While Town Shuts for Storm, Sledders, Plow Drivers, and Cooks Keep Going

Ethan and Bella Guy show off their rainbow-colored snow tube. PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTOS

The schools? Closed. Town Hall? Closed. The Library, YMCA, Calendar House, Community Services? All closed. 15 to 20 inches of snow – the totals vary depending on who you ask – will do that.

But that doesn’t mean everything in Southington was shut down, or that no one was out and about.

Take the sledders on the hill at Camp Sloper off East Street. Late Monday afternoon, the tracks leading down the slope near the power lines were packed from the dozens of kiddos who had come out with their snow tubes for some wintertime thrills.

As Kevin Guy watched his children trudge up the slope, he reflected that there weren’t as many good places to sled in town as their used to be, what with all the new development. Maybe Oak Hill by Flanders Street? (Online commenters recommended Panthorn Park.)

His son Ethan suddenly raced down the hill at top speed, hoping to hit the jump fast enough to go airborne for a moment. Ethan’s older sister Bella preferred a more leisurely pace, steering and turning over the bumps.

Snowtubes seem to be the way to go on Monday – a pair of toboggans and sleds sat unused in the frigid snow pack. Yet Guy, thinking again of the past, recalled another, more more creative alternative: “My buddies and I once went sledding using an weightlifting bench we turned over. It was fast – you’d be surprised.”

Ethan hits the ramp at the bottom of the hill.

Meanwhile, downtown, the walls of piled snow had turned the sidewalks into icy trenches. Highway Department employees plowed all night to keep the streets passable, while landlords and contractors cleared the walks with snowblowers.

During the worst of the storm Sunday, most local businesses were shut down – but not Taqueria la Juquilita at 190 Main Street. The owners, Israel Hernandez and Flor Reyes, live nearby, so for them, coming in to work was no big deal. “We were open yesterday. I live close, a five minute walk. You work in the kitchen, you always have to work,” Israel said.

Asked how business was during the middle of the storm, he answered, “A lot of workers came in the store,” most of them plow drivers. Their favorite food? “Everything,” he smiled. “Memelas, they really like memelas.” Memelas consist of a corn flour pancake topped with meat, cheese, beans, and salsa – an essential part of the Oaxacan cuisine that Taqueria la Juquilita specializes in.

“It’s authentic, it’s what we make at home. Memelas, tortillas, quesidillas, tacos. Nobody has it like this,” he said. He and his staff proudly showed off a Google award from last summer declaring their shop ‘best Mexican in Southington.'

The warm restaurant stood in contrast to the icy parking lot outside. Workmen, some running on minimal sleep, kept coming in from the cold to grab their take-out. Once fortified by memelas and energy drinks, they set out to finish the remaining driveways and parking lots on their lists.

Israel Hernandez and his wife Flor, who run Taqueria la Juquilita.

The taqueria's storefront.

The Anxious Generation, Part I: The Problem

CREATIVE COMMONS STOCK PHOTO

“Young people today are different.” Yes, it seems every older generation always says that. We also like to say, “when I was a kid, we walked to school, carried our lunch, were always outside…” While all of this may be a cliché, the harsh reality is that we are experiencing a dramatic increase in social, emotional, and mental health issues, as well as substance abuse and suicide, compared to previous generations. Should we be concerned about this? What has caused it? Is there anything we can really do about it? 

Jonathan Haidt, in his recent book The Anxious Generation, addresses many of the questions mentioned above. Members our Southington school system read his book a year ago, and it warrants a public airing. I have already discussed the issues raised in Haidt’s book at our Southington public library class on January 17.

Haidt points out that around 2009 some dramatic changes started appearing in young people, changes that can be tied to internet technology: cell phones, social media, and video games. I was still teaching at SHS then, and I saw changes in how students interacted with each other and with me – as well as an increase in suicide attempts, substance abuse, and mental health challenges. Haidt also cites evidence for physical changes in the developing brains of young people as a result of these technologies.

Technological progress makes our lives easier, enhances communication and connection in the world, and vastly increases the availability of information. Yet it also produces negative impacts. Tech companies study how to deliver quick rewards to young people, dopamine hits that keep them hooked. Many for-profit companies intentionally seek to hook young people, thus altering brain and cognitive development, and increasing rates of anti-social behavior.

While many parents were thrilled to find that smartphones or tablets could keep a child happily engaged and quiet for hours, few understood the mental health, developmental and socialization damage that was being done. The frontal cortex of our brains, essential for self-control, delaying gratification and resisting temptation, is not fully developed until the mid-20s, and preteens are particularly vulnerable. Gen Z became the first generation ever to go through puberty with a portal in their pockets that called them away from the people nearby and into an alternative universe that was exciting, addictive, unstable, and often unsuitable for children and adolescents. 

The average young person today spends five hours a day on the internet. COVID isolation did not help, either. No wonder that student self-reports of feeling isolated or lonely have escalated.

When studies started to show this, many parents and adults went into defensive denial. Few realized that the developing brains of impressionable young people were being rewired. Social media inflicted damage on girls, while video games, porn, and gambling damaged boys. In-person physical play and socialization were replaced by addictive internet content.

In addition to the Great Rewiring of Childhood, as Haidt describes it, parents have also became overprotective of their children, restricting their autonomy in the real world. Fears of kidnappers and sex offenders reduced free, unsupervised outdoor play. As a phone-based childhood replaced a play-based childhood, more young people prefer to stay indoors and play online. There some wandered into adult internet content with little adult supervision. Some even looked for emotional support in AI or online, with some shockingly negative consequences. The indoors is not much safer than the outdoors.

Haidt describes a grim situation. A law passed in 1998 called COPPA was supposed to protect children by requiring consent, and 13 became the “internet age” as a result, but it is easy to bypass this barrier.

Still, Haidt also suggests some other specific actions we as a society can do to counter this. I will talk about some of these ideas in my next column.

Gov. Lamont and Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz Visit Southington's F & F Concrete

In the foreground: Gov. Ned Lamont, Rep. Chris Poulos, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, Lauren Forgione, Dan Forgione. PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTOS

The front office of F & F Concrete was packed Wednesday morning as Lauren Forgione, the president of the company, and her brother Dan welcomed Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz on a tour of their business.

The visit was arranged by 81^st District State Representative Christopher Poulos, who made introductions and moderated a discussion, the express purpose of which was to help state and local officials better understand what small businesses need to grow and succeed.

In the foreground, Poulos, Bysiewicz, and Forgione.

F & F Concrete was established 73 years ago by a pair of veterans, Ralph Forgione and Jack Foley, who served together during WWII. The concrete plant facility was originally located on Buckland Street while the garage was at 110 West Main.

In 1982, Ralph bought out Jack and continued to run the business with his son David. As it grew, it offered new varieties of concrete, and expanded into areas such as materials recycling. The concrete batching plant that is visible from downtown Plantsville, with its impressive tower and conveyor belt, was constructed in 1989:

Lauren, Dan, and their brother David Jr., who are Ralph’s grandchildren, now run an operation that has some 60 employees and 30 trucks. They said that they are always on the lookout for qualified mechanics, truck drivers, and other machine operators. The jobs are well-paid, with starting salaries of $35 per hour for workers with little prior experience; at the same time, the jobs can be very stressful, and require mastery of technical skills.

Much of the conversation in the office revolved around steps the State of Connecticut could take to put F & F in touch with prospective employees. Bysiewicz asked whether veterans would be a good fit for the company, given how many of them have experience operating large, expensive pieces of equipment, and was answered in the affirmative.

She also asked Lauren about the prospects for women in the industry. Lauren commented on how much things have changed over time: when she started her career, she said, she was usually the only woman in the room, but now she often encounters two or more other women at a site or in a meeting. Bysiewicz expanded on this observation by noting how high school ‘Girls in STEM’ programs (STEM standing for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) can be a win-win for everyone, as they open up a new pool of potential employees for firms like F & F, and prepare women for well-paid jobs in a flourishing industry.

Lamont for his part observed that Connecticut is an “old state” with aging roads and bridges that is going to need companies like F & F as it goes through the long process of updating its infrastructure. He also said that if you are driving a cement truck, you can be pretty sure AI is not going to take your job.

Dan added that concrete is likely to be in demand as a building material for a very long time, given its combination of strength and versatility at a relatively affordable price.

The group then moved outdoors so visitors could observe F & F’s concrete plant in action. One driver had the honor of loading up his truck as the State’s top two executive officials looked on:

While the tour was taking place, the third Forgione sibling, David Jr., was up in the control room of the plant overseeing the machinery that injects special additives into the mix and keeps it at optimal temperature. David offered the Outsider a quick tour of the structure, which is believed to be the tallest building in Southington and has a good view of Plantsville:

After the Governor and Lieutenant Governor departed, a smaller group of visitors went with Representative Poulos to visit F & F’s new truck garage. A massive structure, it has radiant-heat flooring and the capacity to house several of the firm’s trucks at once. There Poulos asked Lauren and Dan more questions about F & F’s needs and opportunities, and their role in the Southington community.

According to Poulos, this will be the first in a series of small business tours in Southington.