My intention is to post a Thoughtful Thursday column each week and share some of the insights I have learned in the past week. Here are some of the things I’ve learned this week:
Stuff You Should Know – The Story of Spirit Halloween
- Spirit Halloween in the United States is well-known for being a giant Halloween pop-up store that sprouts up in old malls, strip malls, and old big-box stores that are 7,000-10,000 square feet.
- There are more than 1,400 stores in the U.S. between August and November. Some are within miles of one another.
- Spirit Halloween hires 25,000 temporary employees August-November. Stores close on November 2. Spirit Halloween’s online store is open year-round.
- 30-40% of stock carries over from year to year
- Keys to their growth plan:
- presence
- ads
- 10,000 foot storefront close to another big-box store such as Target/Walmart/shopping center
- expand beyond just costumes (include décor)
Life Kit: Health – How to cut ultra-processed foods from your diet
- Packaged foods – high levels of salt and fat, added sugars, added colorings, added flavorings, hydrolyzed protein isolate, high fructose corn syrup, bulking agents like maltodextrin – tend to have a lot of additives
- Foods that are made with ingredients derived from foods and reassembled to create a product
- There is a lot of research linking overconsumption of ultra-processed foods to poor health outcomes, like type two diabetes, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, etc.
- Look at the ingredient list. Ignore the health claims on the packaging. If there are ingredients you don’t recognize and wouldn’t have in your home kitchen, it’s an ultra-processed food.
- Even if it’s ultra-processed, look for things lower in sugar or no added sugars that have some fiber and protein.
- Craving salt? Think about eating nuts. If you love breakfast cereals, look for something with protein and fiber. Yogurt – look for something with low or no added sugar and use some fresh berries to sweeten it. Look for a high protein option.
- Canned items like vegetables and beans often have added sodium. You can rinse them in a colander to cut out some salt.
- Focus more on eating things you know you should be eating more of, such as fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables.
- Cooking more from scratch at home is always a better option.
- Aim for the 80/20 rule – eat 80% clean, whole foods, and splurge on up to 20% of your diet.
- Truefood.tech – tells you how processed food items are – look up your brand and product – suggests less processed alternatives
- This website is fascinating!
You can type in a brand and product and it will show you a processing score, ingredients (and additives), and alternatives and their processing scores!
Before Breakfast – Make it worth the commute
- If you are going to go into the office, make it worth the commute. Use your in-office time for relationship building and collaboration.
- You don’t want to spend your time and energy going somewhere just to e-mail and call people in other places because you can do that from home.
- When you’re just getting to know a new colleague, in-person conversations can be valuable. Schedule lunch, conversations, or coffee with a colleague during your in-office days.
The Big Flop – The Truth About D.A.R.E.
- Some studies show a higher rate of drug use among D.A.R.E. participants than those who didn’t participate.
- Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) is best remembered due to the ads and PSAs that were intended to promote “Just say no.”
- Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act – D.A.R.E. is the only program that is eligible for funding from this law, so they got federal money to go nationwide
- There was an 80-hour course for D.A.R.E. officers
- ¾ of all school districts in the United States used the program. Over 5.5 million kids were exposed to the program, and over 11,000 police officers were involved. Each year, between $600-750 million of taxpayer money was spent on D.A.R.E.
- Nancy Reagan – honorary D.A.R.E. graduate – backed D.A.R.E.
- D.A.R.E. curriculum:
- Alternatives to doing drugs: deep breathing
- Strategies to keep yourself safe at parks, shows, and the mall
- Ways to say no were all extremely obvious: just walk away, just ignore the person, change the subject, etc.
- Puts all drugs on the same level – alcohol, pot, cocaine equally serious
- According to one D.A.R.E. workbook, you can tell when a bunch of people are up to no good if they have tattoos (!)
- Merchandise
- Clothing with D.A.R.E. logo, pencils that said “too cool to do drugs” – depending on how much you sharpened it, it would bring the wrong message – eventually to just “do drugs” or “drugs”
- Criticisms of the program:
- Person who came up with D.A.R.E. testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that people who use drugs, even casually, should be taken out and shot.
- Recognize, resist, report – the report part attracts criticism because some people believe it’s turning kids into police informants
- Kids calling on parents and sending them to prison
- After multiple studies, the program was found to not work. The effectiveness of D.A.R.E. has yet to be established.
- Marijuana use by teens increased. D.A.R.E. makes certain kids want to try drugs- “you can’t tell me what to do”
- Ineffective primary prevention program
- The program stuck around until 2009 when it was finally phased out.
- U.S. spent over 1 trillion dollars on D.A.R.E.
- A new version of D.A.R.E. was introduced in 2009, keeping it R.E.A.L. Refuse, explain, avoid, and leave. Some initial research indicates that this program MAY be more effective, although it’s been criticized for a lack of focus on harm reduction.
- Misuse of funds and time
This post from Seth’s blog resonated with me this week:
How often do we assume that popular things are good, and that good things become popular?
If your work doesn’t catch on, does that mean it wasn’t good?
In almost every field, people with insight, taste and experience admire and emulate good things that aren’t popular, and are surprised by popular things that aren’t good.
Perhaps we need to broaden our definition (or narrow it) so we can be clear about what we mean.”
I look forward to reading, learning, and sharing more with you soon!
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