http://tinyurl.com/2rs7pg – Read this before you continue.

Now, I’d like to point out how amazingly idiotic this situation is. Simple, innocent happenings concluding with such blatant hypocrisy are what further exacerbate any racism, sexism, etc.

Allow me to elaborate on why I say ‘hypocrisy’, while making a few points.

First of all, I think it quite reasonable to say, “Yes, people have different skin colors. Yes, different colors come out in various, differentiating ways in, say, photographs. Yes, lining up the children based on skin color would be far easier for the photographer.”

 To make such an unnecessary stupidity of a photographer doing something like this is hypocrisy in itself; the parents, by thwarting this innocent act, have thus reinforced the fact that people have to be careful, aware, and consciously thinking about not doing something because of skin color, rather than accepting the simple fact that colors of the skin are different, and going no further than that (because there is no further to go).

Because my wording is vague, I’ll compare this to two differences we think nothing of.

A photographer, to a classroom of children, says, “Okay, kids. Make three rows. Taller people in the back, medium people in the middle, and shorter people in the front. That way, you can all stand, and each of your faces will be seen.” – There’s no problem with this, is there? As a matter of fact, it’s commonly done, without any qualm.

Why?

Because people see no further than the obvious, and reasonable differences of height. Why should it be any different in skin color? Obviously a person of darker skin would be more difficult to see in a lack of light than a person with lighter skin. Am I racist for making this assumption?

No. I have common sense.

I think that, by suggesting the children line up by skin color, for the photograph to be taken more easily, advocated seeing only the differences in color as just that; differences in color. Nothing more, nothing less. The parents, ironically enough, are what make this case a contribution to the life of racism.

You probably heard this term before.  Watching a cooking show  or maybe as a staff worker in a food service establishment.  This term makes or breaks a professional cook.  This shows the Executive Chef if their new cook knows what the hell they are doing.  Mise En Place basically means “to put in a proper place”. 

Have you ever watched that tv cook prepare his great culinary delight right by the stove?  They have all their ingredients in little glass bowls!  Imagine actually preparing your ingredients by the amounts needed?  Teaspoon of salt already measured in a little bowl ready to dump in?  This is MISE EN PLACE!  Basically you get everything ready before you begin.  

How many times have I seen cooks fumbling around the kitchen or bake shop looking for the nutmeg!  It drives Chef’s crazy watching their cooks flutter like a fish out of water running around looking through shelves for that one ingredient.  That brings up another statement to my mind: ” A place for everything and everything in its place!” 

I have heard this statement on many cooking shows and they seem to never explain what that term means!  As always email me with any culinary questions or comments.

Until next time…….Chef

As a self proclaimed nerd, I take pride in seeking and redistributing the knowledge I find a long the way.  This is not the case for all G.N.D.’s, as a future piece that will deal with the “Geekier than Thou” attitude shall address.  But as a seeker of knowledge, when I do speak, it is usually with some semblance of confidence that I at least have a base understanding of what I am speaking about.  So when G.N.D.’s are placed in a situation where their knowledge is called into question or simply dismissed, the first action taken is usually to do some research.  We hate being wrong, but if we are we at least want to know what we were wrong about so that it doesn’t happen again.

It was general break room conversation, the kind that goes on about the little non indepth, non descript, just enough information to keep down the dreaded silence that all but those trying to read hate.  On this day it just happened to be about the recent influx of winged pests into some co-workers homes. And so I, also having recently experienced this encroachment, commented on the “pumpkin” bug infestation.

“Oh, (awkward silence) no, they are lady bugs.  The news said so.”  was the reply.

The dork in me stopped talking about it.  I didn’t have the confidence to back up my thoughts.   I was pretty sure that the bugs crawling around my house and the run of the mill lady bugs, were in fact two different kinds of bugs.   Sometimes you can judge your audience, and know that no matter how much you try to persuade them otherwise, unless you have the credentials, they will believe the news over you to a fault.

So, when I arrived home, moping at having my added information to the conversation so lightly dismissed, I decided to research the little pests online.

Well, to my slight dismay, while there is a bug called a “pumpkin” bug (I can’t remember where I got the term pumpkin bug from but I was always told that they were not lady bugs)…it is not the kind of bug that is infesting the houses this time of year.  (If you do happen to have a pumpkin or squash patch though, it might be the cause of any current crop issues)  However, I did find out that the beetle that is finding its way through every nook and cranny, is occasionally called a “Halloween” bug due to it’s orange-red color and the time of year it chooses to make it’s way indoors.

So the specifics…

The beetle that is infesting mine and other’s houses is called the Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle.  So it is in fact a lady beetle. However, what we call a “Lady Bug” is what is known as a Convergent Lady Beetle and is a native species, where as the M.A.L.B. comes from Asia. The M.a.l.b. was introduced several times over the past 100 years in an effort to cut down on crop eating aphids and scales.

Our little pesky friends are actually quite harmless.  Once in our homes they do not reproduce as they are simply “overwintering”. They do not eat but instead live off of their fat stores…and if they do eat it’s only soft bodied insects, so they can be a beneficial little critter. The only real issue with them is the stink/stains they produce if they are squished or severely traumatized.  They do this unique thing where they release some of their blood in defense…which happens to smell and stain.

So I might not have been 100% accurate,*tear* but I was right about it not being the same as your average “ladybug”.  I, at least, was not willing to take the news at it’s word, just because it was the news, and I made sure that the next time I spoke of the subject I would at least have a better base understanding, so that I could be confident in my facts.  I also have the added benefit of having learned some interesting new facts I might not otherwise have known, had my knowledge not been questioned.  (Like the best way to rid your house of the buzzy beetles.  Go to the last link and scroll down for a diagram that shows how to prepare a M.a.l.b. removal device)
And here’s a few web sites where you yourselves can check on the information i just wrote:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hse-fact/1030.html

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/insect/05594.html

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/M1176.html

And if you made it through this piece…(<— a perfect example of dorkish lack of confidence)

My next topic tackled…chock full of goodies…The Role of Role Play and its many incarnations

dun…Dun…DUN!!!
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