Habitat For Humanity - Gift Wrapping

Last night, I went with Katie to Barnes and Noble in Deer Park to wrap gifts to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. Katie and I went into this thinking it would be pretty simple, but when we got there and saw our table (that was in the middle of the Starbucks) we realized it would be a bit more difficult than we expected. Katie went around trying to get people to come to our table, while I was making more signs to attract attention to our odd location of gift wrapping. Many people both awkwardly and politely said no to our good cause, but we got about five or so "customers" all with holiday gifts who loved this idea! We wrapped and wrapped some more and made about $41 in the two hours we were there.
While we were waiting for people to bring us their gifts to wrap, I was thinking about how rude it was that people knew we were raising money, but then continued to say no and walk away or just completely try to ignore us altogether. But then I realized that I've seen people wrapping at Barnes and Noble and I have politely said no thank you to them as well... Yes, I have done the same thing they were doing to us. I now know that I will never pass up throwing in even just $1 when I see people trying to raise money for a good cause. Just because I don't need a gift wrapped doesn't mean that I can't just help out the organization!

Race

Today in class, we saw how the "Racial Test" works. It surprises me that everyone, including darker-skinned people, associate good with lighter skin and bad with darker skin. It is sad to me to think that we are brought up thinking this way. We are taught from such a young age that all light-skinned, blonde-haired, blue-eyed people are beautiful, when in reality, that is not necessarily true. Kids need to be raised with an open mind. They need to be allowed to form their own opinions of others, not be taught society's mostly-false stereotypes.
It really shocked me that even though I am not a racist person, I continued to associate the "bad" words with darker-skinned people and the "good" words with lighter skinned people. That shows me that no matter how much I don't want to be racist and don't agree with racial people and stereotypes, I subconsciously think that way.
When looking on the websites of different hate groups around the country, not only was is absurd to me that people are so insecure that they have to join and participate in hate groups, but it reminded me of a time I witnessed something that I did not believe truly still existed. The Neo-Nazi's. During sophomore year, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Skokie Holocaust Museum opening. While we were on the bus back to our car, there was a group of Neo-Nazi's waving, shouting, protesting, and hating that there were so many Jewish people around. Some survivors that were on the bus started crying, remembering some of the most painful times of their lives.
It's sad that people have to create these awful feelings towards each other, when there is scientific proof that there is a tiny percentage of DNA that creates color of skin, eyes, hair, etc. that we perceive as race. No one seems to want to believe that we are all basically one race, HUMAN!

Minimum Wage

Living on minimum wage, in my opinion, is unethical.
It is immoral to allow people to work their butts off at a job that is not going to give them enough pay to support themselves, let alone their families. Why would the government make a minimum wage if it doesn't even live up to the price of living? It just does not make sense.
While watching 30 Days - Living on Minimum Wage, it was clear that it is extremely hard to even survive living on minimum wage with TWO people working every day full-time. This should not be legal. I believe that people who are working that hard to survive should be able to live a healthy life, be able to get medical attention when needed, and provide for themselves and their families.
The facts about poverty in this country is mind boggling. It is not right and not fair. I believe that going to the school I go to definitely puts me and my classmates in "a bubble". No one thinks twice about throwing out half their lunches, not bothering to fill up their water bottles for free, but they just mindlessly buy a new water for $1, etc. Students should be required to become aware of these circumstances and learn what is really going on around them, around the country, and around the world.

Saints&Roughnecks

While reading Saints and Roughnecks, I was surprised and upset. I couldn't comprehend why people would be excused of crime simply based on their financial and social status. The Saints would commit worse and more dangerous crimes, like leaving potholes open for cyclists to get hurt and drinking and driving, then the Roughnecks who would do things like steal to make a profit. The Roughnecks would always get caught and get in a lot more trouble. The Saints would get out of almost everything, including the majority of speeding tickets. Both the Saints and the Roughnecks would ditch classes, but the Roughnecks would get worse grades and get "caught" more often. The Saints would come up with excuses as to why they needed to leave class.
Although it is not that realistic, I think society needs to learn how to punish people who are committing crimes, no matter who they are or what their financial status is. It is not fair for the more poor person to get arrested for a crime when the more wealthy kid gets away with it because his/her parents are more wealthy and powerful in the community.
This story has opened my eyes to the fact that police even go by these standards at work. In the story, it said that "police who arrest poor kids for stealing bicycles or selling drugs are doing a good job and are promoted to Sergeant. Police who arrest upper-middle class kids for being truant and hanging out in pool halls create strains that no police chief wants." I think that that is ridiculous and needs to be looked at and thought over more carefully.

Social Class

When Sal first told us we were learning about social class in the US I was a bit confused. I knew that there were levels of poverty, and that incomes played a role, but as we were watching the movie on social class, I felt as if Americans treated the income-class as if we were in India or another country that discriminates based on class or income. There were two parts in the movie that were most shocking to me. The first was the guy who was brought up and is part of the WASP society/social class. He was talking about people that he saw dancing and how he could not understand how they were let in when they were so fat and ugly. I seriously could not believe that he actually thought that way. I not only do not agree with what he was saying, but he was laughing and seriously could not understand why they were allowed to be dancing and so happy when they were that fat and ugly. I think it's pathetic that there are people in the "free" America that think that way and judge that way based simply on what someone looks like. The second part that was so shocking to me was the story of Tammy and her children. It was so upsetting to me to see Tammy fight so hard for her children, her life, and their well-being. Seeing her walk to work (Burger King) in the rain, alone, and soaking wet, made me want to cry. The living conditions of that family was also very sad. But that's reality. That's America and that's how the majority of Americans are living, or at least somewhat close to that. It made me think about how truly fortunate I am, and how I shouldn't take things for granted as much as I do now. I now realize the majority of things that I complain about are pointless and irrelevant in the long run. I think everyone should have to see what Tammy and her family's living conditions are like. People should have the determination to succeed that Tammy has. It's immoral to think the way the one WASP-society guy thinks like. It is not fair to anyone to be judged based on their income, their appearance, or anything else of that nature. People should see these examples of people from the extremes of American society and learn from it.

JAIL

While reading the article for this week, I was in complete shock. I could not understand the harsh jokes, horrible language, and brutality that came from the police to the inmates. The craziest part, was that the "inmates" were not even convicted yet. It was very hard for me to see how people are treated before even being convicted. It makes me pretty convinced that it's a lot worse when they are actually convicted. I really think that the system is messed up. People can buy their way out of jail, when committing the same or worse crimes as someone else who is poor. The big joke there is that the poor people have to stay in jail and stay in the worst conditions throughout the whole process of waiting for their court date and then still being sentenced to prison. I think people really need to think about how the system works and realize the way it is all run by money. Whoever has the most money and is willing to use it to get out of jail wins in this situation, which is really not fair. Why should someone who murders someone be able to get a good lawyer, pay bond and have a minimal sentence, and someone who was caught with drugs be in prison while waiting for trial, then get a very harsh punishment and go back to prison for a very long time? It doesn't make any sense and it just sucks that everything is based upon money; I really don't think it's fair.

The REAL Columbine

In class, we read a pretty lengthy excerpt from a book by Kimmel. It was about Masculinity and violence. I started off reading this article with a closed mind, because I thought I knew pretty much everything about these school shooting, like Columbine. What I realized was that I really didn't know anything about Columbine, I only knew what the media portrayed about Columbine. I thought that Columbine was just another "children killing children" event, and did not even think about why Harris and Klebold did what they did to their teachers, classmates, and school. I now know part of their thinking behind this massacre. Harris and Klebold were two friends that were not at all considered "cool". They were the "rejects", the "weirdos", the "faggots", the "homos", and were constantly name-called and made fun of. Harris and Klebold didn't just wake up one morning wanting to take revenge, they plotted and planned for quite some time; they wanted to make it very clear that words can be so hurtful and the words that were said to them and many others on a daily basis are not okay.
I am so happy that we had to read this excerpt from Kimmel's book. I think it is very important for people to go out of their way to be aware and try to stop bullying and hurtful name-calling. Everyone needs to learn to be more aware of what they are saying and how their words could be interpreted.  People don't always realize how hurtful their words can be, but hopefully the REAL Columbine story can help people learn.