Mike’s Food For Thought

September 10, 2007 (GBN News): While many New York City parents and politicians struggle to make sense of Mayor Bloomberg’s intransigence over his school cell phone ban, the reaction of some others suggests that there may be a method to his madness. GBN News has interviewed a number of city parents who seem to feel that the Mayor’s statements are having the desired effect.

One parent, Floss Medwick of Brooklyn, told GBN News that when Mr. Bloomberg said that parents only want their kids to have cell phones so that they can call them and ask whether they want beef or fish for dinner, she had a revelation. “My daughter’s a vegetarian”, she realized. “She doesn’t eat beef or fish, so she doesn't need a cell phone!”

Bob Flick, whose son travels from Brooklyn to middle school in Manhattan, said the Mayor struck a similar chord. “My son hates fish. All he eats is beef. Why would I have to call him? I already know what he wants for dinner. Goodbye, cell phone!”

Another middle school parent, Grace Partridge of the Bronx, realized that by taking away her children’s cell phones, she saves enough money to serve both beef and fish each night. “Now I never have to call them,” she said. “We threw the phones into the river. Thank you, Mayor Bloomberg!”

Other parents, though, feel that the Mayor is still out of touch with their experience as city parents. “What about chicken?” asked Floyd Caslow, a parent of a high school student in Staten Island. “Does he think New Yorkers just eat beef and fish?” But Mr. Flick counters that the Mayor is probably just trying to say that food is a distraction to children’s learning, and that the fewer culinary choices they have, the better their test scores will be.

In a related story, the Mayor claimed victory in today’s City Council override vote. Apparently referring to the two Council members that supported him, Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement, “By a two to one margin, we beat every single Council member who voted to overturn the veto.”