Black or White? its not that simple

If your not white then you must be black. Sadly that is how most people think the the U.S/World. Its crazy that people categorize human beings because there are so many different kinds of races. There is not just a black race or white race. When we did the activity where we tried to guess what race the person is, I was very surprised that we only got 4 out of 20 something correct. It made me realize that you cant really tell what race someone is by just looking at them. Just because someone has small squinty eyes doesn't mean they are Asian or if someone has a dark skin color it doesn't mean they are from Africa.

Life in lower class

This week in class we learned about how hard it is to get by in life by working on minimum wage. When we played monopoly I started in the lower-middle class and ended up with 200 more dollars than I started with. Now if we look at someone who started at a higher class like Frank, he ended up with thousands more than he started with! .This activity made me realize how hard it is to move up in class rank. If your living on minimum wage with no college degree there is not much opportunity to move up in class. Unlike living in the middle class where you have money to invest in say the stock market or starting a business, the lower class just doesn't have the money to do things like that. I cant even imagine how hard of a life it would be to raise a family working minimum wage but there are hundred of thousands of people living this kind of a life style for their whole life. So I made a conclusion that life is just unfair if you grow up in a lower class family =[.

Social Class

Most people will say that everyone is created equal in the U.S. I disagree, if you are raised in a rich family then you have a better chance at succeeding in life, or at least you have a "head start" in  becoming rich and successful. Since your family has money to spend, you can get a tutor, go to a better school, have money for college and so on. On the other hand, if you are raised in a poor family, you will most likely stay in the lower to middle class when you are older. Unlike the rich families, you don't money to get help from a tutor, you go to a worse school and the only money for college that your getting is from loans or scholarships. Its sad to see kids not being able to perform at their full potential or get the best educating they can just because they don't have the money for it. Like the kid from the movie that we watched, his mom cant even drive to work because she doesn't have enough money to fix it. He has a much more difficult road to college than a rich kid from linconshire would.

Jail is not the answer

The U.S has only 5% of the worlds population but it has one fourth of the worlds prisoners. With that statistic we have to ask ourselves why? The episode of 30 days helped me understand why we have so many prisoners. It seems like we just throw people in jail for anything these days. I found out that 50% of prisoners are in jail because of drugs. I was really shocked about this because jail is not the right approach to taking drugs addicts off the streets. Forcing people not to do drugs will not help them at all, there is a reason why they are addicted. They need to get help and not just sit in a room all day. Its good that they have a program where they help addicts get clean but its not mandatory and you can leave whenever you want. Instead what prisons should be doing is sending drug addicts to rehab or making all drug convicted people go to some type of drug prevention program. I also think they dint treat mental patients right, again they need to be sent somewhere to get help with there problem. The prison system really has to make some type of change, prisoners should not be sleeping on the ground and be there if its not for a drug problem or has mental problems.

Saints & Roughnecks

In our school, there are both saints and roughnecks. Even in my friends group there are some that never get in trouble and some that always get blamed for everything. With our school having a lot of middle class to upper class kids, there are probably more saints than roughnecks. Most people would not expect the well dressed, preppy, smart kids to be trouble makers in school nor out of school. But the truth is that they are the ones that are doing the most partying. The big houses, the money, the parents that don't give a shit about what their kids do usually are the rich ones. Then we have the roughnecks in our school. The minority's are stereotyped as doing drugs and partying all the time. They don't have the big houses where they can party at or the money to do w.e they want. So instead, they drive around not doing much most of the time and maybe once in awhile someone could have people over. I find that my friends with less money have stricter parents than the rich parents. Going back to my friends group, I have one friend that says every time he goes to the bathroom in school, a security guard follows him in. He has the skater look instead of the preppy look like most kids. So just because he wears a hat and some skater clothes makes him a trouble maker?

Milestones

In class this week we learned aboutt milestones in our lifetime. Most humans go through the natural milestones like our first time walking, first word ext. But as for our milestones that are influenced by the society around us, not everyone in the world have the same ones or they reach them at the same time. For example, in Poland the drinking age is 18 along with the driving age.  So I was wondering at what age are you considered an adult in Iraq or India or any other country. In Africa, I learned that they don't have certain age limits on things but instead they go by letting the child learn when it feels right for them or how instead of just opening a the door for them, they let the child try and try again until it succeeds. I really like this way of growing in life instead of be given certain age limits that say I'm an adult till 18 and all the other age limits.

Call me a Fag.. IDC

Men are sops to be tough, strong, show no fear, not cry, balblabalbalablablabal.. Yea right..During middle school there was always that big bully tough kid who tormented little boys and girls. The reason why bully's exist is because A) they are self-conscious about themselves and B) The movies, music, media all that make it seem like men are sops to be as tough as nails. I don't see any problem with a man crying, showing there true feelings/emotions and being just a normal nice human being. For example, Sal works part time and then takes care of his kids, cooks dinner and so on. I don't see any problem with that.. I mean cooking is fun!. I love playing with little kids and just chilling at home. What a good life!.. Sal wanna switch lives for a few days? I would rather be a stay at home dad and work part time than be at the office 24/7 busting my ass so my boss wont scream at me and barely having time to be with my kids. It doesn't matter who brings in more money into the family, as long as the man does what is needed to be done to take care of his family.

GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS!

Fat or skinny? I like them curvey =). As media always does, they blow shit out of proportion. Everyone has something that they don't like about themselves. EVERYONE.. So when girls say I wanna look like this or that they have to understand everyone has there our beauty. I see girls in school that push there boobs up, wear TONS of makeup, wear barley any clothes and I just laugh at them because they care so much aobut what others think. I would rather go out with a girl that shows her true self instead of girls that look like they are strippers. Why do magazines and movies make women so SKINNY!? I don't find anything attracting to a girl that is 5'8 and less than 110 pounds. Are they trying to look like a pole or something? I watched Americans Top Model a few times and every time I watch it, I ask myself... Why are thees girls models? I could pick out 10 girls from shs that look better than them. Anyway what I'm trying to say is that if a guy likes you, its not all about how you look. There are tons of girls that I think are pretty but I wouldn't date them because they are dumb and have a bad personality. Most guys will try to find a decent looking girl to be with but looks don't make a guy fall in love with them. If a guy finds a hot babe and falls in love with her and for some random reason she turn fat and ugly hes not gonna break up with her because of that. Looks are only first impressions but after that, they barely matter.

Human Nurture

In class this week we found out that without human nurture, humans can act like "wild animals". I found this very interesting and mind boggling. I was stunned to find out that all kinds of different animals have raised human baby's. For example wolves, bears, monkeys dogs and so on. When we watched the episode  about the girl that is 11 but acts like a 2 month year old baby I was shocked. I learned that in order for humans to develop we need to learn from someone. Sal used an example of how his daughter imitated him when he was doing something that she has never seen. When we watched Oprah, a Doctor compared a normal brain of a young child to a feral child, the brain of the feral child was much less developed than the normal child. This proves that love and nurture is needed for humans to grow. My parents being in the working class, thought me to be polite, neat, obedient and gave me a smack to the head if I did something bad. Even though I hated it as a young kid, I now understand that because of their jobs and being bossed around all day, it shapes their parenting style.

Scared of Death?

Death can be a touchy subject to some people. When people think about death, they tend to look at the negative side of it; like not being able to see your family, not being able to do what you love ( for morrie it was dancing ) or eating your favorite food exc. People then overlook the positive side of it like  finally being able to be at peace with yourself for a REALY long time. One of morries quotes was about fearing to age or dieing. He said that if you fear of ageing or deing it reflects life that hasent found meaning. I like this quote alot because it tells you to live your life to the fullest and have no regreats. If you live your life to the fullest with no regreats what else is there to do? Yes, everyone would like to live forever but they have to learn that death is the begining of a new life.

American Values

If you compare the American values to European or any other country values, they would be very different. Here in America we like to have control of everything. If you don't have control of your life, people in  might think that you are lazy and unsuccessful. That's not the case in other countries; people believe in destiny and fate, they think that everything happens for a reason and there is not much you can do about it. One of the biggest things Americans value is MONEY! Most Americans will do anything for a higher salary, a better job, anything that gives them more money. If they have to move across the U.S for a better job and leave all their family friends behind, most will. In other countries, family always come first. Living a long healthy life and having a healthy family is more important to them than having money. Another value that Americans cherish is privacy; the article we read in class said all Americans need at least half an hour of alone time with them selves or they will go nuts. This is probably because since we were little, we are taught to be an individual and to depend on yourself not others. Surprisingly, " privacy" is not even a word in other languages! People like to be with others to comfort them and help them out. Lastly, Americans value change. Look at our presidents campaign slogan " Change we need". That right there tells you that Americans like change. Change means improvement, progress and growth to Americans. On the other hand, change is viewed as a bad thing in other countries. Stability, continuity, tradition and a rich ancient heritage are the big values that they follow.

Trip to Poland

During my trip to Poland, I experienced culture shock a few times. Ive been to Poland three times but only remember my last trip vividly. As I got off the airplane, I went to get something to eat and choose a hot dog. As the server handed me the hot dog, I was very confused why the bun was so thick and the hot dog was more like a sausage. It was a lot tougher to eat than an American hot dog but it sure was tasty. My grandmother told me that I should of put more toppings on it; I found out that people usually put a salad co slaw type topping on it. So after my 3 hours car ride from the airport to my home,I really wanted just to take a shower and go to bed. When I asked my aunt if I could take a shower she said " yea let me just heat up the water for you". WHAT?! my reaction was, she told me that only twice a week they take real showers and the rest of the time they just warm a pot of water up and you have to basically give yourself a sponge bath. I was very shocked when she told me but I had no other choice. Not everyone in Poland does this, just my family dose not have to much money so they try to save as much as they can, like only turning on the boiler twice a week. Now the last shocking experience I had was with dinner. Of course I love polish food but after I saw my uncle slaughter a pig,( I live on a animal farm in Poland) cut it open, take all the organs out and what not, I did not really want to eat dinner that night. My family there kills one of their own pigs once every two or three months so they don't have to buy meat from the store. Again another way to save money. I stayed away from pig meat for a few days until the headless pig finally go out of my mind. Living a diffrent lifestyle for a few weeks, I relized that people live way diffrent lifestyles than in America.

A Bronx Tale

In the movie A Bronx Tale, the neighborhood is composed of mostly if not all Italians. Most of the people in the neighborhood are racist just because of the time era they live in and  if someone truly is not, they probably just go along acting racist because they don't want to be singled out and called a trader. Being a rat is the worst thing you can be in an Italian neighborhood so one of the unwritten rules is to keep your mouth shut. Also most people know not to screw with sunny or his crew because they will be sorry if they did. Sunny gets respect because he is feared, being feared can bring you allot of power. Like I said earlier, no one wants to be called a ( N.... lover) or trader so most people just join the bandwagon and act racist.

Gang Leader for a Day

In the book Gang Leader for a Day, Sudhir Venkatesh took a different approach to studying black poverty. Instead of taking the normal approach of just surveying a bunch of poor blacks (quantitative study). He decided that the best way to understand how it feels to be poor and black would be just to hang out with a black gang ( qualitative data). With him becoming good friends with J.T, the gang leader. He truly finds out how gangs operate, the kind of life they live and how it feels to be black and poor. That is why qualitative study is just as, if not more important than quantitative. You get a way better sense of emotion when you observe people instead of just surveying with multiple choice answers. Quantitative study is still important because the more people you work with, the more variety you have in your answers. If you wanted to know whether to send your child to a school or not, you should look at the average ACT and GPA because that will give u a good look at how strong academically the school, but also look into what kind of groups and clubs they have after school. 

Spit-Saliva.. whats the difference?

Spit and saliva.. whats the difference? Absolutely nothing, the only reason why people might think that spiting is nasty is because their thoughts are shaped by people, society, TV, movies basically everything around them. I have a friend which is Greek and they spit on there floor! Its not because they are dirty people, its because the society in Greek is different than the society in America and they were taught to spit for various reasons. Also when I played football, and someone forgot there water I would let them drink out of my bottle or even a couple of times a teammate forgot his mouth guard during a game, so the coach just told them to use someones that isn't on the field. It sounds nasty but its no different from sharing a drink or kissing someone. Again, people are shaped by society and the the things around them. If allot of people start a trend or think in a certain way, people will follow because that is social construction.

Community Service

 I have done community service a few times when I was younger. When I went to a summer camp back a few years ago, we went to a retirement home just to hang out with the elderly. I thought it was going to be boring but it turned out to be pretty fun. I never knew how much fun I could have with the elderly. A lot of them were very funny and still acted like they were young. Being there made me think about how eventually I will become an old man and how I would enjoy the company of younger kids. Another time we went to a forest preserve and picked up the trash. I was really surprised of how much garbage people threw out, it made me think twice about littering and at the end of the day it felt really good knowing I picked up all that trash. I will probably do my community service hours helping out with the special Olympics and the homeless.

Who am I..

Hey, my name is Patryk and I turned 17 on Aug 7. I am the only one in my family that was born in America. The rest of my family were born in Poland and came to America in 1993. Instead of spelling my name Patrick I spell it Patryk because its the polish way of spelling it. I played football from 5th to 8th grade and then played lacrosse my freshman year.  I consider myself of being pretty laid back and don't try to take life to seriously. I love to snowboard and wont stop snowboarding unitl the day I die. I wish I could just move out west and snowboard everyday of my life, but sadly that chances of that happening are slim to none.