If you aren’t already delirious from the late August heat, you may be after reading some of these stories.
Katie Davis once again here to introduce you to this week’s Dez Reads while our leader, Josh Culling, makes wins happen for our clients.
I worked at Chick-Fil-A in high school, and my friends know I can commonly talk at length about what a high-quality business operation they run. Everything from the biscuit batter to the marinade and breading on the chicken is made by hand, with love, and at their pleasure, of course. So, I’d agree with the North Carolinian town Nathaniel Beach tells us about, which argues voting polls should follow the fast food chain’s operating hours.
Mark Emerson fills us in on the fraternity cocaine ring happening at Penn State, worried the university’s response is a bit lackluster, considering this whole thing was happening... dare I say … right under their nose.
Ava Sheehan pays tribute to the icon of her childhood, Hayden Panettiere, and I offer food for thought on what gratitude really is (thanks to my new Substack habit).
We wish you all a cool last bit of summer. Thanks, as always, for reading along with us.
Here we go.
Closed on Sundays.
Democracy Docket. No Chick-fil-A, no voting: One North Carolina county’s argument for closing polls on Sundays
Local government has always fascinated me. It’s arguably the governance system that impacts individual Americans the most yet is generally an afterthought to the “sexiness” of Federal politics.
While citizens can turn on CSPAN at anytime to watch members of Congress vote on Post Office name changes, the policies that directly impact our day-to-day are often very seldom paid attention to or followed. Case in point, this local government story in North Carolina. The headline is obviously what drew my attention to the piece, craving a classic Chick-fil-A sandwich at 2pm on a Sunday only to be reminded that it’s closed represents an American phenomenon that crosses partisan lines.
Ultimately, the Chick-fil-A comparison surfaced during a debate over Sunday early voting hours in a North Carolina county. Now a large swath of the general population follows what’s occurring Federally; whether that be America’s ongoing conflict with Iran, or the President’s relationship with his aides, I’d argue a lesser amount are following what is happening at their local Town Hall. The article reports that 10 community members showed up to this meeting, which is unfortunately considered huge turnout for local government matters, in a room most people didn’t know was meeting.
That’s true of nearly everything at this level. Zoning, school calendars, water rates, permitting, etc. decided by people whose names most residents couldn’t produce on demand.
The Chick-fil-A line is what made this story travel. If a chicken sandwich is what finally gets people to look up their county board’s meeting schedule, that’s a better outcome than the alternative, which is nobody looking at all.
– Nathaniel Beach
Higher Education.
Penn State is once again in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons after authorities busted an alleged cocaine trafficking ring operating through two fraternities. Thirteen current or former students have been charged, including one of their dads. The alleged operation apparently had fraternity pledges cutting and packaging cocaine before serving it up to students. How’s that for a college side hustle? The internet has already dubbed the alleged ringleader, Agostino Abbatiello as Pablo Pledgscobar.
The story continues... Prosecutors say the operation brought cocaine from Philadelphia and New York back to Penn State, with one person claiming to have paid Abbatiello more than $50,000 for drugs. Then there’s Thomas Robinson, another alleged senior member of the operation. His dad is now facing felony charges for allegedly taking a safe full of drugs and cash and trying to hide the evidence.
Allegedly… Of course.
Penn State has spent more than a decade trying to repair its reputation from its last egregious misstep. But as we here at Dez have seen too often reputational baggage has a long shelf life and every new controversy brings the old ones back with it. Penn State cannot control what its students do in their free time, but it can control its response. Moving quickly, creating distance and showing accountability are critical when the public is already primed to see a pattern.
Yet another bump Penn State’s reputation could’ve done without.
– Mark Emerson
Millennials in Mourning.
Refinery29. We Grew Up With Hayden Panettiere. Now We’re Reckoning With How Hollywood Failed Her.
This hit hard. I didn’t expect to start Monday morning with the gut punch that yet another icon of my youth passed – adding to the growing list of people Millennials grew up watching on Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and in movie theaters who are no longer with us. It’s a unique kind of heartbreak losing so many child stars too young.
The sad reality is that growing up in Hollywood is not always glamorous. We are witnessing how fame and monetary gain are valued over protecting children – resulting in adulthood struggles with addiction and mental health. Children deserve better. Hayden deserved better.
Hayden Panettiere was a bright light. She captured your imagination and stole your heart onscreen. It’s a sobering grief when we lose someone who played a part in our childhoods.
Rest in Peace, Hayden. We’ll see you onscreen.
– Ava Sheehan
Selfish Gratitude.
Substack. Why I’m Anti-Gratitude.
I’ve been reading substacks while I eat lunch. I think of them as podcast snacks. An ailment to my scrolling addiction. This one was from last week but I can’t stop thinking about it.
Gratitude has been remarketed as a self-care, quick fix, change your life in 24 hours habit. Something you can tell yourself to do in place of complaining or suffering. There are all these supposed studies that back it up.
Well Kate Bowler looks into those studies, and it was actually a ton of college students with the choice to write out ten things they’re grateful for or ten things they’re angry about and record how they felt after weeks of doing one or the other. That sort of rewrites the rules. Of course, you would feel better reminding yourself of blessings rather than keeping miseries top of mind. But it shouldn’t, and really doesn’t, exist in a vacuum that way. Other research showed the same (or more) positive effect could be felt simply by not complaining, or the act of writing a tidbit about anything in a journal every day.
Historically, gratitude exists as a virtue in response to a gift, a good thing, not as a mechanical morning routine wellness gimmick. Gratitude should be an authentic expression activated by something else, not a selfish hack to feeling better about your life.
– Katie Davis
