Right from the get go I knew I was going to love this story. My friends and I used to joke about how we were going to drop out of high school and become managers at McDonalds or some other minimum wage job. After reading this story I will never do that. I always knew that it would be hard to make a living being a waitress or a housekeeper but there were people out there doing it so it had to be possible. Who would've thought that they had to deal with so much. Barbara really put a spotlight on how much they have to suffer and I respect for taking her job so seriously.
This story is obviously taking place awhile ago but many jobs are still like this today. I worked at Cold Stone Creamery for minimum wage and could somewhat connect with the feeling Barbara was having. When you first start out at a new job its definitely scary and intimidating because the workers that have been there longer than you are usually annoyed because now they have to deal with a newbie. I felt like this at Cold Stone for a while just because no one new came in after me for a while. The veterans are always ready to make you do something they don't want to do, and always play little pranks on you. Like Barbara though you eventually become one of them, it starts to be like a family. The main difference between me and Barbara is that I left because I was tired of it and really didn't need the job to support myself, luckily I still had my mother. Barbara was able to leave too but it wouldn't have made her story as good as it was if she left the first minute it got hard.
I could never imagine dealing with the grossness, rudeness, and just not right things that these people had to go through. Living from paycheck to paycheck and having job that you completely hate but have to deal with because if not you would be living out of your car, is crazy! They were dealing with things no human should have to go through. Its sad to say that its still going on in today's world. Working till you pretty much overdose on Advil and are about collapse from being on your feet all day long just isn't right. Thank God that we finally go some worker laws that says we can't be treated so unfairly. The workers just won't appreciated by people, managers replaced people just as fast as they lost them.
Barbara was very witty and was afraid to say the truth. I was entertained throughout the entire story and was able to relate to it. Seeing what waitress and housekeepers had to deal with blew my mind and made me realize how important it is to stay in college. The real world isn't easy!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
"Looking for Work" Gary Soto
Right off the back I knew I would enjoy reading this story. Over this summer I caught an interest in reading stories about Latino adjusting to the American culture. Although I didn't have to deal with an extreme change of culture I still have to deal with the problem of balancing the two. Gary talks a lot about how he wants to imitate a family with an uncomplicated routine and I can totally understand this from two different perspectives.
Being born here in the United States and going to visit my family in Puerto Rico is something that at times can be very difficult. Of course I love being with family but what I don't like is being called the "blanca" or the "white girl." Growing up here I am accustom to the ways of life here, from speaking English, to the music I listen to and the way I dress. So when I go to visit I stick out like a sore thumb! I enjoy every bit of being in Puerto Rico because it makes me proud to be who I am. Unlike here in the United States where many of us Latinos in general are looked down and seen as people who aren't good enough. So I am always ready to show the people here how Latinos really are and not conforming to the American lifestyle.
Another perspective I have of wanting to fit into a certain mold is having my parents being divorced. I remember when my parents first got divorced all I was really upset about was not having a "normal" family. My life as I knew it was shattered into a million different pieces. My mom actually stayed with my father as long as she did because of me. I did not want to have family with a mother and a father because in my eyes that wasn't a father. I naturally got over this and realized that it was okay and actually better.
I think what's most important is being comfortable in your very own unique mold. I think Gary realizes that at the end. You can't change your family, you kind of just have to love and deal with them. The struggle of us Latinos fitting into a society mainly controlled by whites is always going to be there and will last until we realize that we are different and that different can be good.
Being born here in the United States and going to visit my family in Puerto Rico is something that at times can be very difficult. Of course I love being with family but what I don't like is being called the "blanca" or the "white girl." Growing up here I am accustom to the ways of life here, from speaking English, to the music I listen to and the way I dress. So when I go to visit I stick out like a sore thumb! I enjoy every bit of being in Puerto Rico because it makes me proud to be who I am. Unlike here in the United States where many of us Latinos in general are looked down and seen as people who aren't good enough. So I am always ready to show the people here how Latinos really are and not conforming to the American lifestyle.
Another perspective I have of wanting to fit into a certain mold is having my parents being divorced. I remember when my parents first got divorced all I was really upset about was not having a "normal" family. My life as I knew it was shattered into a million different pieces. My mom actually stayed with my father as long as she did because of me. I did not want to have family with a mother and a father because in my eyes that wasn't a father. I naturally got over this and realized that it was okay and actually better.
I think what's most important is being comfortable in your very own unique mold. I think Gary realizes that at the end. You can't change your family, you kind of just have to love and deal with them. The struggle of us Latinos fitting into a society mainly controlled by whites is always going to be there and will last until we realize that we are different and that different can be good.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Matthew's Personal Conflict Narrative
The key to having the best personal conflict ever: Putting yourself out there. From reading both of the essays I realized the biggest difference between the two was the amount of detail and emotion put into his final draft. By Matthew describing his passion for music to us and using specific examples of conversations he had with people made me feel like I was there with him. The first draft I kind of just read and kind of understood his problem but it wasn't very moving or interesting to me, but the final draft blew my mind! I felt like I was in the club with him, I could feel his frustration and pain when he realized that his dreams were always going to be just dreams.
The universal theme of having a passion was something I could connect with. When he said, "The feeling I had on stage was like a drug inducded high. The rush was so intense that I became a junkie of music." I totally knew how he felt. I am a dancer and although it isn't my dream to become a dancer I live for the feeling of performing on stage; its something that is unexplainable and irreplaceable. Since I started college I haven't danced and I really miss it. He also mentioned that music was a therapy for him, when he started playing all his pain and worries went away, it was just him and his music. I feel the same exact way when I dance. You just get so in tune with music that you can't help but just forget about what was bothering you that day and just enjoy the moment that you have right in front of you.
While I write my personal conflict essay I will be thinking about Matthew's. I will try my hardest to just put my all into to. I don't want to be afraid to put every detail I can think about. I want someone to read it and feel as though they lived through it with me. Reading his final draft was so much easier than reading his first draft because he explained things thoroughly and didn't just think people would understand. That I think will be something I'm going to have to take time to work on because I know how I felt and what went on but my readers won't. I also I appreciated reading this because I had no clue how to start mine and I always appreciate an example. This also got me very excited about starting mine. Overall a great read!
The universal theme of having a passion was something I could connect with. When he said, "The feeling I had on stage was like a drug inducded high. The rush was so intense that I became a junkie of music." I totally knew how he felt. I am a dancer and although it isn't my dream to become a dancer I live for the feeling of performing on stage; its something that is unexplainable and irreplaceable. Since I started college I haven't danced and I really miss it. He also mentioned that music was a therapy for him, when he started playing all his pain and worries went away, it was just him and his music. I feel the same exact way when I dance. You just get so in tune with music that you can't help but just forget about what was bothering you that day and just enjoy the moment that you have right in front of you.
While I write my personal conflict essay I will be thinking about Matthew's. I will try my hardest to just put my all into to. I don't want to be afraid to put every detail I can think about. I want someone to read it and feel as though they lived through it with me. Reading his final draft was so much easier than reading his first draft because he explained things thoroughly and didn't just think people would understand. That I think will be something I'm going to have to take time to work on because I know how I felt and what went on but my readers won't. I also I appreciated reading this because I had no clue how to start mine and I always appreciate an example. This also got me very excited about starting mine. Overall a great read!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
"Hair" by Malcom X
The way that this story developed was totally unexpected. I have heard the name Malcom X plenty of times and knew that he was a influential person in the Civil Rights Movement but I have never read any of his pieces. Knowing this about him I knew that the story was going to have something to do with the Civil Rights Movement, especially since this was coming right out of his autobiography. I liked that he didn't come right out and talk about the problems but instead he told a story that then tied into what he was trying to teach. It kept me wondering throughout the story; When will the lesson come? Is this story really just about him relaxing his hair?
That fact that they made a bootleg relaxer is hilarious to me! I also have nappy hair like Malcom X had and have gone to the hair salon plenty of time to relax this mess called hair. Reading the pain he had to go through and that they had to do it more than once just so that a barber would charge them less blows my mind. When I go to the hair salon I pay a lot of money but I would never go as far as making a bootleg relaxer just to save a couple of dollars. That just shows the difference between the way we live now and the life he had to live. He didn't have the luxury of being able to pay ten dollars for his hair cut which is why I understand he would do anything it takes to save some money.
The reaction he had when he first looked in the mirror after he was done relaxing his hair brought back so many memories. Two key memories that I love. Like I said I have gotten a relaxer before and have been doing for about four years, it isn't a strong one because I don't totally want to get rid of my curls. The reaction he had was the exact same reaction I had. I looked in the mirror and couldn't believe that was my hair, it was so manageable and I couldn't wait to leave my hair down and do cute styles to it. Another memory that came to mind was the day my cousin straighten my hair for the first time. Since my hair is so nappy people see it as a challenge. So he took about three hours blow drying and ironing my hair with a clothes iron (crazy, I know!). When he was done, he took a step back and looked at my hair and felt so accomplished.
Now Malcom X didn't write this for me to sit her and just talk about all these hair stories, the last paragraph is definitely my favorite. I was waiting for the moment where it would get serious and I couldn't have thought of a better way to say it. "This was my first really big step toward self-degradation...", this line blew mind. In a million years I would never have thought of relaxing my hair as self-degradation but it totally is. He went through all that pain just so that he could look like a white man. He couldn't believe that he had joined all the people that felt that if they didn't look like the whites they weren't pretty. He brought to light a problem that to this day still exist in society. People are changing their bodies, faces, hair to look like what others think is beautiful. Instead of just embracing their own unique beauty.
That fact that they made a bootleg relaxer is hilarious to me! I also have nappy hair like Malcom X had and have gone to the hair salon plenty of time to relax this mess called hair. Reading the pain he had to go through and that they had to do it more than once just so that a barber would charge them less blows my mind. When I go to the hair salon I pay a lot of money but I would never go as far as making a bootleg relaxer just to save a couple of dollars. That just shows the difference between the way we live now and the life he had to live. He didn't have the luxury of being able to pay ten dollars for his hair cut which is why I understand he would do anything it takes to save some money.
The reaction he had when he first looked in the mirror after he was done relaxing his hair brought back so many memories. Two key memories that I love. Like I said I have gotten a relaxer before and have been doing for about four years, it isn't a strong one because I don't totally want to get rid of my curls. The reaction he had was the exact same reaction I had. I looked in the mirror and couldn't believe that was my hair, it was so manageable and I couldn't wait to leave my hair down and do cute styles to it. Another memory that came to mind was the day my cousin straighten my hair for the first time. Since my hair is so nappy people see it as a challenge. So he took about three hours blow drying and ironing my hair with a clothes iron (crazy, I know!). When he was done, he took a step back and looked at my hair and felt so accomplished.
Now Malcom X didn't write this for me to sit her and just talk about all these hair stories, the last paragraph is definitely my favorite. I was waiting for the moment where it would get serious and I couldn't have thought of a better way to say it. "This was my first really big step toward self-degradation...", this line blew mind. In a million years I would never have thought of relaxing my hair as self-degradation but it totally is. He went through all that pain just so that he could look like a white man. He couldn't believe that he had joined all the people that felt that if they didn't look like the whites they weren't pretty. He brought to light a problem that to this day still exist in society. People are changing their bodies, faces, hair to look like what others think is beautiful. Instead of just embracing their own unique beauty.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
"Hating Goldie" by Phyllis Rose
My assumptions about this reading were totally wrong. From reading the biography about Phyllis Rose I thought this selection would be very serious and deep, talking about a strong women of importance. Then to find out its about a bird. I did think that it would be about her, which was true. I believe it shared an important story about her, I felt like I got to know her a little better. Not just facts like the short biography before the reading but who she was as a person and how she became to be the writer that she is now.
Right when I read the first couple of sentences where she talks about her priveleged life and how that was what she held against the girls of her own generation the popular phrase, "the grass always seems greener on the otherside", quickly popped into my head. Although she never says that she wishes she was less fortunate she does say to her psychatrist that she was coddled as a child and that its her parents fault that she hasn't written what she would like to have written. This made me laugh because she is upset that she hasn't experienced pain, sorrow, or anything awful. If she only knew how many people wish they could say the same.
I sincerely enjoyed reading this selection because it shows how different we all are. She talks about Dickens and how all his novels came from the experence he had and how she wishes she could have the same. What she didn't realize at that age or before writing this selection is that the lack of experience and her being sheltered as a child can make just as good of a story, its just different. This selection shows us that the grass isn't always greener on the otherside its just different. We all have our own experiences and stories that makes up the great novel called our life!
Right when I read the first couple of sentences where she talks about her priveleged life and how that was what she held against the girls of her own generation the popular phrase, "the grass always seems greener on the otherside", quickly popped into my head. Although she never says that she wishes she was less fortunate she does say to her psychatrist that she was coddled as a child and that its her parents fault that she hasn't written what she would like to have written. This made me laugh because she is upset that she hasn't experienced pain, sorrow, or anything awful. If she only knew how many people wish they could say the same.
I sincerely enjoyed reading this selection because it shows how different we all are. She talks about Dickens and how all his novels came from the experence he had and how she wishes she could have the same. What she didn't realize at that age or before writing this selection is that the lack of experience and her being sheltered as a child can make just as good of a story, its just different. This selection shows us that the grass isn't always greener on the otherside its just different. We all have our own experiences and stories that makes up the great novel called our life!
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