The obvious imminence of two free days otherwise known as 'the weekend' not withstanding, what would elicit 1,300 primary-school aged persons to look forward to their first Friday upon the commencement of the 7th Annual Math Enrichment Summer Program? After all, there are six more weeks--out of the remaining six Fridays, one is designated as a movie outing; another, a full day of frolicking underneath the golden Californian sun at a theme park. Indeed, what could the contrasting stifling 95˚heat and oppressive air conditioning that defines Friday, June the 20th, 2008 possibly have to offer these fresh-faced, ebullient youths--?
--an odorous (though not so far as miasmic) entity. A commodity that does not strain the wallets of parents (and camp directors) who already feel the pressure of soaring fuel and grain prices. It evokes a faint memory of foreignness, yet simultaneously projects a notion of homey familiarity- a slice of Americana.
Strong-smelling, economical, universal: pizza. Pizza: oleaginous, caloric, composed almost entirely of simple carbohydrates and saturated fats. It is clearly not fare for the health conscious; in other words, it is an 'artery clogger'. Though it provides little nutritional value, one triangle can contain upwards of 300 calories.
The stuff of free Friday lunches, pizza assumes the role of a savior, providing a moment of bliss into which students can sink after a week of cramming dense mathematics into their brains. An intermittent occurrence, certainly; though pizza is available daily at the snack bar, most students do not make the choice to purchase the greasy goodness.
A complaint may seem superfluous--to what purpose does it serve to make a case out the fact that once, just once, free pizza is generously distributed to hardworking juveniles? After all, a few hundred calories are not a crisis, considering a lifetime of consumption. Who am I to protest, anyway? I have most assuredly ingested my share of pizza. So it really is not so much the pizza that is the issue--that the kids are being presented with unhealthy sub-foods as a compensation, a reward for behaving well during the week is what is bothersome. Edibles, deleterious ones at that, are acting as a substitute for approval and love.
"Growing up, Kathryn [Murphy, of the Biggest Loser, Season 2] was loved with food. 'In our family, food was very much connected to approval, comfort, happiness, and reward,' she recalled. She was a chubby kid, and her weight would eventually balloon to 217 pounds."
Of course, a summer program is not instituted to dole out love and affection, but this idea may well implant itself into the as-of-yet impressionable minds of juvenescence.
Just a thought.
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You and your writing continue to amaze me.
i clearly need to work on my sat vocabulary.
"Edibles, deleterious ones at that, are acting as a substitute for approval and love."
how sad.
i think i need to visit you quite soon.
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You're probably better at digging and finding gems than I am though 8).
I must agree.