Season 1 Episode 26a
A field trip to different my friends’ parents’ places of work is something I wish I could’ve done when I was younger. While many of my classmates’ parents worked for the government or large national nonprofits and thus in more traditional office settings (which wouldn’t make for the most exciting field trip), some did have cool jobs that would’ve been fun to see behind the scenes of. My dad, for instance, did web strategy for the Smithsonian museums for many years, which were a mainstay in field trips when I was younger, so whenever we went there, it kind of was his place of work (even though his office wasn’t at the museums, per se). This is the first time Mr. Ratburn’s class does something like this, the second coming in “Citizen Frensky.”
I definitely think that the way Francine tries to hide what her dad does reflects how those jobs are seen as dirty, gross, and undesirable (take Muffy complaining about her shoes getting dirty the second they got to the dump–you’re at a dump, for crying out loud). But really, the dump is the coolest part of this entire field trip. At Crosswire Motors, Mr. Crosswire shows them a slow day in the showroom and eavesdrops on his associates trying to rip customers off. The ice cream shop might have seemed exciting to the kids at first and it kind of was, but clearly Mr. Ratburn wasn’t so gung-ho about the ice cream flavor that bore his name. At the dump though, Mr. Frensky does a great job of making it fun for the kids and showing them how trash can be put to good use, like making playgrounds and ball pits (although Buster thinking that Mr. Frensky is a secret FBI agent is funny). My first grade class took a trip to the dump (or the “I-66 Transfer Station” to give it its official name) and they also talked to us there about sustainability and how things are made out of garbage.
Another episode where everyone goes home happy, especially Francine, who goes from being skeptical to on board with her dad’s important work.
By Guthrie Edson
HOME
HOME