T.V. Party Tonight!

Race, does it even matter? The answer is yes, very much so. Sadly most Americans judge people on their race and have created stereotypes for almost all of the races that exists here in the U.S. In class this week we talked about how we have convinced ourselves that race is biological and cannot be changed, but is that really true? Sure, we can't change our roots but when we go to different places of the world we are each considered something different to that country. So in a sense our race can change and I never thought about it like that. I'm not sure if I'm totally convinced if that's true or not, but it makes sense.
What's funny is how we just look at people and we "know" their race automatically. We did a similar activity in class were we looked at someone and categorized them into different races. Our end results were not so great, we got only three right. So lesson learned; you can judge a book by it's cover.

Money, Money, Money!

Today in class we split up into groups of 4/5 and played monopoly, but it wasn't your average board game rules. In my group the 5 of us each rolled the dice for a social class and decided fairly. I got the lower middle class status. We each started out with an amount of money and i started out with about $675 in my pocket. At first it seemed as a pretty decent amount of money to have and as the game started playing out I found myself in difficult situations, deciding to buy something, in order to gain more money, or deciding to pass on it. I decided to be a good spender and not buy everything i landed on that was up for grabs, except the electric company, which ended up being a mistake. I mean I stayed at a good amount I just lost about 5 or 6 bucks, but still I could of made more. And now looking back if that was my real life I would have to obviously spend more for food, clothing, housing, etc. With having about $600 in your pocket a month for all your daily needs I have a feeling that wouldn't last me a month. Especially with my life style being raised as an upper middle class, $600 is certainly not enough for the other 3 people in my family including myself. Although I have been raised as an upper middle class, my parents and grandparents were not. They had all came from Poland with barely anything in their pockets with just the minimum clothes, some food, and money. With the lack of money they had to find a living place for my grandparents and my mom and aunt and save enough for my mom and aunt to have a decent education. As for my dad he was born and raised in Poland in a poor community with a house that they had to share with another family living upstairs, so basically an apartment. Leaving Poland and coming to America was a pretty good choice for them. My parents and grandparents had to build their way up from the lower class to, what we are now, the upper middle class. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Don't Be So Stuck Up, Please?

With most of Stevenson being upper middle class, when do you have time to associate with the ones who aren't? Hmmm....let me think, not a whole lot. And just by saying most of Stevenson is upper middle class I just separated the different classes there are in the world. So, I believe that separating people of different classes is just what people do naturally. It's what most of us have lived with and been grown up with. Sure, it's a horrible thing to put people in categories when it is known that "all men are created equally", but it IS what we do even if we like it or not.
With all the talk about the insanely rich movie stars there's never enough time to talk about those of the lower class. They sometimes feel they are "invisible" in today's society because no one really cares or wants to talk about someone that is of a lower class than they are. I don't blame them. That's why volunteering is a great way to see things in a whole new perspective. Plus it gives you time to communicate and associate with the different classes of people.

So, Which Cell Would You Like to Call Home?

30 days in prison doesn't seem that long until you're actually the one serving it. Sal had showed us a movie today where a man had spent 30 days in jail, and was treated like any other person that gets sent there. At first, it didn't seem that bad. They gave you a mattress, pillow, and they told you to pick your own room. Sounds nice of them, huh? Yeah, it's nice when most of the cells are already filled with 3 people or some just don't want you there since it's such a small room and you spend a good amount locked in there for the night with the people you chose. Sounds like they are living the life. The funny part is you don't even have to think in jail. You have 3 meals a day and if you are lucky a visitor every once in a while. Me, personally, I think I'd go crazy after just spending a week in the slammer. Speaking about going crazy, a good amount of the people that are in prison have a mental problem that, in my opinion, shouldn't even be in prison! I mean what is this? If the judge had sentenced them to X amount of years to a mental institution for them to get better, then it would make just a little more sense instead of stuffing them into the already filled up jail cells we have in America. When I found out the statistics about the amount of prisoners we had, that was a shock, but an even bigger shock was the fact that most of them need mental help not just to be locked away and forgotten about. The laws that society made up needs some revising, big time. Most of them don't even make sense, I mean I understand if you did a horrible crime like murder then, of course, you should be locked up for good, but not when there's something wrong with you. Oh, and another thing most of the criminals are in jail for drugs and have longer sentences than the ones who committed murder, which is the most ridiculous thing I have ever herd in my life. Yes, I'm aware that some drugs are illegal in the U.S., but come on, life sentence plus another life sentence plus 16 months on parole for taking a drug or selling it. And these murderers get away with just 20 years in prison and are set free to kill again? This sure does not make sense to me, but i guess it does in court.

Toga Party, Anyone??

A week before Halloween my friends and I decided to do something fun and different then we normally do on a Saturday night. Yeah, you guessed it, we had a Toga Party. And yes, you guessed it again, wearing a toga was a must. The main purpose of this party was not actually having a party, it was more like a game. My friends and I split up into 4 groups of 4 people and we had a list of things we had to do, some were on the stupid side, but most of them were an act of kindness that most of us wouldn't do on a normal basis. For example, one of the tasks was to help an old lady cross the street. We had to video tape us doing the task for "points" that would be added up at the end of the game. Oh, did I mention we were wearing togas this whole time? It was strange, especially for the guys. We kept getting weird stares/looks from random people about the guys wearing the togas. To me it was just funny, but I thought it tied into what Sal was talking about in class today. When he showed us a piece of clothing that a guy had to wear for an Egyptian Wedding, just got me thinking about the guys that were wearing the togas and how "out of the norm" it is for that to happen around here. Another task we had to do was to help someone out with bags or a large object that they were carrying. This, I considered a positive deviance. Even though it was something to cure our boredom I felt good about myself after going out of my way just to help someone which i normally wouldn't do, obviously.
P.S. My Team won ;)

McDreamy

"Come on son, be a MAN!" says a father to his son. If you're not a man and can't stand up to others then you're obviously a "fag" says almost everyone you ask. Stand up for who you are, come on, get into a fight, knock someone over, or put them into a hospital;that's what parents are telling their kids now a days. Not only do boys get a speech about it, it's publicly advertised everywhere you look. Can't believe it? Yeah, either could I, when children have been growing up with this message in Classic Disney movies. I have never stopped to think that a Disney Character, like Hercules, is portraying the way men should look now a days, with their tough guise and muscular bodies. Please, give me a break, if EVERY guy looked like that then, well, the world would be just too boring. It would be like a where's the real waldo type thing, with everyone looking the same. I mean masculinity can be advertised in a different way, a little less suddle and a lot less violence. People don't understand that people in movies are digitally made to look "tough" with their fake accents and fancy suites, for example The Godfather. Yet, everyone treats tough guy actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger like a god. What a world we live in....

Let's buy magazines that make us feel uncomfortable about ourselves.

Magazines these days, what a joke. ALL of the women, men, children, and teens that show up in popular magazines that we read are all photo shopped because our flaws are not allowed to be showed to the public. Seriously, what a joke. I mean what kind of message are we sending to young children these days, that we need to be extremly skinny to be considered beautiful in today's society? Well that's what all these magazines are insisting. It's very rare that you see average people on the covers of People Magazine or Vogue and that bugs me, not that I read those magazines anyway, but just the people that are in it are too skinny for me. Yet, girls now a days only have their mind set to skinny is pretty and if you're just a pound or two over then all hell breaks loose. Grow up, that's why diseases such as bulimia or anorexia are well known now a days. I can't say much about it, but I know a pretty good amount of this stuff since one of my best friends has been in this position. But is skinny really better? If we have to go through great lengths just to fit the standard woman's stereotype that's posted everywhere now a days. My answer: you're beautiful as you are, stop trying to be like photo shoped models, because we all know it's not real.

Staring Into Nothing, Absolutely Nothing

Sal gave our class another experiment to do this week. This time there was a t.v. involved instead of nothing. Our assignment was to watch the t.v. with absolutely no sound. The first 15 minutes was any television show of our choice and the other 15 minutes was the news. Doing this task made me realize that t.v. isn't as exciting and interesting without the sound on and I was in less of a "daze" than with the sound. Also it was MUCH difficult to understand the program of my choice, since I chose a drama and most of it is narration. You would see one sense with people talking then it would cut to another that maybe have been a flash back or just another day in the show. Talk about being lost at the beginning of the program, already. Just starring at the television made me less interested in the program and I just started to ignore the show like it wasn't even on. That just shows how much sound has an impact on things such as the t.v. Although when i was watching the news it was different. I understood most of it and was engaged into it with the different pictures and colorful words that were being displayed on the screen. Yet, most of it was old news like the kid that got "stuck" in the hot air balloon, so I understood when the anchors were talking about that incident
Watching another person watch t.v. is also amusing and it's interesting the kinds of pattern they make for themselves and follow it without even realizing. I secretly watched one of my best friends watch television, with sound of course, and I could relate to her pattern. As the show "Gilmore Girls" started she was glued to the t.v., but as soon as it cut to commercial her interest was lost and occupied herself with something else until the show was back on. This got me thinking, how do some people stare at a t.v. all day, when it's just a box filled with electrical wire and plugged in into the wall outlet?

Seriously, Just do NOTHING

We had a very interesting assignment last week where we had to do absolutely nothing in a crowed place. For my local I had chosen to do this nothing at homecoming, last Saturday night on the dance floor.
Honestly, it took me a while to get myself to be comfortable with everyone jumping up and down and just moving at a fast paste around me. But once I got into the mood set it got easier. As minutes went by I actually felt relaxed and calm on the chaotic dance floor. It made myself realize that Americans run on such a fast paste and timed schedules that they don't have the time to just stop and notice the little things which makes life even more wonderful and rewarding.
Another thing i noticed was the weird stares i got my way. Sure, it WAS a dance floor where you were EXPECTED to dance, but our society has really shaped us to the point where we look at others differently when they are not following the group. Over all it was a great experience that I'm glad I could be apart of. I really liked being outside of the box, even it it was just for 10 minutes.

Tuesdays with Morrie

Let me start off with love is a very powerful thing that can make or break a person, or so I've herd. In my personal opinion I don't believe that many people have a problem with showing their love towards a boyfriend/girlfriend, friends, spouse, or family member. You go into the city, or even around here, and you see all kinds of people holding hands, kissing, and hugging and showing the obvious love they have for them. Yet Morrie wasn't exactly talking about that kind of love that we show in public, it was more of an inner love that we all need to survive because humans just have that tendency to be wanted somewhere by someone, even if it is your parents. On the other hand some people are just unwilling to show their feelings either it be "unmanly" for guys to show it or makes you "weaker" in the eyes of your enemy, it's better to just keep it inside us so no one will ever know how we feel.
Why are we so afraid to show love, and I mean not just in public, but in own own homes? I wish I knew why. To think in a different perspective is hard and I tried doing that with this not showing love thing and the only thing I can come up with is maybe something bad happened to them, like someone passed away, and that person had trouble showing it after that because they were so close to them. I don't have a problem showing my love towards family or friends maybe I haven't experience death yet, or nothing life changing has really happened to me, but still even if something did drastic happen to me, I would still show my love...

America, Don't be Stupid.

What is this I hear about Americans being "stupid" and have such low standards for ACTs and other test scores? I can't say I totally agree with this statement that was made in our classroom this morning. Yea, SOME Americans may have low standards as to what they receive on tests or more important tests that determine their future, but thats their decisions what THEY want to receive on tests and all. Plus, I don't believe that tests scores define who a person is or what their social status is in America compared to others from Europe or any another countries. But I do believe that America is a materialistic culture and money defines our status, here, in the United States. You can say what you want to about money and yet you NEED money to survive in this world. Everything has a price tag on it and if it doesn't then its just "heaven" to us because nothing is ever free around here. To prove my point that Americans revolve around money, I dare you to put away all your money and just try to live a week with out it, see where that gets you. Think it'd be hard? I already know my answer and its a definite Yes. Mostly because I have actually been in that predicament, but for more than a week. Mainly because my parents were immagrants from Poland and came with nothing in their pockets, but some food. Now my dad is a co-owner of a busniess and my mom is making a living at an RN (registered nurse). Money is well needed now a days, wouldn't you agree with me?

What did you say?

I wish I could remember more from Poland, but I only have the memories from when I was little and what my parents tell me about it now, oh and the polish news which I watch occasionally with my dad. Anyways, this week in class we talked about a crappy subject: toilets, but not just toilets we also got into how people can misunderstand you with certain hand gestures or even the way you word things. I can't say that I know any hand gestures that they do in Poland that would be weird to us, but I do know that in Poland is pretty much mandatory to take your shoes off when you enter someones home or your own and put on slippers, it's just a sign of respect. Hey, we like to keep our floors as clean as possible. (:
Sal also talked about words that can't be directly translated from another language into English or vice versa. There's obviously words in English when directly translated to Polish people would look at you weird such as "what's up" we all use it here almost on a daily basis, but if you said what's up to someone who lives in Poland, they would give you a dirty look and think you're an idiot. The person would answer back with "the sky obviously." If you didn't want to sound like a complete dork you would ask "jak tam" which literally translated is "how there" but it's just the norm...

A Suburb Story

Our class has been watching "A Bronx Tale" for the past 3 days now and it's been an absolutely amazing movie. I could probably say that movie goes into my favorite movie list, and what was even more cooler is that it's a TRUE story. It's just so amusing how the place we live have an excruciating impact on how we life, act, and respond in certain situations. Of course our parents had a part in it too, but the community, the place we live, the things we see have such an important role too. For example, I live in a neighborhood with lots of little kids living down the street and yeah they get annoying at times with the random screaming when my window is wide open, but I've learned to live with it. Kids will be kids and I get that, no matter how annoying they can get. I've learned to incorporate kids into how I live and actually respect them when my other friends would just make fun of the kids.

I have a Dream.

As Obama would put it "I Have A Dream..." that every kid in the United States has a right to education and SHOULD stay in school to get somewhere in life. I do agree with that statement he made, but that just got me thinking even more. Most of our parents/grandparents barely had any education years ago, some didn't even attend college, which would include my parents, and yet they made a living raising us, getting a job, supplying the everyday needs for us, etc. They received no speech that was addressed from the President of the United States to tell them to stay in school, once they finished high school they thought about marriage, and moving out, and living on their own, and so on. Times have really changed, I suppose the world expects you to have more education to accomplish the simple tasks now. I mean in a way its good, so it gives kids a reason to actually stay in school and not flunk out. Yet, some of us just choose not to listen and fail out of school either way. I know some people who just don't care about school and others that do, but remember some of our parents didn't go to college and just had a high school education. In the end who's the right one?

This isn't normal to me

As we were talking about how our society has shaped what we think about things, I thought about it more as the day went on and yeah, it's totally true. We have already decided what is nasty just like the spit on the spoon that Sal did in class (which was gross). As we were growing up our minds have been bombarded with this kind of information which we live up to each and everyday. But of course, what we have shaped is limited to our school, or our society, or even the United States. For example the Japanese bathroom our class talked about, it's normal to Japan, but not what we, here, have shaped in our minds as to what a bathroom should really look like.

I could probably relate to some "odd" things I do with my family that isn't considered the "norm" according to what we have set the standards to be. My family is from Poland and we have some interesting foods we eat that most people would just say 'eww' to, but it's perfectly normal to me. My family, and not necessarily me, eat a dish called kiszka which is made from a mixture of animal intestines, pig's blood, and rice. Sounds gross? not to me, my parents have shaped me to think that isn't the least bit disgusting. Wanna know what we do for broken bones or bruises? We use sour milk to heal ourselves. On top of that we drink that, so if you were healing your broken arm and you got thirsty, just take a sip of the sour milk, but before you put it on yourself of course haha (:

The begining of Sociology

I liked this week, greatly. It was easy going and just getting used to the class. As soon as our teacher had mentioned a project called the sociological imagination, I knew exactly what he was talking about. I remember in my Sophomore English class -last year- our class had watched a movie about the experiment. It got me thinking about how humans react in such situations and why they do, hence, this is part of the reason why I got hooked on sociology and got excited when I saw my school was offering a course in it.

Honestly, I'm not so excited about the community service part of this class, but as soon as I participate in it I know it'll make me feel better about myself and more aware of the people around me. Don't get me wrong, I love helping others and I have done community service in the past at a nursing home and I received the benefit of the doubt that's for sure.

Let's get this show on the road...

This is me

Who am I is the question. I'm a person who likes to live in the now. I do what normal teenagers my age do on a daily basis. I go to school, hang with friends, and occasionally spend time with the family, I live a pretty boring life. I spend too much time with my grandparents, but that's always a good thing, right? The exciting part is that today's my 17th birthday and it's been great so far. I love the unexpected things that occasionally happen at school or at home. I live for adrenaline rushes and my old school punk music, which isn't very alive anymore and it makes me sad because it's such good music. I go to local shows, with the local bands playing, with the local people that tag along. I have learned in life you have to trust few and fear nothing and that's how i live my life.