Ruby Payne

Ruby Payne will be speaking at the Life Church in Bluffton on Sept. 6 at 8:30 a.m. Ms. Payne is a widely read author who writes about poverty and class in America. Sevens member Jon Bennett will also be involved in an afternoon session just for educators. Payne's theories are quite interesting and describe how the poor, middle class, and rich often talk past each other because they miss subtle communication queues they each learned as they were growing up. She discusses how the different classes in America have different skill sets that serve them well, but sometimes hamper communications.

It sounds quite interesting and makes me wonder how things have changed in the schools since we were Bears, Dodgers and Wildcats. I don't know if we were all in the same socio-economic class back then or if we just cared so much less about such things, but we mostly seemed to get along., don't you think? At least for the most part.

I do know that when I coached Little League at Foster Park for a few years, and helped at Harrison Hill, Memorial Park and South Side while my older kids were there -- it seemed much more difficult to simply talk to each other than I remember growing up.