Bagel time

They also listened when people were against the renaming of Plantation street. If there are enough people against something that it causes people to speak out, then reps do listen to their constituents.

That is NOT a 3.5 hr drive. A trip from JFK to holden is going to push 5hrs. Just getting out of the city might take like a whole hour.

Why dump $200+ dollars and 5hrs when you can just buy a one way ticket from JFK to Worcester's airport or the airport in Providence for a fraction of the cost and time?

But...why??

JFK is basically long island proper. The absolute hassle and expense for a car trip from JFK to holden MA would be intense. Get a taxi or uber to get you to Penn Station... and get on the Acela (express/faster) amtrak line to Providence RI....then get an Uber back to Holden via rt46.

Or schedule your flight schedule to include a leg from JFK to TF green or Logan. (Better yet would be schedule your final leg to get you to Boston or Providence airports rather than NY)

Indeed. Fuck FIFA.

Yeah....this is your mistake. Everything at Shaws is wicked expensive. If you want a good egg deal, go to trader Joe's ($2.99 for 12) or wegmans (2× 18packs for $11).

FYI also to all those doing Thanksgiving grocery runs: just saw at TJs that 3 herb packs (sage, thyme, rosemary bunches) is $2.99 (compared to $2 for each herb at most other places). Pomegranates for $2.99 each. Whole Butternut squash $2.99 each no matter the size. They also are selling heritage farm turkeys and Kosher turkeys, if that's your jam. Other jems I saw were whole roasted and peeled chestnuts, cedar&balsam candles, portobello mushroom consensed soup, vegan brioche bread for stuffing, and "Thanksgiving stuffing" rice.

Seconded

Do you think you're talking about my kids? You are super weird in your assumptions.

Hate to break it to you, but there are none. And will never be any. So you can rest easy.

>Maybe someday your kid’s bane will be in the ballot… maybe that’s not such a good thing though. I dunno

What does this mean?

SO many questions from people too...even though the whole process is straight forward...people are in a hurry and stressed! Especially since many online sites that give you your ballot... didn't have question 5 on it. Lots of people were like "what is this one" and we said it's totally fine to take out your phone and look up ballot questions. A lot of people thought phones were not allowed. They aren't...if you're using them to record people and be harassing about it.

It was fun. I was the youngest volunteer there by at least 30yrs. Got to hear funny stories from the old ladies. Our security officer had a K9, who was a very sweet German shepard. Highly recommend volunteering to be a poll worker. I got into it because covid in 2020, as older workers were hesitant to volunteer because they were at higher risk. Kept at it since. More volunteering means more precincts can be open... so it increases voting access.

Finished up volunteering as a poll worker at the worcester tech precinct for most of the day! Good amount of people, especially younger ones! Good amount of first time voters who just turned 18 and really wanted to do it in person.

If you need to bring your kids along, that's totally fine! In fact all the little kids I saw loved seeing the process of voting. In fact right now the average time is less than 10min to check in a fill out those ballot bubbles! So go now!

Democracy dies in darkness....so vote!!

Yeah, defintely go out as much as you can on the weekend. Worcester businesses tend not to be open on Mondays. Go to Worcester Art museum too. It has a lot of fantastic gems.

Go to the Canal District and check out all the fun little shops and restaurants.

Top ones to check out: seed to stem, birch tree bread, bedlam bookstore, Worcester public market, lock50, baystate brewery, mochi doh, insomnia cookies.

Ignorant? Interesting. Where exactly did you move from?

Where do you live where stangers will start talking to you in lines? This is not New England vibes. Don't give a new person a false sense of the culture around here. People will not be waving to him at the big box stores.

For newbies u/michrubio, this is how it goes:

New England/MA people will seem standoff-ish at first. This is because we don't deal with fake friendliness. We're typically very tempered in our interactions with people we don't know. We are respectful of your time out in the world getting shit done, as we are getting shit done ourselves and don't want to dilly-dally. Doing errands is a focused endevor. If you wave to us we're going to be confused and think you are waving to someone you know. But if we're friendly, we mean it. We're not disingenuous and we follow through. If we say we'll show up to help you clear your side walk from snow, we will show up. We may seem prickly at first but that's just until we get to know you. (Like don't be upset your new neighbors aren't knocking on your door with the welcome wagon... that's not what we do...but it doesn't mean the neighbors won't eventually become friendly...) The attitude around the region is that we don't fake any false sense of familiarity with people. If it's not authentic, we're not going to bother you. But it just means that when we are friendly and warm, it's absolutely authentic and we are not blowing wind up your skirt.

There is a saying of the differences between someone from CA and someone from MA: "people in California are nice, but not kind...while people in Massachusetts are not nice, but are kind".

Kumars up by the Wegman's shopping area in northborough...head past Wegmans and it's in the back near Ultas.

>They should try taking a lesson from that research park... rename all of their on-site roads with cutesy names, get the city to designate their addresses all off of those, and list their Plantation St address as the number for the site.

Agreed. Umms is essentially boxed in by Plantation street, North Road, South road, and Lake Ave. Within it are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, abd 5th roads, all within campus. First road abuts the 3 research buildings which have Plantation street as their address. They could petition for an address change for those buildings to be First road instead. And First road could be chanbed to some cutesy name like Discovery Way. Or they can look at Worcester’s own legacy of historical scientists, inventors, and discoveries for inspiration for new names that would pay homage to the city of worcester while having a "science-brand". Names like: Stoddard, Pincus, Enovid, Tolman, Goddard, or Thurber Roads.

Yes and no... N Lake Avenue is an address for a couple of the campus buildings, but the main research buildings (LRB, ASC, and the new Neuro building being built) have Plantation street addresses.

Which brings me to the behind-the-scenes reasons for UMMS's seemingly out of nowhere insistence on renaming Plantation street....

From work, I asked around of those who are on admin positions, and in-the-know about these kinds of things, what the deal was with this Plantation name change petition. So the push is coming from the chancellor of the school, Michael Collins...and he's using the diversity angle and one of the DIG/DEI officials at umass to push the plantation-slavery connotation narrative to get the street change.

What I heard was that UMMS is looking to rename the other streets around campus, such a North road and South road that are w/in campus to be more "branded", i.e. like how other research campuses in the country name campus roads to be "science-y" like "Einstein circuit" or "Curie Way". They prefer that Plantation street be renamed to be more branded because the new research building being built will have a Plantation street address. UMMS leadership has been wanting the addresses to their main research buildings be made more research-centric, like "Discovery Street" or similar.

They need to make it about racial connotations, or else the city of worcester would just laugh at their request to change the name of a 4 mile long street. They aren't putting in a request to change the names of north and south roads just yet until the Plantation street situation is figured out, because if they did it now...it would be obvious that UMass’s real motive was selfishly to get a better branding opportunity.

It's actually coming from the chancellor of the school, Michael Collins...and he's pushing a consultant (umass hired at 6 figures to do a campus analysis on diversity) to push the plantation-slavery narrative to get the street change. This is not something altruistic from Collins because he's concerned about the word "Plantation" at all... It's a PR red herring to do 2 things: distract from the racial inequalities in things such as promotions within UMMS and to help UMMS's brand.

I was asking around at work today what the inside take was regarding UMass's insistence all of a sudden to push Worcester to rename Plantation street. The reality is no one cares about the street name b/c there are far more pertinent things going on within Umass like anti-labor and discriminatory practices within departments.

What I heard was that UMMS is looking to rename the other streets around campus, such a North road and South road that are w/in campus to be more "branded", i.e. like how other research campuses name roads to be "science-y" like "Einstein circuit" or "Curie Way". They want to rename Plantation street to be more branded because the new big building being built will have a Plantation street address. UMMS leadership has been wanting the addresses to their main research buildings to be made more research-centric, like "Discovery Street" or something like that.

It's just corporate BS, like it usually is. The real push is coming from the chancellor that a new street name would help the UMMS brand and get more big donors. They are weaponizing virtue signaling as the excuse to make it about racial connotations, or else the city of worcester would just laugh at their request to change the name of a 4 mile long street. They aren't putting in a request to change the names of north and south roads until the Plantation street situation is figured out, because if they did it now...it would be obvious that UMass’s real MO was selfishly to get a better branding opportunity.

Nope. Plus then-named Central Street was mainly zoned for businesses; private residents weren't living on the street. Plus it's a very short street. It was chosen for the MLK name change because it wouldn't disrupt many people. Plantation otoh is a 4mile long street and includes lots of large apartment complexes. The number of private residents who would have to spend a lot of time and money on the street change is in the multiple hundreds. It is not an insignificant ask and burden for people, who I might add are majority POC. UMass gets to rebrand the street for themselves while the burden of cost-to-cjange goes to the taxpayers of Worcester and doubly to all the residents of plantation.

I actually do what I preach...I have POC high school students come to my lab at umass to mentor them in 1) what a STEM career can look like, 2) help them see how a STEM career is something they can do, and 3) help them get into more colleges with a lab internship on their CV. Basically give them opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t be afforded to them, unless they cane from rich families with connections. But by and large, I'm the one who does the heavy lifting trying to do outreach into area schools. The diversity initiative at umass is a joke in most ways that can have practical applications to ACTUALLY help out the local community. Basically all they have to offer is red tape and "oh that sounds like a good idea" but don't follow through. They COULD invest all the time and money from this street-naming campaign into expanding the diversity outreach people like me, and a few other labs, are already doing on our own time. Like I'd LOVE to have an admin assistant dedicated to communicating with area guidance counselors and interested research labs to match each other up with interested HS students. But I guess the street nane thing is FAR too important than expanding the "silly" notion of getting HS students in a school-to-STEM pipeline.

I also cannot explain enough how much this street thing is a big PR bandaid on a much larger UMass issue has with POC employees. I feel like it's a big distraction IMO....a big fat red herring. UMMS has an issue with department heads not promoting or hiring women/POC people when their CVs are top notch. Looking at top level leadership positions in departments, there is a lack of both women and POC....and that is definitely not due to a lack of excellence women and POC have on the job. There also is a great deal of ablism through UMMS leadership, that those who aren't neurotypical are not given promotions even though their work output clearly should be recognized. I can tell you in absolute terms that people in the UMMS community are not complaining about the street name. The biggest issues in the community right now are the anti-labor activities and institutionalized rascism internal to the medical center. I feel those issues are trying to be rug swept with this new street name PR campaign.

And I'm glad I'm not the only one to see through this thinly veiled cosmetic attempt at "fixing racism" by doing nothing but making it harder on the current residents of Plantation street (by the way are majority POC and who will be forced to bare the brunt of time/fees to change their address).

Thankfully seems like someone on the council board sees through this too: from the Boston globe

>The Worcester City Council is expected to hear the petition at its weekly meeting Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. From there, it will be referred to the Public Works Committee, which oversees local infrastructure related to streets and public buildings.

>George Russell, chair of the Public Works Committee, called UMass’s petition “not well thought out” and “inconsiderate” to the home and business owners along Plantation Street, which stretches more than 4 miles. Changing the name, Russell said, would require hundreds of people to update their drivers’ licenses, passports, mortgages, and more.

>“It’s one thing if it was a small street, and the people who owned property or rented properties all came together,” Russell said. “It’s almost like asking each one of them to move.”

>Russell said he previously spoke to Anderson and suggested creating an honorary name for the section of the road that runs along campus.

>He said he understands the university’s concerns, but noted that there are likely other parts of Worcester’s history that may be offensive to some and said the city has more pressing issues to address.

>“If you look up the word plantation in the dictionary, there’s no reference to slavery,” Russell said. “I don’t know any history of a plantation or plantations [in Worcester].”

>Plantation Street was the first road built on the Quinsigamond Plantation, a village established by European settlers in the 1600s, according to an account of local history by the City of Worcester. The site was destroyed in King Phillip’s War, a bloody conflict between settlers and native tribes including the Nipmuc, and rebuilt as Worcester, according to the Worcester Memorial Auditorium.

>Russell’s district includes the bottom portion of Plantation Street and all of Plantation Terrace.

So this is someone who actually represents the regular people who live on plantation-named roads. Good! Thankfully they are thinking about their constituents and not a corporate entity telling the city what to do at the expense of "the little people".

It honestly makes me sick that there are people who are wanting to do this without regard for how it will affect the lives of those who live on plantation-named roads. Just so a six-figure paid diversity consultant umass hired can add to their resume that "they helped fight racism" by doing the most minimal effort possible. People throw around the term virtue-signalling way too mich nowadays (like the boy who cried wolf)...but THIS...this is an example of exactly what virtue-signalling is and how it does nothing to actually help real societal issues. Again...who are going to be the ones paying fees for name changes?? Notice UMass isn't coming out to say they'll be forking over all that money to the worcester residents affected!! Who...again are majority POC who live on plantation-named roads. Yeah...."let's put a monetary burden on some POC people on the Worcester community so we can feel smug when we drive home to Northborough". Litterally the opposite of how you help a community fight against racism.

I also want to know if they are going to pay for each and every resident along Plantation Street the fees associated with changing their address on governmental forms, like deeds and getting a new issued ID/drivers license?? UMMS wants it so bad, so THEY should be shelling out the $$. If not them...would the city of worcester do it? VERY doubtful. So OF COURSE it will be on the residents of Plantation street.

It goes much farther than just changing a street name, because there are real life issues associated with someone's address being changed. Like I hope the people who live on and own property on Plantation Street go to that council meeting and express how time consuming AND expensive it will be for a major road to be changed because someone decided one morning their CV would look better when they smugly add in that they got "that terrible slavery road" changed in the area under "diversity and inclusion". 100% this is a stunt to make someone's resume look better so they can get promoted or get a better paying job.

There is a whole history of this steet that I've sure the person initating the name change is unaware of. In 1637, the first settlement of Worcester was called the “Village of Quinsigamond” or the “Quinsigamond Plantation.”  Plus...this isn't re-naming a street with an OBVIOUS Jim crow era nod, like "Lynchburg" or "Robert E Lee". I guarantee you that this is coming from someone who does not know Worcester history, doesn't live on Plantation Street, and probably doesn't even live in Worcester.

I am all about equality and equity in the workplace, but this kind of stuff grinds my gears because it it such an obvious attempt at virtue signaling in the worse way. Like smugly saying "I did something"..... without you know....actually putting time and effort doing sonething that acrually helps to fight against implicit bias in the workplace or institutionized racism in the sciences. This is the epitome of lazy I'm-gonna-do-something-but- don't-want-to-put-in-effort PR move to make people feel better about themselves.

Like...how about doing something for the Worcester community that positively affects people... like more UMass outreach into the worcester public schools, which on a whole represent underrepresented minorities, and help these kind of kids in the sciences? You know...like a school-to-STEM pipeline instead of a school-to-prison pipeline? I think that would be MUCH better than slapping a new name on a street and saying "oh racism is fixed!!"...and "welp, it's your problem now with the address change thingy but I SURE DO feel better". Oh wait....but going into the community that entails ACTUAL effort. No no...pressuring the city to change a street name will be just as good and make them feel better about themselves that thet did something for "the POC". When come on.... it's self serving bullshit made to make themselves feel better.

Kumars, but the Northborough location not Boston.

This was a tip originally given to me by a high school student who was doing an internship in my lab (and who was Indian and said when her family just wants something easy and takeaway that they go there).

Negative reviews are the norm because we are cranky and locals will always know of "that one other place that is a little bit better". Negative reviews sometimes are just a reflection of NE crankiness. Wait until to see someone post here on the local page asking for "the best local steak place in central MA" and it will look like a hilarious shit show.

Yeah, absolutely go to Wegman's if you haven't been there. Probably the best local Indian restaurant is also in that shopping plaza down by the Ulta.

>I heard someone say that the difference between New England and CA is that NE is kind but not nice while CA is nice but not kind.

As once living in CA when I was a kid, this hits the truth so hard.

It's like the difference between a friend who is nice to everyone's face and is super sociable but will talk gossip behind everyone's back to stir the drama...vs...the friend who is aloof and hard to read but ends up being a loyal friend for life and is the one who will get your drunk ass home safe.

>I offered to rent a moving truck but the guy would have none of it. He put it in his truck along with a shelf I thought was cool and delivered to my place in the snow for free. Couldn’t believe it.

Hahaha....yeah litterally the least surprising thing to hear honestly. Like...my neighbor randomly called me last February at like 10pm because he made a chance purchase on a large screen TV at Best Buy for a ridiculously good open box deal....but has a sedan and couldn't fit it in his car. So he was in a precarious position on a cold night and definitely needed help to get it home. I was like, yeah that's fine. Like I didn't get an suv to NOT load random shit in it. It was random but kinda fun.