Priorities WHEN EVERYTHING iS BROKEN

This week I just ran out of gas and forgot to write. I scheduled a dinner for my son's birthday on Saturday. He wanted to watch the planes at Van Nuys airport, but that restaurant wasn't open. I thought an outdoor dining experience by Santa Monica airport would be a good replacement. It wasn't. I don't think we'll be eating out again for awhile and I doubt we'll make the special trip there again. I was so worried about my son and my family I forgot to check to see what I would eat there. I made the wrong choice and ended up in pain later. We drove down the coast to enjoy a beautiful sunset at Point Dume. The kids were so happy and the scenery was so beautiful I savored my time there despite the pain. I was in no position to write after that. Sunday left no time for writing as I spent most of the day working. 

I didn't even think about what I would write this past week. There was too much to do. After attending my first PTO meeting I felt like I needed to do something to help out. I spent hours discovering how broken that system was. Parent organizations are all so fractured and disjointed there is no concerted effort to come together. I spent hours looking for a sample survey to send out to get feedback from parents. No luck in the national PTA, California PTA, various PTO groups, Los Angeles parent groups, etc. I went looking for the survey the LAUSD put out in June and they never published the full results publicly. They only shared what they wanted to. It is all so broken.

I volunteered to lead the survey efforts myself. We'll see where that goes. I can do the work myself, but I can't fix anything on my own. It has to be a community effort. 

I was a little broken myself after getting the news of Chadwick Boseman's passing on Friday. That hit me harder than I expected. Reading about what he meant to people. Watching him speak at events I hadn't seen before. Seeing the clear reflection, thoughtfulness, caring and pain in everything he did. In death he inspired me to max out my donation to the Biden/Harris campaign. In sharing that on Twitter I inspired at least one other person to do the same. Maybe if we all just work a little bit harder to fix things it won't be so broken. I hope so.