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see-jess-write · 5 years

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Parent-Teacher Night

Tagging: Matthew Davidson & Mercedes Jones ( @indiemercedesjones ) When: August 7, 2019 Where: Lewiston Middle School Notes: Matt’s late to his meeting to talk to James’ 1st grade teacher.

Mercy

Mercedes made her way up the three rows of chairs, placing the name plates down. She had just finished doing most of the meet and greets. She had one last meeting but they seemed to be running late. Walking to her desk she knocked down a stack of papers and bent down to pick it up. Someone knocked on the door. "Come in." She said grabbing the last of the papers before standing fully.

.Matt

Matt thought he’d get out of the station right at 6 but a call that came in at 5 kept in longer than expected and he rushed to the school to get to the whole teacher parent thing set up with James’ first grade teacher. Matt couldn’t get over his son being in first grade and as he hurriedly walked down the hall he felt a giant in there. Matt found the class and went in right when he was greeted by the backside of who he assumed was the teacher. “Hey. Are you Ms. Jones?” He asked as he stood and tried not to find this entertaining.

Mercy

Mercedes nodded moving over to the taller man and extended her hand. "Hi yes I am Mercedes Jones. And you must be Mr. Davidson?" she said taking in his appearance. He was taller than her 5'3 height so it was an adjustment looking up to him when she usually looked down tot he kids. "Nice to meet you. Please have a seat."

Matt

“So...?” He asked asked after their handshake. “Do you prefer Mercedes Jones or am I supposed to call you Ms. Jones? Though I’ve got to admit it makes me want to sing that song.” He delivered this with one of his signature, dimpled smiles. Matt went to a chair and sat, feeling huge in the seat. “Sorry I’m late. Had a fire to put out. Literally.” He settled and leaned forward on this forearms. “Am I the last parent of the night?”

Mercy

"Mercedes is fine, and no thank you no need to sing." His smile wasn' lost on her. "Its okay I was told you would be late. And yes you are. This is just to go over any questions you may have, any needs James might have. So you are a fire fighter?"

Matt

“You sure? I can’t sing with a damn but I do put on one hell of a show.” The thing with Matt was he felt right at home talking to people, even those he just met. “And, I don’t really know what to ask. I did read what you gave out on Monday and it felt pretty straight forward. He seems happy with things so far and likes the kids in his class.” Matt shared and nodded with a smile. “Yeah. Been slinging the ol’ hose for about nine years now.”

Mercy

She looked at him and nodded. "Yeah I am sure. " She said picking up her folder for James. "Yeah well I like to be straight forwards. James is a very bright and fun child. I do see where he gets his sense of humor from though." She nodded. "Well you should come back for career day, I am sure the kids would love to get a look at you in your uniform." She placed her glasses on and smiled. "So I moved James to the Blue reading group. Which is good, he is very advanced for 6 years old, you should be proud."

Matt

What was with this woman? It was like talking to a brick wall that was all business and no joining along. Maybe with the fact she was around kids all day that it must’ve stifled her fun side...”I am proud of him. He’s a good kid and he’s taken over reading stories some time back. He prefers to read them to me but lets me join in whenever he gets too tired but doesn’t want it to end just yet.” Matt thought about the career day and it actually had him grinning. “Do you know when that career days happening? I want to make sure I give notice for it. Maybe see if I can get the guys and the truck over here.”

Mercy

Mercedes nodded. "I can tell. He enjoys music class as well. I know its just the first week but I can pretty much tell when a kid really enjoys learning." She saw him light up and smiled. "Usually its in September. I can give you the date before you leave. We also have the camping trip you might want to participate in. Its just an overnight at the camp grounds but the kids really loved it last year."

Matt

“Has he tried to teach the other kids classic rock songs? I play a lot of that around the house. And awesome. That’s enough time to get the word out.” Matt then realized he had a question. “Have the kids shared what they’ve done for summer? We moved back from Amsterdam and I have pictures he can use to show our time there.” They spent a year and a half there and as much as he enjoyed it, this was home. “Camping, eh? Now that I can get behind.”

Mercy

Mercedes smiled. "Yes, good to know he gets it honestly." She shook her head. "That is next weeks assignment. Pictures are always good. It allows the kids to feel like they were actually there. Though Amsterdam is a very unique place to go too." She handed him the flyer for camp. "I give you enough time so you can take off. "

Matt

“I’ll get the pictures printed by then and let him have fun with picking out which ones he wants to share with the class. His mom moved to Amsterdam a couple years ago and he wanted to be close to her. Not that it did any good because she still hardly saw him.” Too much information? Doesn’t matter, he was still pissed about it. “Thanks, Mercy.” He read over the flyer and knew exactly where this place was. “I went to this camp when I was in 6th grade. I didn’t know it’s still around.”

Mercy

Mercedes nodded and frowned as Matt spoke. "I am so sorry Mr. Davidson. I cant understand parents who dont wanna be around their kids. If I were a mom, nothing in the world would keep me from them." She didnt mean to speak up like that, but absent parents bugged her. "Mercy?" She raised an eyebrow then nodded. "Yeah the kids love it. And it's a great way for parents to bond with their kids."

Matt

He sighed and leaned back on the chair, stretching his leg out some. Damn that felt good, even when this chair felt ready to break under him. “Did I call you that?” He didn’t even realize it and chuckled. “I’ve got a thing of changing people’s names. Shortening them. Guess I did it without thinking.” He rolled his head to the side and looked more at her than he did before. Kind of checking her out but in a subtle way. “How long you’ve been doing this anyway? Can’t be more than a few years. I’d guess this is your first but you seem pretty on top of the show here.”

Mercy

"You did, it's a first I mostly get Cedes." She closed her file, he seemed like he was tired and could use a break he did just come from a fire. "I've been teaching for five years, but I moved here last year. New change and all. And I mean I like to stay busy, it's just me and Chewy so I have more time than some of the other teachers." She stood. "I know you are tired and want to get home to James, so we can cut this short. If you have any questions here." She handed him a paper. "My email and phone number are there. And if I am called or emailed at night I try to answer by the next morning."

Matt

“Cedes, huh? I can see that but Mercy reminds me of Uncle Jesse and I can see myself going that route and possibly annoying with you with that line at some point in the future.” Was he hitting on her? Well.....she is pretty hot and Matt didn’t notice any ring on her finger. “I’m assuming Chewy is a dog or cat and that you’re not actually shacking up with a Wookie. But hey, I’m not one to judge.” His hands went up after he said this and chuckled, acting a damn idiot but still amused by his antics. “Yeah. I should get going. J likes to recap his day while we make dinner together. Thanks for the call. If I do reach out it’ll probably be more by text. It’s easier for me.” He got to his feet and felt wobbly and off balance for a second from being down so long. “Thanks for sticking around to talk.”

Mercy

"Mercedes shook her head. "Uncle Jesse is still hot so I don't mind being called that." She wanted to keep things professional but the image of her dating Chewbacca was too funny. "Chewy is my dog, he's my baby. And don't hate on Wookie love, I heard they give the best cuddles. And text is fine, I don't mind." She stood and when she saw him wobble she went to him holding his shoulders. "You okay?" She looked up to him. "Are you sure the fire didn't mess you up? Do you need to go to the doctors?"

Matt

Matt wanted to get into everything she just said but the reaction she gave, getting on her feet and everything, caused all his focus to land on that instead. “I’m good. That chair wasn’t exactly Matt sized and I hadn’t been down off my feet like that in awhile. But no, no need to rush me to the doctors.” He assured her. “Just seeing you react like that tells me J is in good hands while he’s in your class.”

Mercy

Mercedes nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that. They chairs are pretty much kid friendly and not adult friend, if that makes sense." She smiled, letting him go. "I promise your son will be in great hands! Don't worry. And you are free to come help out anytime you want."

Matt

“You just want me to come babysit the kids while you watch Star Wars.” He said as he laughed. “And I’m still not sure about this Wookie love, but whatever floats your boat there, Mercy.” Matt didn’t bother changing it back to Mercedes. Why should he? “Okay. I think I’ve taken up enough of time tonight. And that’s only because I can hear the floor waxer machine whirring down the hallway.”

Mercy

"Excuse you I will have you know that the kids can watch themselves, I am just a glorified babysitter myself. And don't hate the wookie love boo!" she said with a smile. Looking out the door she nodded. "Yeah he hates it when I stay late. But yeah enjoy your night and say hi to James for me."

Matt

“Then you should put a cardboard cutout of you at the desk and hang out under the actual desk like George Castanza did on Seinfeld. They’ll never know until one of them comes and asks a question. Then they’ll think you’re ignoring them and that’ll create years worth of therapy for that kid.” His damn imagination got ahead of him and he knew it was past time to leave. “Don’t tell me you’re the last one in here? I can at least walk you to your car since you stayed late waiting for my ass.”

Mercy

"Lord I do not want to traumatize the kids." she packed u her bag and slipped it on her shoulder. "Its nothing new I am always late around here." She smiled at him. "Well if you are gonna try and be a gentleman the least I can do is let you."

Matt

“If I was trying to be one I’d have a suit and top hat. Fancy the shit out of it and look like someone straight out of a Jane Austen story. This is just me, doing my Matt thing. And why do you leave so late? I thought teachers usually called it quits around 6.” Matt went to the doorway and walked out to the hall where he looked over the artwork on a bulletin board.

Mercy

Mercedes covered her mouth as a snort came out. "Wow. I can't even believe you said that." She shrugged. "I know they do but most teachers have families to go home too. I like being here, it feels less lonely." She shrugged it off. "Ignore I said that."

Matt

“See. Now you’ve gone and hurt your dog’s feelings. He probably thinks you like being home with him but you’re here instead.” It felt surreal to be in a school after hours. As if he was about to disrupt some ritual the teachers do at night. “But I get it. The nights my parents have James its me and my beer and Netflix. Or Hulu. I like variety.”

Mercy

"He is with the dog walker until I get home, I am not that mean." She locked her door and walked out the building. "Oh so you get your "netflix and chill" on huh? But I use Amazon too."

Matt

“Dog walkers hang out with the dog after they walk them?” Matt’s Silverado was parked on the other side of the building but he’d just hoof it after she left. “Netflix and chill’s when you’ve got someone over.” Matt grinned, winking at her. He needs to stop. “Ah. Prime. I let that go but I heard some shows are worth checking out.”

Mercy

"My neighbor always wanted a dog but her mom won't let her so we worked it out to where she takes care of chewy when I am not there and she gets a dog and gets paid." Did he just wink at her? Was he flirting? No he wasn't she was definitely tired. "I mean I supposed." She reached her car and smiled. "Well thank you, I appreciate you walking me."

Matt

“Almost like you’re co-parenting a dog. That was a real nice thing you did for them. We weren’t allowed pets growing up so I feel that.” He stopped next to a car and did one of those bows and pretending to lift a hat off his head at the same time. “I bid thee a goodnight, fair Ms. Mercedes Jones.”

Mercy

"Yeah well I wanted to make her happy and I did. I love Chewy and this way he gets the best of both worlds." Mat bowed and she smirked. "Why kind sir I do thank thee and wish thee a goodnight as well." She said unlocking her door.

Matt

He laughed, glad she went along with this. Matt walked back a few paces and stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets and waved her off after she backed up and pulled away. Matt knew he skirted a fine line there but it wasn’t his fault his son’s teacher smoking hot. “Not a bad parent teacher conference.” He said to himself as he started the trek to his car. “Wonder what she’ll say if I send a meme as my first text...”

#para: mercedes #v: hot for teacher #muse: mercedes jones #opp: mercedes jones

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adambstingus · 7 years

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Whats Worse For Your BrainDrinking or Playing Football?

Our correspondent drinks for a living. Is he putting his brain at more risk of damage than a football player?

I woke up Sunday morning with a throbbing headache. Id spent the previous night heavily sampling a selection of rare whiskeys with some friends.

That may have been fun, but now here I was, still in bed at 11 a.m., barely able to keep my eyes open, hardly able to think, certainly not wanting to turn on the days NFL games.

A parent cant consent to giving their kids a cigarette or a beerwhy can they consent to him playing tackle football?

And I thought this cannot be good for my brain.

The effect of NFL action on the brain is one of the hottest topics of the moment, with the movie Concussion opening this Christmas weekend.

In that film Will Smith portrays Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist who first brought to light the appearance of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in American football players.

Thanks partially to Omalus work, nowadays when we watch the constant brutality on the football field, when we see players crashing their heads into each other down after down, when we notice aging players getting dementia (and worse) once retired, many of us have even started to wonder, Can I ethically enjoy football any more? Myself included.

At the same time, though, I often put my own brain in serious jeopardy too.

Yes, I am a professional drinks writer. Mid-day cocktail tastings. Evening scotch samplings. Beer festivals on the weekends. Trips to breweries, distilleries, and wineries. You should see how much free liquor gets delivered to my house on a daily basis!

People often tell me I must have one of the best jobs around. But they arent the ones that have had to drink literally every single day for hell, who knows how many days in a row it has been now. They arent the ones that wake up many mornings with a hangoverjust another occupational hazard.

So, with all this in mind, I decided to ask some football concussion doctors about the effects of my equally dangerous profession on my own precious brain. I wondered, how bad is my drinking compared to playing football?

Was a single whiskey shot equal to a QB sack?

A night of heavy beer drinking equal to a half of football?

Did my brutal Sunday morning hangover feel worse than it did on a Monday morning for a running back?

Neither Dr. Omalunor Will Smithreturned any of my calls, but luckily I had other accomplished doctors willing to answer my questions.

Dr. William Barr is the Director of Neuropsychology at NYU Langone Medical Center.

He is a clinical expert on epilepsy, forensic neuropsychology, and sports concussions. He has testified in numerous cases involving forensics and in civil cases involving MTBI (mild traumatic brain injury). More importantly, from the mid-1990s until 2004, Barr was a neuropsychological medical consultant for the NFLs New York Jets.

He quickly understood the somewhat silly concept behind this piece, and even why a professional drinks writer had reason to be concerned.

I used to think about boxers, he told me, noting that this was before all this concussion talk was in the mainstream. People used to say boxing was the only way for a kid to get out of the ghettobut he had to put his brain at risk. How terrible it was that society forced them to do this! But I also thought about the typical Mad Men-era businessmen. They had to do the three-martini lunches for their workthey too were pickling their brains just to get ahead!

Barr is a bit of a firebrand when it comes to talk about concussions. In fact, he believes concussionswhether from football or otherwiseactually have a fairly minimal impact on future cognitive functioning.

When you look at the studies and what happens three months after a concussiondo you know what meta-analysis is? he asks. I dont. He explains that, In science, rather than making conclusions based on a single study, you look at all the literature. Put it into a similar metric. Whats the overall effect based on many, many studies? So now, maybe, youre looking at 300 people over 10 studies. What it shows is the overall effect (on your brain) of a concussion after 30 days is lower than the effects of intoxication.

The study Barr is citing is Grant L. Iversons 2005 paper Outcome from Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Iverson didnt study alcohols traumatic effect on the brain per se, but he did find chronic cannabis use to be worse on overall neuropsychological functioning than an MTBI (mild traumatic brain injury) was on a person just one to three months after the injury had occurred. Likewise, he found chronic cannabis use to be slightly worse on future memory functioning than an MTBI.

For Barr, that was enough for him to deduce for me that alcohol abuse would be probably likewise worse on the brain than head injuries from playing football. Uh oh.

Barr isnt completely speculating, as he has co-authored his own significant studies. With a team of other doctors and PhDs he helped pen Cumulative Effects Associated with Recurrent Concussion in Collegiate Football Players and Acute Effects and Recovery Time Following Concussion in Collegiate Football Players.

Ive studied athletes more than the general population. With them we can get information before their injury and then after, he tells me. And what that shows is that 95 percent (of athletes who have a concussion) recover back to normal in 7 days or less.

He tests alcoholics brains in a similar manner to how he tests concussed athletes. He interviews them and then gives them a series of tests, ones mainly based on memory functioning (they have to remember a certain story).

So I might notice, this person has problems with attention and remembering things. In the past theyve been a 10-drinks-a-day alcoholic and now it looks like theyve pickled brain.

Though well-honored and quite thorough, you can probably see how Barr is considered a bit of a contrarian for his thinking on concussions.

Barr was even dismissed from the NFLs MTBI committee in 2004 by then-chairman Elliot Pellman, another former New York Jets team physician who is not without his own controversy.

I wanted another doctors opinion on my potentially pickling brain. Dr. James Paci, a professor and orthopedic surgeon, specializes in sports medicine at Stony Brook University Medicine. Hes also the football teams doctor.

First, he clarified that he was neither a neurologist nor brain physician. Despite that, he was trained to deal with concussions on a day-in, day-out basis in his own role as team doctor.

My expertise is how do we treat these athletes, Paci told me. What do we look out for? How do we prevent long term consequences?

However, unlike Barr, Paci somewhat struggled with the comparisons I was hoping he would draw for me.

Certainly there is some connection between alcoholism and Alzheimers, brain diseases. Drawing a parallel between drinking and football though? I dont think anyone has made that correlation. Though he does note, The rock n roll lifestyle and athlete lifestyle certainly do have some comparisons.

A man like Paci believes that both football and drinking are inherently dangerous, but thats OK, so long as we acknowledge the risk involved in both activities and, thus, let potential participants make informed decisions.

Ive had concussions before, Paci tells me. Anyone who plays sports has had one before.

Paci is about my age, having played football at Yale University in the late-1990s, while the slightly-older Barr played during a time head injuries werent treated all that seriously.

Back in the day when I played high school football, Barr tells me, you pretty much had to be in a coma before they did anything about it.

So both men had played football at a fairly high level, had head injuries on the field, and were still able to become prestigious doctors. But did they drink?

Not routinely, but I do, Paci tells me. Most doctors do. There are certainly benefits to some alcohol.

(Ive been saying that for years.)

I do, Barr also tells me. Everything in moderation. A little bit of alcohol can be good for the heart. Theres good data for the red wines. Some scotch in moderation, a finger a day maybe.

So you guys drink, but now knowing what you know, would you let your own children play football?

On that point Paci is fairly strict, believing young children simply dont have the body control and should stick to flag football or two-hand touch.

A parent cant consent to giving their kids a cigarette or a beerwhy can they consent to him playing tackle football?

Barr has a six-month grandson he absolutely wants to play football some day.

Should that boy play football or not? My take, from what we know right now: the chance of getting dementia, the prospect of a 13-year-old boy who starts football getting dementia one day is, lets say, 1 to 2 percent. Im being liberal, Barr tells me. But lets say that boy is not allowed to play football. Instead junior becomes fat and gets diabetes and high blood pressure. Now he has a 30 percent chance of dying of dementia.

So to Barr inactivity in this country is a much bigger problem than helmet-to-helmet contactinteresting, because drinkers on the whole are statistically much more active than non-drinkers according to the Center for Advancing Health.

That papers lead author, Michael French, a professor of health economics at the University of Miami, found that alcohol users not only exercised more than teetotalers, but the differential actually increased with more drinking.

I dont fully understand the relationship, Barr admits, though he has a speculation. Maybe people feel like after visiting the gym, they deserve to do something bad.

Its true enough anecdotally for myself, though Im a bit more of the reverse. I do something bad the night before, then feel the need to go jog five miles the next day.

I ask Barr point-blank, It seems like you ultimately think its safer to play in the NFL than to drink heavily?

Yeah, you could say that, he confirms.

This did not sound good for me. But what exactly did heavily mean? This week alone I sampled new whiskeys on Monday, drank wine with dinner on Tuesday, visited a hot new cocktail bar on Wednesday, went to a brewery opening on Thursday, and hit happy hour with friends on Friday.

Luckily, Barr relieved some of my concerns about any sort of future with dementia, simply telling me, You would not be on the phone with me, or even able to write this story, if you were drinking too much.

Regardless, I think Ill start trying to be more cognizant of my intake. As Paci ultimately summed up for me: The brain is an amazing thing. Your head hurts when you bang it. So you try not to bang your head again. With a hangover, theres obviously something similar going on there.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/09/28/whats-worse-for-your-braindrinking-or-playing-football/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/165813833432

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samanthasroberts · 7 years