Positive Deviance

I thought about this assignment for a long time and I couldn't really think of anything original to do, but when I went to the grocery store yesterday it occurred to me that I could help somebody load their groceries into their car. As I was walking out of Dominicks I saw an elderly man putting grocery bags into his trunk and I decided to offer to help him. At first I think he just thought I was trying to steal some of his food because he gave me the weirdest look--like i was crazy. This made me feel soo uncomfortable so I explained to him that it was actually an assignment to commit a positive deviant act. He said he thought that that was one of the best assignments he had ever heard of and it actually made me feel good to know that by helping this man simply load groceries into his car I made his day a little easier.

Fear

One of the most ridiculous quotes I heard while watching Bowling for Columbine was that even though the murder rate has decreased by 20%, coverage of murders on news had gone up by 600%. This was astonishing to me and I think is one of the reasons many believe that the media instills fear into the public. Every night when the news comes on I hear about at least one gun shot victim and usually more. If you watch or read the news from other countries, it's clear that their priorities for what's newsworthy are very different from our own. I can't decide if the media really does do this to scare us or if it's because it's the only thing that grasps our attention to even start watching the news in the first place. Let's be honest, people crave scandal and sensationalism and by covering multiple murder cases, that's what the news is giving up. So who's to blame: the gatekeepers of the media or us?

America's Culture

after the class discussion on Thursday it seemed clear that many of us deem common American values as matieralistic and for the most part, based around appearance. I think we were forgetting about a lot of the good that this country is based off of though. We forget how many freedoms we have compared to other countries because to us they just seem mundane. Free speech and right to assembly for example are 2 freedoms that most people around the world dont get to practice. Also in class everyone was giving reasons why celebrities arent good role models, but we forget about some of the good they do. We talked about how people only drive hybrids because it's trendy right now, but many of the celebrities are the reason that so many people drive them in California and ultimately this is a very good thing. In addition it seems that whenever a celebrity promotes a charity, more people throw their support to that cause and who's to say that's a bad thing?

Culture Shock

I go to an overnight camp where they being in a lot of staff from Australia. One of the first things I hear from them is how the portions of food we eat here are way larger than there and they always claim everything here is sweeter: bread, peanut butter, and many other foods. It seems weird to me to hear what they think about our culture compared to theirs because everything here is second nature to me. Our food, bathroom manners, popular sayings, etc is natural to people living here but when we question what we know, it brings a lot to light. Last spring i went to spain to visit my sister who was living there and even though its not extremely different from the US because they are both industrialized nations, i did notice many minor things that make their culture different from ours. The biggest difference was the way they drive. It didnt seem nearly as organized as driving here and there were a lot of small alleys that people drove through often. I think its important to travel and get a sense of other cultures because it makes you realize that our way isnt necessarily the right way.

The Breakfast Club

Last week was the first time I'd ever seen The Breakfast Club and after watching it, I realized just how well it represents high school. After class that one day when we talked about labeling and stereotypes I began noticing just how often my friends and I use those labels. It's ridiculous!At least 10 times a day I hear the terms prep, druggie, goth, punk, skater, etc. I guess stereotyping makes things easier because then you dont actually have to get to know anyone because you think you've got them all figured out. But it's clear from watching the movie and talking in class, that in reality we all have got something in common. Even though soc isnt the hardest class, it is one of the most eye-opening classes.

Silence is Golden?

When I'm with a large group of people I'm always compelled to be involved in conversation. I don't know why, but there seems to be something unnatural when a lot of people are together and there's no sound. Unless I'm in a library I think silence is very awkward. This is probably because in our society it seems we're always around noise. I think everyone would be way more relaxed if we didnt feel like we always needed something to say.

Blogging

Even though I've never blogged before, I'm really excited to start. We learned about blogging in one of my classes and I think it's an interesting way to get your ideas out into the world. It's cool that everyone with interent access could see what you have to say and respond. In my opinon it's a good way for people to connect and find others with same interests.