Community Service

Wilshire/The Pond Assisted living
Supervisor: Alice 2245437054

I did 5 hours on may 18 and may 19

My community service experience was very interesting actually. I met many different people who were so happy when i came into the room and also they were very thankful that i helped them with something. I began my community service hours by sorting DVD and VHS movies, their were actually about 500 and i sorted them alphabetically that was rough. After finishing that, i asked them if i could interact with the elderly more, in which i began to do. I played Wii bowling with them, played poker, baked, ran a sing-a-long, and played a game "you be the judge" in which they read court cases and they explain what they would have done. You be the judge was the most interesting for me because it was cool to see how they felt about certain ideal in which i had a totally different view because of the age difference. For one of the cases a boy was expelled from school for wearing an American flag upside down. This boy brought this case all the way to the supreme court. The elderly explained that that was the right thing to do, to expel the boy from school, because some of them being war veterans and all. Then one of the war vets asked me my opinion and i explain that it was our right to wear what we want as long as its not of illegal things or actions, and this is how our school did it. Some agreed and some didn't but during the ten or so cases it was interesting seeing the different views of the elderly and how it differed from my own views. Also when i was leaving The Ponds i saw a man that i knew from poker walking out to his car with a walker with his wife. I asked them if they needed help and at first the wife said no were fine in a firm voice like she didn't want help from me. But then i saw the man and i said "remember me from poker" and he said o yes yes and i explained to the wife that we played poker so then she let me help him into the car and to put the walker into the trunk. Then the wife reached into her pocket and pulled 10 dollars and held it out to me. I respectfully declined. I thought this was very interesting that the wife thought that i needed something from her to help them out. She probably felt like a teen asking to help the elderly was irregular and they needed something in return. This is probably because teens don't always respect the elderly and they feel like they need to repay those teens who are nice enough to help, but that's not the case. Everyone at The Ponds was very nice, respectful, and wanted the help from the community. I will be coming back soon to visit the the great people i met and shared stories with.

yo.....you have a chinaman under you car

today while watching the movie crash, i thought it was intresting how the different races saw each other and how they put them in a socialclass just by the way they looked. The lady who saw the black men got scared and thought they were gangbangers, which they were. But the guy played by ludacris is a sophistocated black man who believes he is in a higher social class. like he said "i dont steal from other black people and i am deffinately not getting on the bus". But he thinks its ok to rob white people. Also both the white woman and the owner of the shop that got robbed both thought that the mexican worker who fixed the locks was a gangbanger just because he was mexican and had tattoos. when the white cop pulled over the two black people in the navigator then harrased his wife and he did nothing because he felt like he was in  lower class than him and just because he was a cop didnt hit him. the wife said he should have hit him and then said something about being a real nigga because he believes hes in a higher social class, and he may be. race and social class always go  hand in hand. Whenever someone relates to their race, most of the time i think they are trying to bring social class into it.

Mariah Carey is black?

For the last couple of days in class we have been talking about race and the distinctions people have about race. One of the days Sal put a lineup of sports balls and told us to class them. I classed them as hard balls and softer balls because even though i knew they looked like they were for a certain sport, i knew each ball couldn't and wouldn't be used for that sport. Our teacher explained that this is how people look at different races. Even thought a basketball looks like a basketball, it may be soft and not be used to play basketball. so people sometimes see a dark skin person next to another dark skin person and think "o they are probably both black" but that may be far from the truth. Their backgrounds could be from totally different parts of the world, but we would never know without "feeling the balls" and talking to the people to understand who they are. Our social construction of race started when they sailed to South Africa then the united states then back to England. They had four classes for people: Black, White, Native American, and Asian. This is how it has been and wont change until people see that people set into many different races and that every person is different. This concept was very hard for me to wrap my head around, but today i started to understand all about race and its pretty interesting how people perceive other races. This country would be totally different if those people were to walk down to Africa because they would have seen the many different people and skin colors, as Sal said. I wish they would have walked, but they didn't so i guess we need to change the world.

When your dad is mr. Moneybags.....your mr. Moneybags jr.

Being a child living in a certain social class may be difficult because their parents may strive to push them into a higher social class or they may be happy with them staying the same social class. This depends on what social class the child's parents came from and how they were raised. In the movie we watched in class, the very wealthy WASP's who's parents began making money in the 13th colonies has stayed in the same social class because their parents are content with where they were-and they should be, looking at the houses they live in. The children are proud that they are labeled as a WASP. But their are negative aspects of being in a social class like this, you look down upon people who are in a lower class than you even if you don't know the person. This relates to the way that they were raised and the morals and values taught by their parents. The WASP's were raised to think that they were better looking, smarter, wealthier, and dressed better. This kept them in a very tight circle of people because they looked down upon everyone else. One example of someone they would look down upon is the people who lived in the trailer in the movie.This family is at one of the lowest social levels. They live in a small trailer and the mother work's at Burger King full time. The young man that we met was looking to go to college and wanted to be a lawyer. His mother was content with the life they lived because she knew that it was very hard to get out of her social class and didn't want to. The boy said he was embarrassed with where he lived, because he hung out with people in a higher social class than him. His mother said that he thinks hes in a higher social class and he needs to know where he came from because this is his home. It is very hard to move around in social class because most parents teach them what they know and have learned from their past Which keeps them close to their social class. When we played monopoly i noticed that at the end of the game, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer or if you were in the middle class you stayed the same. Nobody at my table moved up or down in their social class. This is just the same as real life, because it is very hard to move into or out of a different social class. This is because the people from other social classes look down on people from lower social classes. This makes people from lower classes feel uncomfortable to move up in class thus restricting them to fulfill their dreams.

I have two neighbors... one is a doctor and one is a truck driver..... wait... they would never live next to each other

These societal status's that come with job description are all related to the wealth of the family and how it relates to others. A truck drivers status in society is low because it is a blue collar job. Also being a truck driver doesn't require any education so the people that drive trucks have maybe dropped out of high school or college so they have a lower social status then other jobs that require education. On the total opposite side of the spectrum, a doctor requires many years of education which is a tough thing to do and also cost alot of money. So the cost and length of a persons education also effects a persons social status greatly. In class we talked about income relating to social status and the difference in income for blue collar jobs and white collar jobs. I thought this was intresting to think of how different the social status of a person can be depending  just on their job and income.

Womans only workout: the walk between the bedroom and the kitchen

This is how the media depicts women. The media makes woman's image so different than it is in real life. In killing us softly 3 around 5:05 the woman describes an ad where there is a boy and a girl walking next to each other. She explains how the boy has already developed how to look tough and that he is already looking down at the girl, and the girl has learned her passive smile. Little ads like these say alot to young men growing up trying to figure out girls. I have seen many other ads in which the girls are in a degrading pose that makes men feel like they are better and more achieved then any girl. These ads are everywhere and it is because of the media that woman don't get the respect that they deserve and strive for. Also, some ads use woman as objects and it makes people, especially men, see woman as things instead of equal individuals. Even though these ads may be sexy, interesting, and risque, the truth is that they are making young men feel and think more negatively about woman than ever before. As we watched Killing us softly 4 in class today, i was laughing because i thought the ads were funny, which they were. As i thought about the ads throughout the day i began to notice that even though me and my male classmates thought they were funny, they were very degrading towards females. But this is what our society has come to to sell product to men, and even woman. I believe our society seriously needs help if it has to go to degrading femininity and masculinity to sell products to Americans'.   

Im Jacked, Dont have a sensitive side, and take huge risks- but am i a real man?

Well according to our society, that's what a real man is. As kids we grew up with G.I. Joe and superheros with big chests and biceps who we looked up to and wanted to be like. Well, the chests and biceps are getting bigger and so are the egos' of young men growing up in our society, with many negative consequences. These kids learn at an early age what it is to be a man starting by the way they are talked to as a baby and with action figures as they become older. With this way of speech and certain criteria of being a "man" they learn that there is only one right way of being a man. and because they learn that there is only one type of man, the kids that don't meet the criteria get made fun of and joked around with. This image of man comes mostly from the media and leaves a stain in the perspective of other men that are "different". In the movie we watched in class, that is exactly what it explained to us. The old fashioned superheros were smaller looking men in masks but as the criteria for a man grows, so does the size of their muscles. Rambo was the first hero that came along that showed kids what it was like to be a "real man":huge muscles holding huge guns and killing bad guys. and its been going downhill from their as hero's get bigger and guns get bigger. but is their a way to stop this? the damage has been done for the next couple of generations and it may not be able to turn back. The media is the only thing that can help our societies image about men however it may be unwilling due to the dislike of the smart action figure instead of the jacked one holding the two rocket launcher. 

When in Rome, do what the Romans do

In different parts of the world they have different things that make their culture unique from others. The way they drive, cross the street, and even the way they eat. All these things and more make up their culture.  and when you are in their society you might be different or feel awkward when there culture and your culture collide. This idea is known as culture shock, when you are put in a situation where their culture is all around you and you feel as if you are unrelated to everything that they do. The judging of the other culture is known as ethnocentrism. This is like saying that what they do is stupid because it is different then what your culture does. The realization of the different culture is know as cultural relativism. All of these ideals came to me when i was in mexico for spring break. The cars all go so fast and just drive through the streets as fast as possible, going through red lights and not stopping for anything except people and other cars. There was no real organization to the ways the cars moved but all of the taxis we drove in got us to our destination very quickly, somehow. Still to this day i cant figure out the ways the streets move and who has the right of way. a mystery is all it is-well, to us. but this is their culture and their used to that and we are not so it feel uncomfortable to us, so we have culture shock. And this will never change because all around the world, people are different and have different cultures that some will not be able to experience others because there are so many.

Tuesdays will never be the same.

In the movie Tuesdays with Morrie, Morrie teaches us about many things in our lives that don't always like to talk about and may feel uncomfortable discussing. Love is one of those things. I believe Americans are scared to love each other because their afraid of the end result of it. Americans are so afraid of failure that they are afraid to even try to love and be romantic. Work is another thing that Morrie discussed with Mitch. Mitch valued deadlines, being busy, and not being able to talk with his girlfriend as being successful. Mitch didn't notice the negative aspects of his work until Morrie asked him about it and told him that he needs to keep in mind the things that are important in life. People tend to forget whats really important in life because they are so set on being successful but people forget that success doesn't always mean that you have a deep pocket. Success for me, means that you are happy with your life and feel like you have achieved something better for yourself- the money that comes with achievement is just a bonus. But people don't see it that way because of the American materialistic culture and the fact that everyone thinks that money comes before everything. Another thing that the American culture can't do is to become able to comfortably talk about death and dying. Americans are afraid of death and are scared to talk about the process of dying. Death is a scary topic because people look at death as you will never be able to see or talk to that person ever again. As Morrie said "death ends a life, not a relationship" and i believe this is very true. Even though the person is not living, you still knew the who they were and what they did to effect your life. People need to expand their thoughts and begin to understand that death doesn't always have to be something to be scared of because if happens no matter what to everyone, so we should learn to accept it. This happened with my grandma. She was very sick for about two years and it took some time to accepted that she was going to die. After this acceptance, it was just a matter of time before she died but because i accepted the fact that it was going to happen, it was easier to overcome. She made a huge impact on my life since the day i was born and its like shes still here any time that i need to talk to her because i know shes just a world ahead of me chillen with the rest of my relatives that have passed.     

Can we generalize without Stereotyping

Every day people walk, drive, or ride the bus to work or school or other activities. but as passing other people, we tend to generalize the people that we see into different categories. This is normal for most people even without thinking about it. People judge other people and put them into categories based off of skin color or race or religion or even hair color. This categorizing may just be stereotyping for some, however I believe they are so similar sometimes that the effects of generalizing can be taken as a form of stereotyping. This creates a mass effect on our society because people see people that are not in their generalization as different to them. But this is what stereotyping is. It isn't being aware of the other groups around you, it is knowing, pointing out, and maybe mistreating other groups around you. It is very hard to learn the fine line between them, and i would love to learn more about it. 

Snowplowed!

During this horrific blizzard me and my friends had the fabulous idea to make a huge snow fort out of the huge pile of snow that the snowplow man left for us. After 4 hours of intense labor, we were finally done. It was a 3 tunnel, 6 person snow fort with chairs made from snow and cup holders for our drinks. Exhausted, me and my friends went inside the house to warm up and eat. About an hour later we came back out to go sledding. After this we decided to go chill in our snow fort. So we proceeded to chill. after 20 minutes we hear a car, but think it is just my mom coming home from were she was. It wasn't. that very next second our snow fort got POUNDED by the snowplow man. We all sprinted out of the fort as swiftly as possible. It got me thinking that the snowplow man and the people that hire them have no respect for mother nature and what it brings us. Snow is a beautiful thing, and all people talk about is how annoying it is and what a pain it is and just want it removed. I love snow. It is a gift given to us by mother nature that i am grateful for-especially that it helps us to get snow days;) and we should take advantage of it while we have it.

Spit is gross but saliva is not?

But why? this was an interesting lesson in class, i thought, because we know they are exactly the same, except for the fact that ones in the mouth and ones out of the mouth. But we think that spit is gross because society tells us that it is. I have always been told as a kid to not spit but i never understood why and now i know: because society has classed spit as "gross" and saliva as a natural liquid in your mouth that should stay there. If our society formed a view about spit, like the Greeks, then maybe we would all think differently about it. The Greeks believe that spitting on the bride and groom at a wedding is good luck. This is due to their culture and how they think of the things around them differently then we do. Society has formed our thoughts about many different things that effect our lives and it will be like that forever.   

Sociological Mindfulness

After reading "Sociological Mindfulness" by Michael Schwalbe, i was pretty interested in becoming more mindful of upcoming situations. He said that being mindful of something or someone "is to see and appreciate its unique qualities". But with the way we grew up, in America, where people hate and discriminate and judge, nobody has the right mindset to read the book instead of judging the cover. People judge others in one glance. But what factors made us this way? could it be the shows we watch and the magazine's we read? or could it just be the way we all grew up? Their could be many things that make us the way they are but i don't believe it will get any better unless people start to become Sociological Mindful of the people around them. Sal brought up the idea of world peace in class. I thought it was very interesting to think of everyone getting along, not fighting, not hating, not discriminating, just having total peace. This is what everyone wants, including me, but will be very hard to achieve unless people begin use Schwalbe's knowledge and become more sociological mindful.

you are your surroundings

Over the weekend we read an excerpt out of the story Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. This story was interesting to me because reading about Roseto reminded me of a place where my Great Aunt lived in Italy. She lived in a small town three hours south of Rome and it wasn't easy to get their either. When my mom visited her, she had to take a plane to Rome then a train then a cab to the town. This little secluded town had many generations of families living under the same roof, the same as the town in the story. The people in this town were stress free and loved to talk to one another,They drank wine and danced for hours on end. My mom said they all just loved each other and loved to have a good time. Also there are no grocery stores anywhere around the town, so people grew there own food and ate everything fresh from the garden or the farm. This reliance on others in the small town made everyone so close. Their surroundings were their family and friends and everyone was in perfect harmony with each other as well as their body's, because they didn't have much medicine. My Aunt died at the astonishing age of 104 and this age is not uncommon for this part of Italy. These people live such naturally long lives because they have a natural stress free surrounding to place themselves in. Good health to some can be eating healthy and working out regularly but to me another important thing is to surround yourself with good people that your happy to be around and make you feel mentally "healthy". You are Your Surroundings.  

Who am I?

I'm Feldy, a High School Senior with an open mind for learning about people and the things that people do. I like to expand my mind onto things that are unknown to me and sometimes awkward to discuss. These things are interesting to learn about if you can relate to others, which could be on a blog. This is why i like to blog about my ideas and relate them to others' ideas. I have always liked to bounce my ideas off of others since i was young. My mom said i asked more questions, when i was a kid, then anyone shes ever known, and have been like that ever since. My parents have taught me so much about my life but questions are ways to learn more about life. They have influenced me throughout my life to grow and to be a good person. My motto is "live smart, work hard, party harder" and have always lived by it. This motto has helped me to live a good life so far and hopefully will continue to do so.