Summer Acquaintance

One of my Facebook friends put out a notification regarding a reunion type event for all the kids who grew up in Avon (the 'a' is pronounced with a short vowel sound, not a long vowel sound) at the Avon playground.  I had to attend an HR meeting at the Lebanon store, about 1/4 mile from Avon about 2 years ago, and being in the area, drove through the town and out to the playground, which is more of a park.  Sadly, except for 1 pavilion, everything I remembered was gone.  Not knowing if she was aware of this, I sent her an email.  First of all, she was aware of the drastic changes to the playground.  Secondly, she was a bit befuddled to hear from me.  You see, even though she and her two sisters lived 8 houses up and on the other side of the street, she doesn't remember me.  This is surprising since almost everybody remembers me.  Of course, as always, there is a logical explanation.

It's a school district thing.  Back then Lebanon, PA,had a population  of  around 26,000 and was its own school district.  Everyone outside the city limits either went to schools in the Northern District or schools in the Southern District, and that line cut through Avon (remember, short vowel).  Unfortunately that line did not cut through the center.  No, it barely grazed the edge.  It did, however, run right down the middle of King Street.  There were 15 houses (4 kids) on the north side of King Street.  We were bused 12.5 miles, through the city of Lebanon, to Ebenezer Elementary School.  Everybody on the south side of King Street, 40 + kids, (picked up at 3 bus stops), was bused 3.5 miles to South Lebanon Elementary. Go figure.  Different schools, different activities; most of those kids hung around together twelve months out of the year.  I tried out of Little League and, of course, had to try out for a team in the Northern School District.  A coach came flat out and told my Dad they couldn't put me on a team because we lived too far away.  Go Figure.  While most kids make friends with the kids in their neighborhood, my were only summer acquaintances.

  

The NRA wants to raise your taxes!

Now I know there are some few sitting out there saying, 'hey, wait, that's not true, the NRA is conservative, they back the Republicans and they will never raise taxes."  This is, of course, false.  Thanks to Wayne LaPierre there is a big debate raging over his idea of putting armed guards in schools.  There are those who are for it and those against it.  What nobody seems to be discussing is that if LaPierre gets his way, who is going to pay the cost?  We're talking salaries here, and they can't be minimum wage pay rates, and then there are uniforms to buy, and weapons, and ammunition and training.  Can you imagine how expensive the training is going to be?  I don't suspect there are many colleges offering a curricula in "School Armed Guard."  And face it, would you want someone with just a GED walking the hallways of your school with a loaded weapon?  Any person hired into this position would need to pass a battery of psychiatric screenings because no one wants a pervert prowling around outside the classrooms.  So, let's say the cost for two armed guards and all of the crap that comes with their hiring adds an additional 80 thousands dollars of expenses to the school district.  Of course, it would be the school district's responsibility because believe me, the NRA wouldn't even consider footing the bill.  Hhhmm, and yet they have no problem making the suggestion.  And how do you think the school district is going to handle this additional expense?  Why, they're going to raise your school taxes.  If you don't think this is how the cost is going to be taken care of, well, you're rather naive.

Do you think he really cares about your taxes?

If the monies don't come from the school district they'll be disbursed by the state.  Do the math.  Multiply the number of school districts  there in your state( 200, 2000, or ten thousand, maybe) by $80k per year.  Holy Mackerel!  That's a lot of moola!  If the NRA has their wish come true the additional taxes will slowly bleed you to death.  Why is it these groups have no problem spending your hard earned money?