Cheronda Harris, Educator, Innovator, Strong Black Woman

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It is so difficult to be in a room of people and still be invisible.

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Welcome to another episode of Chewing the Fat. I am your host, Big Robb. I wanna say thank you so much for everyone, for the love and the outpouring of support for the podcast. As we launched our last week, it's really been overwhelming. So thank you so much. Also, I'm so excited about our guest this week. She is an educator, a fierce friend and confidant, and a strong, strong black woman. I'm excited to welcome

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Cheronda Harris to the show. Well, thank you, Robb. Thank you so much. Such an amazing intro. I feel like I need to hear that a couple more times, maybe two or three times a day for the rest of my life. Thank you so much. That was so awesome. All right. I'll tell you what I'll do is I'll edit out that little part there and then I'll create you like a ringtone or something. So like when I call you, that'll be the ringtone that goes off when I call. How about that? That work? I'll be expectant of that.

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I will certainly be awaiting that ringtone. Thank you. So Cheronda, how are you doing? Oh, Big Robb, I am doing well, I am. I'm a little tired these days, but it's a good time. Things are moving. You know, we're getting back to better. I won't say back to normal. I don't think that we

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our sense of what normal was in 2019. I don't think we'll see that again. So I'm choosing to think about it in terms of getting back to better and some things are changing this school term I taught virtually I taught face to face. I did hybrid. So it was just a lot.

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summer. So I went in today to get all of that kind of taking care of moving all of my things to a new place. So again, a little tired, but but really, really a good tired. It's it's, it's a mobile tired, if that makes sense, moving toward a particular goal. And so it's happening. And you know how it is when you you have a million things to do, and you think you've done

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half a million and then you lay down in bed at night and you're like, Oh, there, there's another half a million that neglected to even put on the list. So that's where I am right now. But even that's a good thing because you know, that means my cognitively I'm still ticking. So there's that. That's good. That's good. You know what? It is so weird to just think that, you know, really it's like, with all that went on last year, just that there was a whole year in between, you know,

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that folks really did stuff to, that you have to take into account for. Yeah, it's just crazy. Certainly. There were many atrocities and horrific things that transpired as a result of a global pandemic. I honestly never thought in my lifetime that I would even live through anything like that. You know, I mean,

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about going to school as a child and hearing about the or learning about the bubonic play or you know things of that nature never thinking or dreaming for one moment that you might experience anything you know that even comes close to that you know that's just it's almost as if

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of the history book and kind of sat with us. And so that's been, you know, that has been crazy, but I would be remiss if I didn't even acknowledge the fact that there have been some wonderful things that have come out of this pandemic. I think we live life just assuming that everything is going to be okay.

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And if the pandemic did nothing else, it made us slow down. Oh yeah, absolutely. For some of us, it allowed us to get really, really close or get closer to our loved ones in a way that we hadn't. And then even the separation of families has somehow, and I know it's oxymoronic,

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It's something to be said about wanting to see someone and not really being able to see them or wanting to hug them and not being able to wrap your arms around them. So you get really creative in how you let those that you love know that you love them. And so those have been some great things. And I just really have to say,

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have an almost 16 year old and. As if it wasn't enough to go through a global pandemic, she got her first boyfriend and her first heartbreak during this time. And. And just to be able to. And I know, you know, we can talk about puppy love and that sort of thing, but just to be able to to sit with her in in her feelings and to be able to talk it out.

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knowing that I needed to, number one, validate her feelings. But, you know, and say things like, babe, I know, I know how that feels, you know, and of course, we know it happens, but more likely than not, the first guy or first girl you ever date is not going to be the person that you ultimately end up sharing your life with.

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that way to a 15 year old. And it certainly doesn't feel that way to an isolated 15 year old in the middle of a pandemic. So being able to be there to wipe tears and to have her just say, mommy, I just need you right now. Can I climb in bed with you? To just be able to do those things,

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one, because I couldn't, but run out to go across town to clock in to a job or, you know, that sort of thing. It really, really brought us closer. And I pride myself on that because I know, you know, Big Rob, that I'm adopted. And the person who adopted me was older and we had a wonderful relationship. But there were just some things we just didn't talk about. You know, I, I

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can I can remember her saying, Oh, don't worry about that boy, you know, that sort of thing. And I know she didn't mean to invalidate my feelings, but it didn't take the hurt that I felt away. So in that moment, when my daughter went through that, it just it felt really good to be to really honestly be there and be present with her. And so, you know, just some of the some of

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that we can look at the last couple of years and say we've had some tough times, but there's some great innovations that have come out of that time as well. So I'm looking forward with expectancy of greatness. I love that. And that's such a great point of view, with everything that went on, folks losing loved ones. We lost a very dear friend to COVID,

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look forward to those times and the strengthening of those bonds, whether it be amongst family members or if it's amongst folks that you can't connect with and you realize you miss that connection. You realize that you miss being able to just sit and have a conversation. Now, I realize we have a conversation through a computer right here and some technological advances for being able to connect people through technology were really amazing. For sure.

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sit and have that conversation with someone like and share the same atmosphere with them. It just kind of hits a little different, you know? Oh, for sure. Do you remember this is this is crazy, but we certainly were in the middle of the pandemic and I was driving down the street and I saw you and I passed you and

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I was like, Oh my goodness, this is a big Rob. And I think I probably was already talking by the time I got to you saying, I am so sorry. I am going to hug you. It's just gonna have to happen. I love you. But that was like the highlight of like, that was such a great moment because you take people for granted, right? Because when you see them all the time and, Oh, I'll walk in. I'll walk in.

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I'll see Big Rob at work. And then that was taken away. It's like, wait a minute. Like that, that's, I am not liking the way this feels. I'm not, I'm not liking missing my people. And so, I mean, I knew in that moment, if I, if I only had a teaspoon of gas, I would have parked that car and I would have ran around, I would have run around

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I would have been out of breath, but I was not going to miss that opportunity to touch you and reach out and give you a hug. I couldn't pass it up. Well, and I certainly do appreciate it. Let me tell you, it was the highlight of my day as well because again, being in the middle of that, you see people when you're going out and you got to do your grocery shopping

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But you're not like, you know, engaging with people. It's not like seeing people that you want to see. You know what I mean? So having that someone you have a relationship with, someone that you love and being able to see them and hug them and you haven't been able to do that in like months, you know? So yeah, it was definitely the highlight of my day for me too. And I mean, I ain't gonna lie. I mean, it feels kind of special to have somebody like, you know, drive around the block and come back and see you. It's like, hey, I saw you, I want to give you a hug. You know?

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It just meant so much to me to even do that, you know? So. Well, thanks for not thinking I was a maniacal crazed walking, running towards you. Cause well, you didn't say you didn't think that, but thank you for accepting me. I'll put it that way. Thank you for accepting me. Of course, of course. How could I not? I mean, plus let's face it, the retribution of a spurned Sharonda,

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taken lightly at all. Correct, correct, correct. So you said you're moving to a new class, is that you're going to a new school, just a new room or what's going on with that? Just a new room in the school. This upcoming year is year 20 officially. Congratulations. Because I started a few years before, but I wasn't sure that I

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I was a substitute for a few years before I decided I'm going to go back to school and I'm just going to get my teaching degree. So this, this upcoming school term ends up being the official year 20. And so I am teaching fourth and fifth grade gifted and talented students. And so we'll be learning everything from genetics to electricity, Greek mythology, Greek mythology,

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architecture and forensic science. Wow. So I'm excited. I'm excited about those things. So it has been, it was the weirdest and most surreal thing to try and teach those types of things. When they're so well, we're so hands on in my classroom.

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curate activities and assignments for the students that were virtual, they just, they just, there's just no substitute for being in the classroom with, with the teacher and with the students. Certainly, we've done our best, we've done our best. But for a class

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source teacher. So my students get to come to me for about five or six segments a week. And segments, our segments are roughly 45 minutes to an hour. So my time one, my time with them is so precious. So we, we cut away the fluff that we just get right into the meat of it. But having to figure out how to

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students to get to the meat of it, besides because I'm not big on looking at a movie and just or reading a passage and answering questions like that. That's not where the real learning takes place for me. So it's been challenging this year to, you know, even keep my students engaged, getting them on our zoom calls or our team meetings or that sort of thing.

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So this upcoming school term, I am again, hopeful that we, you know, really take everything that we've learned. Now, let me tell you, when we started with this pandemic, when we went home, the first time we did not have, at least my county did not have anything.

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in place for virtual learning. We, we had a platform that was being piloted at a few schools to determine if that would work countywide. And the thought process was, we're going to let

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And in December, we will kind of start rolling out training for everyone else. Well, in March, we were at home. And that that's when we started rolling out this program. And so I don't I don't know that teachers get have gotten. I don't want to say a pat on the back, but for a number of teachers, we were building the plane as we were flying it.

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this new program that we didn't know all of a sudden, we were asked to not only go through the training modules, but get assignments in and, you know, do all of these things that we'd not done before, but guess what? Now we've done them, right? And so I can't wait to see what that looks like now that we have this under our belt. How are we gonna use it? And I hope that we, you know,

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really, really positive way. And I'm hopeful, you know, maybe even one to one district wide would be would be wonderful. I've heard that, you know, we may do something like that if we do great. I just, I'm just excited about what it could be. So there's that but I do teach fourth and fifth grade gifted and talented students. And I have but I have taught

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gender through sixth grade. Yeah. And you know you talk about virtual learning. And I mean, it's like wrangling cats in the classroom with them. I can't imagine trying to keep everybody's attention when they're trying to communicate through a screen. And all the stuff that they may have in their room that distracts them, or cousins, or brothers, or moms, and dads that are working from home remotely too when they're trying to learn. I can't imagine that type of distraction.

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You know, me personally, I've seen your classes and I know how hands-on you are with your instructions and me being a kinesthetic learner, I'd learn so much better being able to actually be doing something while I'm receiving this lesson or practicing this experiment or whatever. So I think it's just going to be phenomenal and hopefully those learns that we were able

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and be able to take it to that next level so that the kids will be able to learn even more efficiently now. Right. That's really great that you had that opportunity and overcome it and it's given you new tools and your quiver to be able to take back to the class. I am absolutely hopeful. I'll tell you, you know, we also, we can't negate the fact that our babies, these students,

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are inundated with images, fast moving images from their cell phones, from the games that they play. So that's all the time. And so we've got to be able to adapt our classrooms in a way that fits their learning style while also giving them the tools to be able to,

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You know, I'm not putting a ceiling on what could happen as far as how far we could take this and how it can simply allow us to innovate in the classroom all the more. So that's what I'm looking that's what I'm looking forward to. Does that mean, you know, that I record a classroom session so that a student who is ill gets the benefit of the instruction, maybe not the hands

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on peace, but gets the very same thing that everyone else says, I don't know. Um, but I'm, I'm excited about it and, and, um, really willing to, to do honestly, whatever it takes to make it, to make it happen. Yeah. And I can't applaud you enough as an educator and as all educators out there for, for the vastness of the amount of work that you had to do to make sure that there was like a platform for kids to continue to be able to learn in whatever

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to be in, whether it's virtual or in class or hybrid or whatever, I mean, I just cannot applaud you enough for making sure that they're gonna have the tools to continue to learn. Thank you. And even now as in today, history being made that Juneteenth is now a federal holiday that has been recognized as a federal holiday. I mean, just that is amazing that the history

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continues to be written and that's a lesson that is going to have to be taught. You know, where the message finally got to Texas, you know, from 1863. It took two years to get down to Texas. 1865. Yeah, well see, it's so it's not in the history books. Well, and it certainly wasn't

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school. And so what we know historically is that the Emancipation Proclamation, January 1 1863, Abraham Lincoln, you know, it freed slaves, well, that message just simply did not get to Texas for when there are several, there are several theories as to why. And, you know, who knows why, why that

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uh that they didn't but when when general Granger when he uh read it um on June 19th uh you know 1865 it was like hey these guys are absolutely free and uh that spurred an entire celebration as one

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And so that's where the beginnings of the Juneteenth celebrations have come from. But I do think, Big Rob, that with the political atmosphere and the racial atmosphere that we have experienced as of late,

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at least for me. So it's not for me, it's not something that I want to commemorate or remember, and enslaved people. For me, I want to think of it as a moment in history, where as Americans, we got something wrong.

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And we made it right. Yeah. Wow. And the, the efficacy of that is knowing that if we get it wrong, we can make it right. We don't have to continue to do the same thing over and over again because our father or our father's father or, you know,

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this thing. And so for me, you know, I want to look at it at as the spirit, the American spirit that says, Hey, we, we, we recognize that this, this wasn't supposed to be this way. And for whatever reasons, it ended up this way. At this moment, in

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were saying we're going in a different direction, the one that we were going in was not the right direction. And I just wish that, you know, honestly, more people would look at it in that way, because I certainly don't want to. I don't want to and I know this is gonna, I don't want this to sound disrespectful in any way. But yes, we were, you know, our

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were enslaved, I get that. And I'm gonna, and my, when I say my children at this point, I'm talking about my personal children. They know that as well. And I want them to know that for whatever reason, the message didn't reach Texas. And so Juneteenth is our Independence Day. So, you know, we celebrate July 4th as America's Independence Day,

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actually the Independence Day for your ancestors. And so, but I do want them to grow with the knowledge that we can go down a road and when we find that that's not the right way, we can always pivot and we can go down the right path. So that's the more important takeaway

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and what I want my personal children to take away from that. But also, you know, Juneteenth has far more ramifications now with the George Floyd case and Armand Arbery and just many others.

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Yeah. And that's not a bad thing. It's not a bad thing to shine a light on on something. And it's hard to be self correction is not easy. Okay. And so sometimes it takes a little bit of help. And so I'm hopeful that with everything that has gone on that, you know,

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we can continue to come together. And I say we because, Big Rob, I know for a fact that you have, you have had my back as well as countless others in, in what we will call the struggle. Even though the struggle that I have endured

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nothing. You know, it's not even it doesn't even hit the radar of what others have endured. But just to know that I have an advocate and a friend and you so I you know, I want you to know that I'm appreciative of that. But I just I'm I'm just thinking that Juneteenth,

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And it may be that just many people are just learning about Juneteenth and what it really is. And now to have it be a federal holiday. And so many, even last year, so many companies were giving employees the day off for Juneteenth. There's nothing like being acknowledged.

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and feeling seen. And it is so difficult to be in a room of people and still be invisible. So, Juneteenth, for me, is about being seen, being acknowledged,

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Again, saying that this was something that transpired and we didn't get it right. So we're changing it. And now to have that day commemorated on a federal level is just, it is for me, it is more than pen to paper signing into a law. It is, I see you.

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I acknowledge, I acknowledge what your ancestors went through. And maybe I won't go as far as to say it is an apology of sorts. But what I will say is, there's always a starting point, right? And you got to start somewhere. And so, you know, re-

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is extremely important, extremely important. But I wouldn't want it to just be Juneteenth that is being recognized because there are many cultures that are unseen, right? And so today, or this moment in history,

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is a starting point in my, that's the way I choose to look at it, is a starting point for us moving towards better in a place where there's been so, so, so much bad. You know, there's been, there's been some, and I'm not even talking about 1865 and 1863, I'm talking about 2020.

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21, you know, there's been there's been so much that but we can't allow that.

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darkness can never overtake the light. And so that's kind of where I am. And I'm hoping that it is a light that continues to shine not only on the African-American community, but for every community that feels in any way marginalized, that they will feel seen as well.

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Okay, Sharonda. So now we've come to the time to show where we dive a little bit deeper, where we dig a little bit deeper into ourselves and we expose some commonalities that everybody has, because everybody has down days. Everybody has those days where they feel like they're under a cloud. So what I like to do is to ask this question because I think it exposes such commonalities between all peoples, because we all have these down days. And you know,

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had conversations about how I deal with depression. But I wanna know, how do you stay positive and what do you do to keep the dark at bay?

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So that is such a powerful question. Number one, I have to start with...

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understanding.

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that my happiness is a choice. And that's so hard. And I don't even like to say that word, my students would just say, Oh, Miss Harris, you said a bad word. Because, you know, I always say you have to say challenging.

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But it is, it is my choice. And by that, what I mean is I have to find something every day to be grateful for. And it can be something as mundane as, I woke up before my alarm clock, you know,

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I always think about the big things. Oh, I'm grateful for my family. I'm grateful I have a house. But when you are going through, and you know that I have been very open with, I struggle with anxiety, and have a child that also has an anxiety diagnosis.

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Sometimes you can't see those things as things to be grateful for, you know? And so sometimes it is, I showed up today, you know? And sometimes it is.

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I got up and took a shower, I brushed my teeth. So it was something I really did not feel that I had the strength or the wherewithal to do. So I try to find something no matter how big or how small to find gratitude, to find gratitude. And one of the other things,

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which has been so, it puts you in a place of vulnerability, but it also takes all of the stigma out of you feeling like, no one ever has felt like this, I'm alone in this, nobody can understand. Finding yourself a person or a tribe, that person or tribe is not just anybody,

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someone who, when they hear your voice, they're like, okay, but what's wrong? What's going on when you say hello? Okay. Yeah. So tell me what's going on. Are you ready to talk to me about it now? Because I'm here for you. And I know you are not presenting your best self. Did you get enough sleep? What's happening? You know, and I even had this conversation with a dear friend. I said,

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I people when they ask you when they say hello, how are you? People have already gone on. They've already decided in their heads that you've said, I'm fine, I'm doing well, everything's great. So they are so far gone. By the time they that you answer, they've already heard your answer in

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to know or to understand that or, or to even want to hear I'm not okay. And I will sell them my friend. I said, you know, but the reality is I've, I've just not been okay. And I don't, I don't feel like I have anyone that I can tell that to. And it'd be okay. And that to be okay in and of itself. And she said, well, that's where you're wrong.

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call you every day. And I know that you're I know what you're feeling. And without being intrusive, you know, by asking, Okay, well, are you feeling better today? I just keep in contact with you. And I'll say things like, Oh, girl, what are you eating for lunch? That's my way of making sure that you are practicing some sort of self care, you know, and I thought, Oh, my goodness, like,

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how sneaky of you, but also thank you because thank you for knowing that, you know, I may tell and here's the other thing, Big Rob, I may absolutely say I'm doing fine and I'm dying on the inside, you know? So to have a tribe or a person that you can 100% be honest with and be vulnerable with

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It means everything. And I'm going to tell you, some people are going to say, they're going to some people are going to not agree with my statement. But I am going to tell you that that person has not always been my spouse. And I'm going to tell you that that person has

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have, we are in the rat race together to make the world spin, to, to make sure that the children are dropped off here and they make this appointment here and the groceries are being picked up and, oh, did you get the oil changed and just so many things going on. That person.

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while in a perfect world would be, you know, your spouse. And I get for some people, or maybe most people, that person is just always your spouse. And I'm just saying that that person is not always my spouse. You know, sometimes that is just my dear friend who just, again, is like, hey, everything okay? Because she doesn't have

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she doesn't have a dog in the fight, right? Of what's happening in my household. And so, so she doesn't have to worry about, you know, what bill needs to get paid and that sort of thing. And I think that's the work that we're doing over here. And it's not that we don't love each other or we're not caring for each other. We are just all trying to make our world spin.

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we get busy even with people that we should be able to slow down with. Sometimes. Do you, does that make sense at all? Oh, it absolutely makes sense. It, it, it, because it's, sometimes it's more like a business partnership, right? You know, then like a romantical type of partnership. Cause like I said, you, you've got the schedule, you've got to keep the kids on schedule. You got to make sure the bills are paid and everything's provided for.

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The relational, the intimacy, that stuff doesn't make it to the schedule, right? Right. So yeah, no, it makes absolute perfect sense. And that's why having your friend, you know, who your life is what she's invested in, you know, and for you to know that she's there to make sure that you feel heard and that you feel validated and like a basically like a judgment free zone, you know, that she's not judgmental against you.

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that you have someone to talk to, that you have that sounding board. Right, right. Without judgment, you know, without, without judgment and the ability to just simply be vulnerable. Listen, the reality is, I was working from home last Friday, got a call. And this

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person on the other end of the phone said some of the nastiest things that you would ever imagine to the point where I hung up and I notified a manager and you know, they said, okay, Sharonda, just like, just put yourself in our training mode and don't take any more calls tonight. And I did that.

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I got up, left my little home office and walked out, walked right into my husband, told him, and just simply like bawled, like just cry, cry, cry. So I don't want it to seem as though, you know, me saying that, you know, that person is, is not always my husband. I don't want it to seem as though, you know,

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he's not available for me, I think we are both doing the same thing. You know, I think we're both trying to keep as many balls in the air as we can. And so we're like, okay, you're good. Okay, you look like you're doing good. Okay. All right. Did you meet that deadline? Okay, well, I'm going to go this way. You go this way. We'll meet in the middle. Do you know that sort of thing? And while

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away feeling like, hey, anybody asked me how I'm feeling today? And for the record, did I ask anybody to be fair? You know, it's like, wow, so life can be very overwhelming in that way. But you know, find your tribe, find something to be grateful for every day. It doesn't have

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to be grateful for because the world needs you. And like just personally, I absolutely need my big Rob. You know, people call you big Rob on the show, but you know, big Rob is my honeydew. If there is anything that I don't understand, I will text Rob

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You know, to keep the doldrums away, to keep the depression away, I really think everybody needs to find themselves a big rock, because it does it for me, it just does it. And I mean, just just because we're being very transparent here, there are some people that I will squarely fight for you, you know, appreciate it. And, you know, I won't name a name of a person who you

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live here, but now lives in Philadelphia, but she knows who she is. And if she's listening, just know that she sneaked into town and she had a meal with Big Rob knowing, knowing that that should not have happened on my watch. And then let me tell you what else she did. She also posted a picture of it on

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No, no, no, no. Oh, it gets better than that. She personally, personally attacked me with said picture by sending a text message with that picture to me. Now you tell me she chose violence. That is what she chose. She chose violence. So, I mean, and I hope that you're listening. I'm not gonna call your name, but you know that your name starts with a D. That's all I'm saying.

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who you are and just stop it. Just stop it right now. So yes, we do COVID our big rob. So listen, guys, if you are wanting to figure out how to make the dark times go away, you got to find yourself a big rob. You got to find yourself someone who just by them being in the room, they

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And it's crazy that Big Rob, you know, has the challenges that he has because he doesn't understand the impact that his light has on other people. And so, yeah, that's just the bottom line there. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the whole truth and nothing but the truth. That is the unadulterated truth.

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That is not the revised standard version. This is not a test. The revolution will be televised. You need to find yourself a big Rob. That's what you do if you want to be happy and in a good spot. That's what you do. But again, this is self a big Rob, but you can't have mine.

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Alright, Sharonda, it's time for our final segment of the show. It's probably one of my favorite segments. This is Fast Five. Fast Five, Fast Five, fast five. Sorry, I don't have a theme song. I'm working on a theme song. I'll get one eventually, but I just don't have it right now. So I just got to do my own theme song right now. Fast Five is powered by Poddex. It's basically some random questions I'm going to be asking you.

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friend Travis, there are some physical decks as well you can get, but they're great conversation starters so if you got a report at school or you know, you got to stand up in front of some folks and you want to do some icebreakers, check out Pod decks, you can find out a link on the website at chewingthefatbr.com. All right, but I'm gonna ask you five questions, just your first answer that comes to mind, no wrong answers, and we're gonna get going here. All right, and let's hit the randomizer button here and this is our first question.

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What do most people take for granted that you've vowed to never take for granted? The love of my friends and family. Oh, that's a great answer. That's a great answer. Okay. I would have said hell, but I am currently not dieting or anything like that. So I didn't want to feel hypocritical. So there's that, but it's up there. But, but yes, no, it was my first answer. All right. All right. Question number two,

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you

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What do you need more of in your life?

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Ooh, what do I need more of in my life? Ooh, I'm going to go with more positivity, more people around me that are willing to, you know, see the glass as half full so that in those moments

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head or get down that I will have a constant reminder of all of my blessings. Yeah I used to say that I was like one of those you know glass half full type people but I've modified it now. Now I like to say ain't you glad you got a glass?

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Yes, I like that. I think I'm going to have to modify that too. Thank you. Yes, I'll be taking that. All right. Question number three.

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All right, you're given one wish, but you can't use it on yourself. What would you wish for? I can't use it on myself. One wish. Can't use it on myself. Okay. All right.

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I am going to go with...

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everybody on the planet.

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treating people as they would want to be treated.

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That's what I'm going with. That's what I'm going with. That's a great wish. That's a great wish. I mean, of course they're like, you know, masochists out there and also, you know, that's not gonna work out for some folks, but still that's a great wish. Oh my gosh. Okay, okay. I didn't do so well on that one. Okay, okay. No, no, look, you did fine. You did fine. This is not, this is not a test.

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Listen, I'm a teacher. This is a test that wasn't a great answer and we acknowledge that and we're gonna move forward Because we're gonna have another chance to get it right. Okay, okay. All right question number four. All right I'm ready now. Are you? OCD about anything Am I OCD about anything um, I

51:18
about hygiene, about, and what I mean by that is I am OCD about my students sneezing into their elbows and getting hand sanitizer and that sort of thing. But apparently I have been like that. That wasn't just a COVID thing. And fun fact, there is an article in the newspaper

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I was pregnant with one of my children and there was an I was quoted in an article and apparently I said the same things like I just want you to sanitize your hands and be I just want the world to be clean. That's all I want. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. All right. Final one. Final.

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Back in high school, what would be the strangest thing someone could find in your locker? The strangest thing that someone would find in my locker in high school was my lunchbox. And I'm going to tell you why. Because my lunchbox was the head of Mickey Mouse. It had the ears. It was black. It had the nose. It had, it was.

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like a three dimensional head. Literally, the head. I begged for this lunchbox and my mom bought it from me from Sears. This is crazy. And at the very top, you would, you know, like you would open the lunchbox and it would be clunky the way it sat because it was conical. It was like, I mean, it was,

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sphere except for the big old nose and the ears. Okay. I missed that lunchbox. I hadn't thought of that in quite some time, but yes, my Mickey mouse head lunchbox. That's great. That's great. And I would say that to be a pretty strange thing, but they're there. Sharana, you did it. You ace the test. You ace the test. It wasn't a test, but you ace the test. Okay. No, I don't think, wait a minute, wait a minute.

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I wanted, I wanted, I wanted a 100, but you don't think you can ask me one more question just because. It's a fast five. It's, it messes up the alliteration. If I had another question in there.

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Okay, we're just gonna we're just gonna leave it right where it is. Okay. Look, don't say look look look This is my class. I'm the teacher. So i'm gonna give you 100. Okay, you get no I didn't earn it I didn't earn it. It just you did earn it. No, you did you earned it? Oh my goodness, it has been such a pleasure talking with you man. This has been wonderful Thank you so much. Cheronda. Thank you for being on the show. It's been a pleasure me always

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love our time together. I can't wait to see you again in person. And I can hug your neck without you having to stop the car and double park and run across the street. So I'm looking forward to that. Yeah. And I'm looking forward to just being able to have more conversations like this with you. Thank you so much for agreeing to come on the show. I know you said you didn't care

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look at your socials and stuff like that. But a beautiful soul speaks is your Instagram handle is a underscore beautiful underscore soul underscore speaks. I love the quotes and the reposts that you put up there. They are very inspirational to me. So I want you folks to be able to get a little that light that you shine as well. Oh, folks want to check out Cheronda, you can find it on there. Yeah, honey. Come on out, honey. I am just I am just out here

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putting out things that I just want to remember. I need to go back and look at those things and remember who I am and, you know, what I am called to be and, you know, how to make it through. So if any of what I have out there resonates with you, then, you know, that's great. I'm excited about that. So yeah. Well, thank you, Cheronda. Wait, wait, I'm gonna be Instagram famous. That's what's gonna happen. Oh, I'm gonna be

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influencer. I don't know exactly what I'm going to, how that happens, but yeah, I'm already claiming it. Well, you already an influencer to me. So, so you got that going for you already. So, and I appreciate you. That's why he's my Big Robb. And again, anybody out there, especially the lady with the name that begins with D but lives in Philadelphia, you heard what he said. Wasn't talking about you.

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I don't want to have to forward this episode to you, but it would be my ultimate pleasure to do so. So I just want to go out with a bang and just say, yes, I am going to be petty. Yes, I'm going to let her have it. Crazy, thank you again. It's been my pleasure. And thank you for listening. If you want to find out more

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Cheronda or any of our other past guests, you can find them on the website chewingthefatbr.com. If you'd like to support the podcast, you can also buy me a coffee on the website as well. Speaking of which, I want to say a very special thank you to Kara Jones listening down in Florida for buying me a coffee. I really do appreciate that. You can also find links to Jason the 29th did the amazing logo design for the show. Also Jacob Johnson did the great theme music.

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check out more about Pod Decks as well on the website. So thank you again for tuning in and I look forward to the next time we'll sit down and chew the fat.