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["Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT gmail.com>]

> ... the person he is staying with
> sends him to the grocery store to buy coffee, he is faced with dozens of 
> choices:
> Folgers, Maxwell House, Starbucks, freeze dried, beans, drip grind,
> Columbian, Arabica, Brazilian, dark roast, hazlenut flavored ....  he freaks 
> out and
> collapses.

Hah! That reminds me of an experience I had several years ago
somewhere in northern Illinois. I was traveling with two other women
to a meeting in Galena and I needed nylon stockings (that was back
when I actually dressed up some). We stopped at a likely looking store
that turned out to be a Super Wal-Mart. I had never been in a
Wal-Mart, nevermind a Super one. Well, I nearly had the same
experience as Robin Williams's character: there were so many
variations to choose from that I wanted to run screaming out of there.
I didn't. I think I got some thigh highs -- even then I couldn't bear
panty hose -- and since it had taken me so long I got some nice dark
chocolate bars for my friends. They were amused by my story.


> Those firmly within the PS mindset, or just the schooling mindset whether
> governemtn schools or not, are much like Boortz's Russian friend.

I don't think I'm 'within the ps mindset'. I just think that a human
being has free will and can overcome conditioning. We aren't robots
that can be programmed.

A number of people have been asserting that people on welfare ought to
be able to change their mental outlook and become self-reliant, but
then they claim that ps conditions beyond all hope. I think its very
hard to break old habits and ways of thinking. I know that on issues
of local concern most people would rather tell you about their sex
lives than their deeply held political opinions. I'm positive that
people capable of deep critical thought have come out of the ps
system.

On being a product of the ps, I have a confession to make. I only
attended one for grades 1 through 8. It was a one-room affair, and we
never had teachers who acted like jailers, except maybe Mrs. Meyers.
We only had her for a year, and I like to think that my 8-year-old
self influenced that decision; Daddy was on the school board, and he
always listened to his kids. Among her other sins, Mrs. Meyers
insisted that girls wear dresses. Didn't sit well with me or my
parents, especially since I walked about a mile through a swamp to get
there (it was only uphill for a short stretch on the way home).

Marie