We went out for burgers with our kids tonight to celebrate a birthday. The Works isn’t fast, but their burgers are delicious. While we waited for our food, we talked; when the burgers came, we kept talking. Once we were home, I was stunned to look back on our meandering conversation and to realize how interesting I find my teenage children. When did they get this curious about the world?

I can’t possibly write it all up, so I’m taking (more) inspiration from Sherri and trying an alternative format. Here’s an outline of we discussed:

1. Andre’s run today
   1. his longest since pre-children
   2. how far the rest of us have run
      1. I have run the farthest (yes, I’m bragging)
2. What the Bank of Canada does
   1. The state of the internet when Andre worked for the Bank
   2. It was rudimentary
3. Why the drama teacher was late to class
   1. This is unclear
   2. Maybe she was creating a seating plan?
   3. She still does not know the names of everyone in the class
      1. It is six weeks into the semester
   4. She now has pictures of the students with their names
      1. It’s not obvious that this is helping
4. When the next set of article summaries is due
   1. Monday
   2. This will require good time management
5. Camus
   1. He is an existentialist
   2. This was not required reading
6. Jesse Thistle
   1. He spent a lot of time in his memoir recounting his experiences with addiction
   2. He met his wife after he got clean
      1. Because falling in love with an addict would be hard
      2. She was from the same town he was
      3. They now have children
7. Being cancelled
   1. Is it being cancelled if, like Joseph Boyden, you misrepresent yourself?
      1. Did Joseph Boyden actively misrepresent himself or did he not understand the gravity of what he was doing?
8. Race – biological or cultural?
   1. The idea of race as a cultural construct is very difficult to fathom
      1. It’s hard to see culture when you’re in it
   2. Andre and I provided (frankly) thoughtful examples
      1. The children were unconvinced
      2. But they listened
9. Why Google’s AI summaries are untrustworthy
   1. Which teachers have discussed this in school – mostly English and Social Science teachers
   2. hilarious examples from our children 
10. Tariffs
    1. Why targeting the auto industry might be effective or ineffective
    2. Why countries are or are not banding together to oppose the US
11. Illegal actions by the current US President
    1. Including interfering in private industry, like specific law firms
    2. Also telling a university that its students cannot wear masks during protests
       1. Which seems a bit much
12. Group chats
    1. Signal vs WhatsApp
    2. Why would you add a journalist to a government group chat?
    3. Why would the US bomb Yemen?
       1. Who are the Houthis?
13. The efficacy of protests
    1. Some of these seem deeply ineffective to the children
       1. One protest was declared “annoying”
    2. The children are not convinced that protesting Israel/ Gaza is effective – on either side
       1. Institutions outside the affected area have financial interests in what is going on
          • Including weapons
14. Civil disobedience
    1. Examples from Gandhi & India
    2. The US Civil Rights Movement
       1. Rosa Parks was effective
       2. Perhaps we need to watch some movies about this because it sounds really interesting to the kids

Dinner ended.
WHEW!