What is THE Most Important Thing YOU *ever* learned?

For me, it happened in 7th Grade Social Studies class taught by Mr. Pfeiffer at Wilbur Wright Middle School on Burleigh at 84th Street in Milwaukee, WI.

~ ~ ~

I'm all growed up and have kids now.   Though I didn't realize exactly, precisely what I was doing,  I began sharing Mr. Pfeiffer's lessons with my two children (now 11 and 9) as soon as they could use language in sentence form and watch television which had advertising.  { Hint. }

You see, I parent in what I like to call a Mindful and Preventative Way.  { Huh? }

You see, I'm lazy and I don't enjoy doing stuff I don't enjoy.  This extends to the mild, infrequent annoyances that come along with the Indescribably Rewarding Joy that is Parenting.  For example,  I do not have the energy or patience to listen to "Mom, can I have... Mom, I want... Mo-o-o-mmmy but it's the coolest toy evuh!!!!" 

So.  I let my kids know ahead of time what is acceptable and what is not (nip it in bud, I suppose you might say).  I have a very keen memory of how it felt to be a kid, which assists me immeasurably in this endeavor.   

Perhaps Alex was two and a half or three when I noticed he was noticing commercials.  

So.  I took the time and explained to him that the All New Re-Designed Most Awesome Toy Ever Now With 30% More Awesome that he saw on tv didn't really look like they showed on tv, nor would it work like they showed on tv, or, if it did, it would work that way maybe four times before it would very likely break.

His fat little chunky cheeks plumped out beneath his wide, bright eyes.  He blinked, and pointed to the tv, 'but it says so.'  "Yes it does. They will say all sorts of things to make you think it's the best thing ever to convince you to buy it.  That is called Marketing."

And over the years as their minds have been able to grasp more and more, I have explained Marketing and Critical Thinking via the

Absolute Gift Of Knowledge
as taught by Mr. Pfeiffer

that was 

"The Ten Most Common Forms of PROPAGANDA."

And,  I swear to you that every day since, I have in some way made use of the tools that man gave us to dissect and analyze claims in every shape, form, and manner.


No slogan, no advertisement, no politician escapes my scrutiny, my query, my critique.  And I've made two more just like me;  my children will not simply accept as fact and swallow biased and crafted falsifications placed before them.  To politics and big business and toy companies everywhere, I say 'Neener neener nee-eee-ee-ner!'

To Mr. Pfeiffer, wherever you are, I say "Thank you, Sir." 

Namaste.

{  Mr. Pfeiffer, as I recall him, was (in my now very clouded memory) a young-ish man - maybe 30, who: was possessing of a light-ish brown-ish coiffe which often times required pushing back to its late '70s feathered wing;  had a bit more to heft than he ought; who bounced and bobbed about in such a way as to seem almost nervous, but was not; had a habit of re- and re-tucking shirt over belly, into pants, under stre-e-e-etched leather belt;   was among the most enthusiastic teachers I've ever had; and, who taught me THE single most important lesson I ever learned in any school setting.  I am unsure of exactly when I came to this conclusion, but it was quite recently.  I had no idea the magnitude and scope of what that bubbly, boisterous man had gifted me.  }