Now I've got one vegetarian (aged 10), another who borders on it (12), and one good old-fashioned omnivore (14) to cook for, meals are somewhat more challenging than before. The result is I need a more diverse set of inputs, and in that regard, thank God! I live in a diverse community.
By virtue of the many Asians and Latinos in this area, we have terrific food markets that operate outside of the grasp of the giant chains like Safeway. One of the best is an Asian supermarket in Daly City, where I can save 25-50 percent off of what Safeway charges me for the same items.
Of course, reaching Daly City requires me to take a 15-minute freeway trip in my car. Ironically, due to my still-extant Safeway habit, the $19.50 worth of gas I "purchased" at the Arco station in Daly City yesterday came courtesy of my free gasoline card issued by Safeway.
If there is a pattern behind this mayhem, it is the frugality of my choicing. These are lean times on the income side, lean times indeed. No room for fat on the cost side.
Meanwhile, waves of anxiety rode through certain households last week as the private high schools in the area mailed out letters disclosing whether one's child was accepted or rejected by the institutions that consider themselves elite, and in some cases, justifiably so.
The news was mixed around here, more rejection than acceptance, but I'm quite sure I know the reason for that: Me.
Stupidly focused on what had just happened after I was rendered jobless in January, I immediately turned to writing the letters to the private schools my eighth-grader had applied to, explaining our rather dire financial straits.
Idiot!
Private schools are "hurting," in their way, too. The last thing they need is to take on a kid whose family may prove to be a basket case, financially. Had I pretended all is well, perhaps referencing my many years of financial success compared to others, we would have come off as the kind of elitist family they are desperately seeking in a down market.
Why?
Because many more of the kids already in their high schools are asking for financial aid this year than is normally the case. First principle: Take care of those already in the school. We have noticed a definite pattern among which kids got those acceptance letters -- in every case they were sent to families that appear to be in relatively stable financial condition.
This was not, however, a year of decisions based on merit. Having high grades, test scores, athletic success, and extracurricular activities were of no use whatsoever to these kids if their Dad and/or Mom was out of work. Nope, private schools in San Francisco shun all such candidates as if they have the plague.
Just one more little indicator of how scared everyone is becoming.
Not me, however. Don't list me as down, out, scared, or pessimistic. This is a good thing for our common planet and for our society. We need to cut excesses, consume less, reduce our carbon footprint, stop living beyond our means, and bring ourselves into line with reasonable lifestyle expectations.
I'm sorry for some of the kids who got rejected from schools they wished to attend, of course, but not overly so. Why? Public school. The public schools are receiving a windfall in the form of bright, energetic kids who cannot afford the absurd tuition ($30k a year!) charged by the privates.
That these kids are now going to be attending public schools, due to changing economic conditions, will strengthen our public school system in San Francisco, too long neglected since the 33-year-old catastrophe known as Prop 13.
Meanwhile, the privates will decline in quality, as they close their wagons around the wealthiest -- if not always the ablest -- of students. This is simply all in the natural order of things to come.
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2 comments:
It's interesting that you write this... We've also been hearing from a few families that got 'in' and you have to believe that money is becoming a factor. And it didn't just start this year. As the city has lost its middle class the old days of 'blind admissions has gradually faded. Which is not to take away from those that were accepted, but the line between "upper" and "middle" is beginning to appear, in bold. The class wars, and statism, as the hate radio crowd calls it, are beginning in earnest.
Been poking around the internet and seeing things like this all week after learning that a friend whose son has been in private school for 9 years is now facing public schools b/c of this same problem == $$.
I wish more people would realize that the dreaded PS in SF aren't really so bad at all. We've been in them for years, and I have to say our children are getting an excellent education in both academics AND life -- something woefully absent from so many elite or touchy-feely-mumsy-wumsy private schools.
It's not this new influx of "bright energetic kids" who will be a windfall to public schools...It's all the parents and kids and teachers who have worked hard to make the schools so much better than they used to be. (This said, I am primarily talking about the honors program kids. Honors programs in many SF public middle and high schools are high end with excellent kids who want to learn and work hard.)
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