Looks Yummy

As I was scrolling through the Yahoo News feed, I was more than surprised by what I read. It's not too often that a news headline really catch my eye like, "Grandmother's petition seeks changes to laundry pods." First off, what in the heck does that title mean? I was even more confused as I read on. Apparently, a petition was started to make laundry pods more child-proof. The statistic that shocked me most was that "So far in 2013, poison control centers around the country have received more than 6,000 reports of exposure to the concentrated laundry cleaners from children ages 5 and younger." That means that thousands of irresponsible parents are leaving around toxic chemicals for their 2-year-olds to teethe on. To me, that is a bit depressing. How could people be so dumb?  

Here's the photo that was included in the article. The claim was that "the brightly colored packets can be dangerously appealing to children." 

I feel like the fact that the box of the laundry pods is bright-colored is irrelevant. The companies that make laundry pods post warnings on their products which are quite blatant. This is simply a matter of bad parenting in my opinion. This whole situation could be remedied if parents and guardians keep chemicals away from little kids. Simple as that.

It's a Man's Job, Honey

As many of my American Studies classmates such as Callie, Ben, and Sara also decided to blog about gender roles, it is obvious to me that the issue of racial and gender injustice is one that is pressing even in today's "more liberal" society. I find it so interesting that though many consider our nation to have progressed in terms of equality for women and minorities, however, as shown in The Soiling of Old Glory, the U.S. is still far from perfect. It is so amazing to me that a photo taken in 1976 of a white man attempting to hit a black man with the shaft of an American flag can so closely resemble a painting depicting the Boston Massacre which was painted in 1856, over 100 years earlier. Not much seems to have changed: "'Now, as evidenced by this attack, the black people of Boston have very little reason to celebrate the Bicentennial, for they are still not free to safely walk the streets of this city"' (Masur 69). Now, Boston has improved the situation for its minority population in more recent years and the city is no longer as segregated. The state of Massachusetts even passed a law in 2004 allowing people of the same sex to get married. I wouldn't say that the rest of the nation has exactly followed suit with Boston.

 No, I wouldn't say that it is very realistic to think that changing the nation's outlook on gender and minorities will happen overnight. But, change must and can be done. In AS class a few weeks ago, Mr. Bolos and Mr. O'Connor asked the whole class to close their eyes and think of the image that pops into your head when you think of "an American." Though not everyone in the class shared their mental image, I think it is fair to say that nearly everyone thought of a middle or upper-class white man. Why is it that "an American" is not a Hispanic female? I interpret the fact that people automatically think of a man to represent the average American to mean that many people subconsciously believe that modern American society is dominated by white men. Just as Louis Masur compares the photograph of The Soiling of Old Glory with a painting of the Boston Massacre, we can say that the U.S. is still dominated by rich white men like the framers of the constitution. So, has our society's viewpoint really become more progressive since the time of the Founding Fathers?

Anyone up for a comedy?

Last week while having dinner with my grandparents, I got into a conversation with my grandma about her childhood in Egypt. My grandma told me about the good old days when movies were "nice," as she put it, meaning that they did not have any swearing, drugs, or sex. She said loved to go with her friends to see movies all day long, but her favorites were the American films because they always had a happy ending. Although I have seen so many movies, I never really picked up on the the fact that American stories often seem to follow a general form. In a discussion in American Studies class the other day, we talked about how movies like the Lion King and Cinderella have become family favorites because of their nearly perfect "redemptive arcs" as described in Kurt Vonnegut's essay, "Here Is a Lesson in Creative Writing." Vonnegut explains that in order for a story to do well in the American marketplace, it will follow a somewhat similar pattern: life is going pretty well, then something bad happens, but as fate would have it, life gets to be even better than it ever was. Why is it that most Americans only want to see a movie with a happy ending?

Redemptive Arc

   

I think most people who go to the movies want to have a pleasant experience and want to come out feeling satisfied that the conflicts have all been resolved. A good point that someone brought up during our discussion about the "ideal" American movie is that when people walk out of a movie happy, they will spread a good word about the film. Therefore, more people will go to see the movie, making more money for its producers.

Why do you think it is that American films and stories commonly have happy ending? Is it just to sell tickets?

Gas is Lighting a Hole in Your Pocket

This past Sunday I started my first job as an aide at my synagogue's religious school. I was so excited to  be given a role of responsibility where I help the younger kids in the school with Hebrew or with prayers. I really enjoyed my work and I left very content that I did a good job and that I earned some money of my own.

On my way driving home from the synagogue, I noticed that the gas tank on the car was only about a quarter of the way full, so I decided I would stop at a gas station to fill up. All that I had on me was about $25, which I earned from my job. I went up to the cash register in the mini-mart and asked to buy $25 worth of gas. As a newly-licensed driver, this was the first time I had gone alone to fill up the car. I knew gasoline is expensive, but I was shocked as the dollar amount on the pump's display increased so rapidly. Suddenly, I heard a clunk, indicating that my money was all used up. I felt quite let down when I entered the car and noticed that the tank was only a measly half-way full.

I kept wondering why prices of gas have gotten incredibly high. I thought back to what someone said the other day in American Studies class that gas prices do not have to be so high because prices often fluctuate based on what area you live in. For example, most gas stations in Cook County, Illinois charge much more than the national average. At first after taking the car to the gas station, I wished that gasoline prices were cheaper, so I would not have to constantly worry about how much gas I am using by driving to places. But, that led to my epiphany that the fact that people now think twice before they decide to use up 10 gallons of gas to drive to a shoe store is a good thing. Now, less and less petroleum is left in reserves because of an increased demand for petro products and because it is a nonrenewable resource.

Might investing in alternative fuels solve the U.S.'s as well as many other nation's everlasting need for petroleum?