APR 27, 2020 – Good Monday Morning. As if we were all standing around a virtual water cooler together, let me ask, “Did you happen to see Dr. Dorothy Birx on the Sunday morning shows yesterday?” When pressed for her opinion on reopening states, I thought she shared a great analogy: Think of it not like flipping on a light switch, but rather turning a dimmer switch up a little at a time.
Because no one wants to undo all the progress made by six weeks of social distancing and sheltering in place, medical experts and public officials alike were echoing her emphasis on data. “We’re focused on what we’re learning,” Dr. Birx said, “and using that data to drive our decision-making.” Next, in New York, Governor Cuomo confirmed, “Our reopening strategy is data driven.” Oklahoma’s Governor Stitt stated that, following a data-driven approach, he is reopening his state, adding, “We’ll watch the trends.”
Listening to these wise ones wrestle with what I see as a quite sobering subject, I was surprised to find myself chuckling, and it didn’t take long to realize why … last week, my great storyteller niece Jennifer shared that she and her six-year-old Madison had been hunkered down doing first grade homework: Introduction to Data Collection. (That’s right: Yikes!) In her always-clever way, Jennifer explained, “Each of these wee researchers had to come up with a survey question and two differing answers from which respondents would be asked to choose.
“We started with, ‘In Star Wars, do you believe there are more good guys or bad guys?’ but decided that, with that one, we might lose the respondent otherwise known as Grandma Shirley, so we moved on. ‘Which is your favorite hockey team?’ was our next idea,” revealed the now data-driven mom, “but, to this question, our mini but mighty Columbus Blue Jackets fan rightly hypothesized that we would end up with all kinds of erroneous answers and meaningless data because, of course, to that question there is truly only one appropriate response: ‘Yay, CBJ!’ We kept brainstorming.”
“Candy seems like a sweet subject!”
Jennifer reported that it was when she proposed, “Candy seems like a sweet subject!” that she and her research associate agreed, “So, between FaceTime and phone calls, 10 people were asked which type of candy they prefer: Chocolate or Fruity.” Based on frequent talks on the topic with her mom’s workmate, Madison felt comfortable fudging respondent Amy’s answer when she couldn’t be reached. Sure enough, it was later confirmed, “You are correct, Madison! Chocolate, hands down. I view fruity candy as a complete waste of time and calories!” For the record, overall, chocolate was preferred seven to three.
Between weighing American lives vs our economy, and chocolate vs fruity, is quite the leap. But, sometimes, it’s just that kind of silly distance that we need. In this new week of same old same old hunkering down — counting our blessings while on hold — let’s remember that grabbing the grins when and where we find them can lighten our hearts and help keep us going.
Have a safe, kind and healthy week.
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
As a retired teacher, I loved this story of an assignment and I also love chocolate, no decision to be made there. Can’t believe a 1st grader is learning about data! Thanks for sharing, it made me smile!