running for re-election against Democratic challenger, Walter Mondale. It was no contest. Ronald Reagan won the country, except Minnesota, the District of Columbia and the city of Philadelphia. A month before the election, Mondale came to Philly where the people exalted him. People skipped and danced around him as he walked on Chestnut Street downtown.
Philly just had a primary election yesterday, May 17th. It is still safe to say that whoever wins the Democratic Mayoral Primary is Philly’s next mayor. The current Mayor, Michael Nutter won the Democratic Primary yesterday. He will most likely win re-election in November. If he does not, it will be one of the biggest upsets ever. The Philly Mayoral election will be national news. There is talk of a challenge from former Democratic Mayor John Street as an Independent. If that happens, John Street would have a better chance at victory than the Republican challenger.
Two people, Karen Brown and John Featherman competed to be the Republican Mayoral candidate. As of this post, the vote totals are too close; therefore, there is still no declared victor. Now Mayor Nutter’s primary challenge was Milton Street (John Street’s Brother). Go here to get a clue on Milton Street, then be surprised that he received 24 percent of the Democratic vote. To get a better idea of how Republicans have a long way to go for a Republican Mayoral victory, Milton Street’s 24 percent was over twice as many votes than the votes of the 2 Republican challengers combined. Just look at the top 2 panels.
With school lunches being in the news lately, I am reminiscing about my school lunches during my public school days in Philly..
Even back in the 60’s schools received some kind of state or federal government subsidy for school lunches. I did not deal with school lunches until Jr. high, because I came home for lunch from 1st through 6th grade. When I got to Jr. high, I started taking my lunches, which were usually Peanut butter and jelly, some kind of lunch meat or tuna. Eventually, I ended up buying the school lunches, because I liked the variety. My parents encouraged it, because I was a picky eater back then and they like that I wanted to eat different food combinations that up until that time, I squawked at eating.
I could get a half of hoagie (sub sandwich) and potato chips for 15 cents. I could get a platter for 35 cents. By the time I got to my junior year in high school hoagies were a quarter and the platters had gone up to about 75 cents. A platter included drink, lettuce and tomato salad or soup and dessert with the entrée. A platter entrée could be hot roast beef or turkey sandwiches covered in gravy with mashed potatoes and green beans, spaghetti and meatballs, hot dogs and baked beans, shepherd’s pie, cheeseburger and french fries, or other foods. The one meal that had me buying the non platter hoagie and potato chips entrée or even bringing a sandwich from home was the pizza lunch. The pizza consisted of open face hamburger buns with melted orange sandwich cheese slices and topped with a dollop of tomato sauce. That was so unappetizing!
I remember the infamous dessert line, which did not open up until 20 minutes into the lunch period. But there would be students in that line as soon as the lunch period began. Monitoring teachers and non-teaching assistants would try to discourage students from the dessert line upon lunchroom entry. That line was always the longest food line. Some days, it could wrap around the lunch room. I knew classmates whose lunches were nothing but desserts i.e. cake, pudding, popsicles, ice cream sandwiches and etc.
School lunches were practically banished in the upper grades in Philly starting in my senior year at high school due to growing lunchroom student gang violence. My classes started around 7:30 A. M. and went straight through to 1:00 in the afternoon. I ate lunch when I went home. Sometimes my mother would give me money to buy us hoagies or cheesesteaks on the way home from school. If you are wondering, the schools relaxed their policy a little on eating snacks like chips or cheese crackers during classes.
The food lunch saga these days keeps getting interesting. There are growing school districts where lunches from home are forbidden. There are districts that image the individual student lunch and access calories and fat and getting rid of chocolate and strawberry milk. Nothing like that is going on in Philly or where I now live in Lansdale, yet. But these trends will probably come this way.
Right Cogency 