Rightfully so, we are experiencing a “moment” where marginalized members of our community (that is, the American community at large) are getting at least a little more recognition than they have, historically. But are LGBTQIA persons being marginalized as we work toward racial and gender equality? According to one Ivy League university, gay professors aren’t considered “diverse enough” for full-time employment. Seriously? Like queer lives don’t matter?
“Why isn’t my sourdough starter working?” is #1 question at King Arthur Flour helpline
In an interview aired on NPR’s Morning Edition today, a call center worker at King Arthur Flour, technically a “Baker Specialist,” was asked, among the 18,000 contacts made in April, what was the top question aspiring bakers had for the hotline helpers.
” ‘Why isn’t my sourdough starter working?’ ” Maggie Perry replied with a laugh, adding that calls and emails to the Baker Hotline were up a whopping five times from a year earlier!
If it’s true that misery needs company, then it should be satisfying knowing that, from all my previous attempts at making a sourdough starter, I’m definitely not alone in feeling like an utter failure in the sourdough-bread-making department. It’s just too bad that it took a national stay-at-home lock down for it to be realized.
My crash course in distance education (during the coronavirus lockdown)
In what seems like much longer, just a couple months ago, in early-March, students in my A&P class were buzzing about what was going to happen if the coronavirus made landfall in San Diego.
“Are we still going to have class after spring break?”
“How will we turn in our lab book homework?”
“Are they going to give refunds on parking passes?”
The truth was, I had almost no idea what the answers to any of those questions were. And neither did the college administration, if the flurry of emails hitting my inbox was any indication. Seemed like we all had some figuring-out to do… and faster than we imagined.