{"id":1118,"date":"2019-10-20T19:22:05","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T02:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1118"},"modified":"2019-10-20T19:22:05","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T02:22:05","slug":"social-studies-homework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1118","title":{"rendered":"Social Studies Homework"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou ready?\u201d Blanche called back to Dennis. \u201cC\u2019mon, I want\nto get to Walmart. Bring your homework, you can do it there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis came out in his sweatshirt and ball cap. He grabbed\nhis school backpack as he passed the kitchen table. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the way into town Blanche asked him, \u201cYou know what\nyou\u2019re supposed to do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, remember, I told you last night. You even had me\npractice on you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know nothing, did I?\u201d Blanche and Dennis laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, you didn\u2019t. But at least you didn\u2019t yell at me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s got you worried. Now if you are polite and\ntalk to people straight, not mumble people will be polite to you. Oh, and\nalways remember to smile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis still seemed worried. Blanche thought it was a pretty\nodd homework assignment. She asked, \u201cYou know all the answers to them\nquestions?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He nodded. \u201cI got an \u201cA\u201d on the test.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blanche whistled. \u201cAin\u2019t you something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They parked in the Walmart parking lot and the early\nSaturday shoppers were in full force. \u201cYou know,\u201d Blanche offered, \u201cYou could\noffer to help them out with their groceries and ask them the questions then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis nodded. Blanche clapped him on his shoulder. \u201cWell,\nyou get at it. I\u2019ll go shopping.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blanche went in the doors and Dennis got out his clipboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExcuse me sir, can I ask you some questions? I have a\nhomework assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grey-haired man grinned as he slowly pushed his cart\ninto the lot. \u201cI won\u2019t be getting you in trouble if I help you with your\nhomework, will I?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo sir, you see, that\u2019s the assignment, to ask you some\nquestions. It\u2019s for my social studies class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell you go right ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis started reading from his clip board, pencil in hand.\n\u201cDo you live in Latah County?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYup\u201d Dennis checked a box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you vote?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlways\u201d Dennis checked another box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you know who represents you in the Idaho legislature?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a tough one. I think it\u2019s that Risch guy and maybe\nthere\u2019s a new guy, I think it\u2019s Fullmer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis frowned and studied his sheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow about who the Governor of Idaho is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, that\u2019s easy, Butch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis frowned again, not sure what to write. \u201cIs that his\nlast name?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo sonny, it\u2019s Otter, Butch Otter.\u201d The old man grinned.\n\u201cHe\u2019s been for a long time, you know that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOK, thanks. Can I help you with those bags?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis had a sheet of paper for each interview, so he slid\nout a new one as he approached the mom with three small kids. She was frowning\nso he smiled, then she did too. \u201cCan I ask you some questions for my homework?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat kind of questions?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for social studies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, you go ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said she didn\u2019t vote but it turned out she knew two out\nof the three state legislators and three of the four Idaho congressmen. \u201cHope\nyou get a good grade,\u201d she called to him as she belted in a toddler. \u201cYou sure\nare brave to be out here asking questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes ma\u2019am. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He ran into some folks from Washington so he had to excuse\nhimself. Then he asked the older woman with a near empty cart. He offered to\nhelp her and she agreed to answer his questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh yes, I vote, always vote straight Democrat.\u201d She smiled\nabsently. She couldn\u2019t name a single representative at the state level or in\nCongress, but it didn\u2019t bother her a bit. \u201cI don\u2019t read the paper anymore, I\njust watch the TV. Can you believe that Trump character?\u201d Dennis helped her put\nthe bags in the trunk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blanche asked him on the way home, \u201cWhat did you learn?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis frowned. He wasn\u2019t sure how he was going to write his\nreport. \u201cIt seems to me some of the folks who vote shouldn\u2019t, and some of the\nfolks who don\u2019t ought to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou ready?\u201d Blanche called back to Dennis. \u201cC\u2019mon, I want to get to Walmart. Bring your homework, you can do it there.\u201d Dennis came out in his sweatshirt and ball cap. He grabbed his school backpack as he passed the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1120,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118\/revisions\/1120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}