Breaking the Folkway :
This week when I went grocery shopping, I saw something that I thought I would never see. At first I thought that the person was going to get in trouble. I quickly started to imagine all the the things that could go wrong. When I enter the grocery stored, I saw a girl wearing her rollerskates inside ALDI. The girl wearing the rollerskates remainded me of the time that I had to break a folkway. At first I was scared at breaking the folkway, but once I started to conduct the experiment, it was actually not so bad. So by seeing a folk way being broken and being remainded of the one that I broke kind of convince me to break another one.
I thought about the folkway that I was going to break thinking that it couldn't be too extreme in order to get in trouble. In the end, I couldn't decided which folkway to break, it was between going up to a random person and telling them all about my life and going into public bathrooms and asking for paper and than starting a conversation. I though that either one of those was going to be weird and creepy. In the ended I decided to do the paper toilet one, it seemed as if it was less nerve breaking and less creepy( since the person didn't know who I was). I decided to try and find out the same things that I was trying to find out when I was to break a foldway for a school project. I tried to find out what peoples reaction would be.
When I was in the process of conducting my, I once again got nervous. For my expirement, I decided to go to four places, portillos, kohls, walmart, and best buy. What I was going to do was try and start a conversation by asking for toilet paper. I thought that the conversation should be the same to get better results. The conversation revolved around economics (gas prices, cost of products, etc.), the weather, and teenagers.
A couple of people ignored me when I tried to ask them questions while in the bathroom, others, the minority actually went a long, which I thought was a bit weird. Their were three guys that actually told me to shut up, that it was weird to be talking in the bathroom. Their was one guy at kohls that actually continued the conversation ( I thought that this guy was weird). The guy kept the conversation going and actually started talking about different topics like his personal family and he was contrasting the past and the present ( I think that this person was an old man). The guy creeped me out so much that I actually told him that I was leaving ( ackward).
Overall, I think that the expirement went as I predicted, the majority of the people ignored me, and a very few actually started a conversation. Now I know that talking in the bathroom can get ackward and that most people don't talk or go along when they are in such a position.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
5/20/2011
I want to start by saying my condolences to families of the victims.......................
Well I can surely say that this week was the most interesting week I have had in a long time, I mean come on we went to jail and saw a trial without breaking any norms or being deviant or being members of the trial it self. Honestly I didn't think that jail was so bad, I thought that it was going to be way worse. I think that all the negative propaganda involving jail got to my head a bit to much. The trial was something else, something almost unrealistic. I still can't believe that people are allowed to go to trials like that, as if it was an invitation to snoop on other people's business. Just in general, I think that Tuesday was a day to remember.
To start with, I only went to one trial the whole time that I was at the Dupage County Court . The trial that I attended involved a double murder. The murder was Gary Shuning. The murder killed both his mom (Doris) and an "escort" that he hired. According to sources, Gary killed his mom after alledgely having an argument with her. He killed his mom by giving her multiple stabs all over her body and almost cutting her head off. When Doris was found, she was found with a blank covering her up. After having killed his mom, Gary still had the nerve to steal his mom's credit card and hire the escort (he called for more than one escort, but only one was killed) Gary's escort was in roughly the same condition. The escort was also stabbed multiple times, and she was found half naked. When policeman arrived at the scene of the crime, they found two dead bodies and multiple blood stains all over the house. The policeman didn't find any signs of forced entries.
The policeman would have never known about the crime if it hadn't been for the escort that was invaded into the house by Gary. A couple escorts entered the house, and only one didn't make out alive. The escort was killed by Gary after being stabbed multiple times. Gary killed the escort because she found knives that were covered with blood. I can only imagine the fear that ran through both Gary's and the escorts body when she found the knives filled with blood. I would imagine that Gary killed the escort fearing that she would call the police and fearing that he would have to go to jail for his actions. Before being killed, the escort made a called to her pimp telling him about the situation that she got her self into. The pimp ended the call with the escort and called the pollice. Minutes later, the police arrived at the scene of the crime. The only thing that the police found were two dead bodies and Gary pleading his defense.
I can only hope that Gary is found guilty for his actions and is sentence to life in prison. I find it unrealistic to hear that someone killed their mom, to have killed the peron that gave life to you, a person of your own blood.
P.S. The pimp got deported back to his home ( I think that it was in Africa somewhere)
Moving on to something a bit less depressing, JAIL. Like I mention before, I didn't find the jail to be as bad as people said that it would be. I would have to agree that prison is not a place where I would wish to be. The down side of being in prison is that you are stripped to nearly having nothing with you, one has no privacy, and I imagine that the food is nowhere near the food at portillos or bufallo wild wings, or even good old home cook meals. The policeman that taught us little bit more about jail, prisoners,etc. was a cool guy ( even though he picked at me, lol) one could see that he was really trying to educate us a bit more on the justice system, especially jails. He definatly taught me some new things that I didn't know before ( its not like if I knew a lot about jails, and the process that a prisoner has to go through). I found it interesting how policeman have to catogeries the prisoners into about three different categories. I also didn't know that if a prisoner was in extremely bad health, he was taken to a hospital, I thought tha a doctor was taken to the jail were the prisoner was being held.
Eating ouside of a jail and a court was something that I have never done, and I can honestly say that it was an interesting experience that I would definetly do again. I felt a bit ackward having people stare at you while they were passing by and we were eating, talk about ackward. To bad the weather wasn't coaporating.
Folkway: I think that we broke a folkway when we were eating outside and everybody was looking at us as they passed by us. ( I wish that their would have been some more people doing it, it would deminish the ackwardness a bit)
Law: Gary broke a law by killing two people.
Taboo: Gary not only broke a law but also a taboo. He broke a taboo by hiring escorts and than killing one of them. He also tried to
Nature: I think that violant video games, movies, and T.V shows contributed to an increase in the probability in him killing someone. ( probably wanting to know how it felt)
Felony: I think that Gary's case should be consider a felony since he killed two people and he almost killed himself.
Well I can surely say that this week was the most interesting week I have had in a long time, I mean come on we went to jail and saw a trial without breaking any norms or being deviant or being members of the trial it self. Honestly I didn't think that jail was so bad, I thought that it was going to be way worse. I think that all the negative propaganda involving jail got to my head a bit to much. The trial was something else, something almost unrealistic. I still can't believe that people are allowed to go to trials like that, as if it was an invitation to snoop on other people's business. Just in general, I think that Tuesday was a day to remember.
To start with, I only went to one trial the whole time that I was at the Dupage County Court . The trial that I attended involved a double murder. The murder was Gary Shuning. The murder killed both his mom (Doris) and an "escort" that he hired. According to sources, Gary killed his mom after alledgely having an argument with her. He killed his mom by giving her multiple stabs all over her body and almost cutting her head off. When Doris was found, she was found with a blank covering her up. After having killed his mom, Gary still had the nerve to steal his mom's credit card and hire the escort (he called for more than one escort, but only one was killed) Gary's escort was in roughly the same condition. The escort was also stabbed multiple times, and she was found half naked. When policeman arrived at the scene of the crime, they found two dead bodies and multiple blood stains all over the house. The policeman didn't find any signs of forced entries.
The policeman would have never known about the crime if it hadn't been for the escort that was invaded into the house by Gary. A couple escorts entered the house, and only one didn't make out alive. The escort was killed by Gary after being stabbed multiple times. Gary killed the escort because she found knives that were covered with blood. I can only imagine the fear that ran through both Gary's and the escorts body when she found the knives filled with blood. I would imagine that Gary killed the escort fearing that she would call the police and fearing that he would have to go to jail for his actions. Before being killed, the escort made a called to her pimp telling him about the situation that she got her self into. The pimp ended the call with the escort and called the pollice. Minutes later, the police arrived at the scene of the crime. The only thing that the police found were two dead bodies and Gary pleading his defense.
I can only hope that Gary is found guilty for his actions and is sentence to life in prison. I find it unrealistic to hear that someone killed their mom, to have killed the peron that gave life to you, a person of your own blood.
P.S. The pimp got deported back to his home ( I think that it was in Africa somewhere)
Moving on to something a bit less depressing, JAIL. Like I mention before, I didn't find the jail to be as bad as people said that it would be. I would have to agree that prison is not a place where I would wish to be. The down side of being in prison is that you are stripped to nearly having nothing with you, one has no privacy, and I imagine that the food is nowhere near the food at portillos or bufallo wild wings, or even good old home cook meals. The policeman that taught us little bit more about jail, prisoners,etc. was a cool guy ( even though he picked at me, lol) one could see that he was really trying to educate us a bit more on the justice system, especially jails. He definatly taught me some new things that I didn't know before ( its not like if I knew a lot about jails, and the process that a prisoner has to go through). I found it interesting how policeman have to catogeries the prisoners into about three different categories. I also didn't know that if a prisoner was in extremely bad health, he was taken to a hospital, I thought tha a doctor was taken to the jail were the prisoner was being held.
Eating ouside of a jail and a court was something that I have never done, and I can honestly say that it was an interesting experience that I would definetly do again. I felt a bit ackward having people stare at you while they were passing by and we were eating, talk about ackward. To bad the weather wasn't coaporating.
Folkway: I think that we broke a folkway when we were eating outside and everybody was looking at us as they passed by us. ( I wish that their would have been some more people doing it, it would deminish the ackwardness a bit)
Law: Gary broke a law by killing two people.
Taboo: Gary not only broke a law but also a taboo. He broke a taboo by hiring escorts and than killing one of them. He also tried to
Nature: I think that violant video games, movies, and T.V shows contributed to an increase in the probability in him killing someone. ( probably wanting to know how it felt)
Felony: I think that Gary's case should be consider a felony since he killed two people and he almost killed himself.
Monday, May 2, 2011
3/29/2011
Its been a short but at the same time a long week.
Just yesterday my mom and I were talking about the different taboos that America has compare to the ones that Mexico has. For two tremendous bodies of land being so close to one another, they are very different.
Walking home from school, I saw a little boy drop his lolipop and than pick it up and try to put it on his mouth (Five second rule :). His mom quickly stopped him and quickly jerked the lolipop off of his hand. The mom told him not to eat because it fell on the ground and that it was now dirty and contaminated with bacteria and viruses. People from America are used to throwing things into the garbage once it falls on the ground, and not putting them into their mouth. Growing up, my mom would always tell me not to put things in my mouth once they have touched the floor. To people in America , eating something that has touched the floor could be seen as a folkway.
On the other hand, in Mexico, people are used to the complete opposite, one could repeatedly see kids eat or put food in their mouths after it has fallen. I remember that on my last visit to Mexico, one of my cousins was eating chicken wings, and before he knew, a chicken wing has fallen to the ground. He quickly picked it up and once again put it on his plate ( he finish eating everything on his plate). Before he eat the chicken wing that fell on the floor, I asked him if he was going to seriously eat, after it fell on the ground. He said that he was and that it was normal to do such a thing in Mexico. I told him that in America once food touches the floor, the majority of the time, one will throw that food away.
I wonder if someone from America was to go to Mexico and follow their customs of throwing food away once it touches the floor, would they be seen as strangers and weirdos?
Would it be the same if someone from Mexico was to come to America and follow their customs of throwing food away once it touches the floor, would they be seen as strangers and weirdos?
Just yesterday my mom and I were talking about the different taboos that America has compare to the ones that Mexico has. For two tremendous bodies of land being so close to one another, they are very different.
Walking home from school, I saw a little boy drop his lolipop and than pick it up and try to put it on his mouth (Five second rule :). His mom quickly stopped him and quickly jerked the lolipop off of his hand. The mom told him not to eat because it fell on the ground and that it was now dirty and contaminated with bacteria and viruses. People from America are used to throwing things into the garbage once it falls on the ground, and not putting them into their mouth. Growing up, my mom would always tell me not to put things in my mouth once they have touched the floor. To people in America , eating something that has touched the floor could be seen as a folkway.
On the other hand, in Mexico, people are used to the complete opposite, one could repeatedly see kids eat or put food in their mouths after it has fallen. I remember that on my last visit to Mexico, one of my cousins was eating chicken wings, and before he knew, a chicken wing has fallen to the ground. He quickly picked it up and once again put it on his plate ( he finish eating everything on his plate). Before he eat the chicken wing that fell on the floor, I asked him if he was going to seriously eat, after it fell on the ground. He said that he was and that it was normal to do such a thing in Mexico. I told him that in America once food touches the floor, the majority of the time, one will throw that food away.
I wonder if someone from America was to go to Mexico and follow their customs of throwing food away once it touches the floor, would they be seen as strangers and weirdos?
Would it be the same if someone from Mexico was to come to America and follow their customs of throwing food away once it touches the floor, would they be seen as strangers and weirdos?
Saturday, April 23, 2011
3/23/11
What defines a boy?
What defines a girl?
In my opinion stereotypes are a set to put boundaries on people, pointless boundaries.
In the past a woman were viewed as weak, always having to look good, and fragile, over time things have started to change. Woman have started working outside the field that they were expected to work in,they work in construction, offices, and modeling and acting. and they've also started to join sports. Woman are viewed by the world has the person in any relationship that has to be kind, loving, soft , etc. Everything related to woman can fall into one if not more of the categories that describe a woman. For example one of my little cousins recently bought a barbie doll. The doll had pink clothes, blond hair and pink everything. I asked my little cousin why she choose the doll and she that it was because it had a lot of pink and because it was really pretty, just the way a girl should look. I was really surprise at her response because she was only seven and it seemed like if she has been exposed to the real world way to early, (in my opinion). My mom always said that in a family the female always thinks with their heart.
On the other hand, males are viewed the complete opposite, males are viewed as the strong ones, the ones that most provided the needs for a family. In the past the man were suppose to go out an work, bring food for the family, and still this traditions remain so. Man are viewed as the strongest of both genders, the ones that aren't suppose to show emotions. The color read, blue, muscle, pride, reputation, they are all things that describe a man. One of my uncles has two kids, and both of them are males (boys). Its weird how the only toys that they have in their house are action figures and cars, not even a bear ( to me a bear is a neutral toy). I asked the youngest of my cousins if he would like a teddy bear for his birthday ( he is only four years old), without hesitation he told me no. I asked him why and he said that teddy bears are for girls. My mom always said that the male in the family must think with his brain.
In the end, both of my cousins knew what stereotypes they were supposed to follow according to their gender. I think that young kids are getting exposed to stereotypes and such things way to early in life. In the end I think that stereotypes hurt more than they help.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
3/14/2011
Wow, not going to class for two days can really leave someone speechless.
Today we made a project that made me really confused, the project was that we were suppose to take stereotypes that people had on genders and switch them. I think that this project could surely open the ideas of people that still hang to the same stereotypes. In the past stereotypes were part of the taboos that kept people (or in this case man and woman) in their place in regards of what they could and couldn't do. In the past, stereotypes were viewed with more seriousness than they do at this time. In todays world, many stereotypes that people had of one another have slowly started to fade away. Many people don't have the time to think of such things.
A well known stereotype that is directed towards woman is that they are suppose to stay home and cook, take care of the children, and clean the house. People in the past were really closed minded. Families today need both the mom and dad to be working in order to be well put in society. In my family, both my mom and dad work in order to give a good life to my siblings and I. All of my aunts whether they are in Mexico or here in America, they are all working. In todays fast pace, parents, both moms and dads need to work, need to earn some money in order to keep up with societies needs.
A well known stereotype that is directed towards man is, how they aren't suppose to show any emotion, and how they are the only ones that are suppose to put food on the table. I think that this stereotype is really dumb because its prohibiting people from expressing their emotions and this stereotype eventually is passed down from generation to generation. At a school that I went to for my job, a kid started to cry( kid was 6, boy, Hispanic) because someone was calling him names. The kid went to the dad and the dad told him to stop crying, to be a man and to stop crying. The kid got even worse and started to cry even more. After the dad left I asked him why he kept on crying and he said that his dad didn't love him because he wouldn't stop crying.
I think that stereotypes are useless and pointless. It doesn't matter if one is a male or a female, one should be able to do anything that they want. I think that in todays society, stereotypes of the past have started to diminish while other new stereotypes have started to arouse. Some of the new stereotypes seemed to be worse than the ones that people had back than.
I hope that in some near future, stereotypes would cease to exist since they don't really serve a good purpose other than to draw pointless boundaries that affect people both emotionally, mentally, and physically.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
4/7/2011
This week in sociology we discussed what makes us who we are, is it Nature or is it Nurture. In my opinion I think that we are who we are taking a lit bit of both Nature and Nurture ( but leaning I bit more towards Nurture) . Nature covers the biological factor of the human (what we are born with), and Nurture covers what we are taught, what we learn from out surroundings.
EX. I have a little cousin who is really outgoing and talented at sports, she is really straight forward. Both my uncles are per say shy. Both of them like to keep to themselves and don't like to have confrontations with people. I think that my little cousin learn to be outgoing from his surroundings (Nurture) instead of his biological inheritance (Nature). My cousin is currently ten years old, when she was seven, she started to play sports (soccer) (she is really good). I think that she learn to be more outgoing from being involve in sports and socializing with other kids her own age. I think that many people learn from viewing and mimicking what others around them do ( kind of like observational learning).
On Thursday we read some articles that I found to be a bit misleading and not completely telling the truth. The article that I found to be the most misleading was the one that said that starting school early was bad for your child. I find it to be misleading because I have a younger cousin that only benefited from going to school at an early age. He is currently five years old, he started going to school at the age of three. At the age that he is right now I think that he is really smart. He can name you different shapes, colors, numbers, letters, he can also do a little bit of math and read (add and subtract) and he can do all of does things in both English and Spanish. He is also really social, he has no problems making friends. Currently he is in kindergarten and he really likes, he said that its his favorite part of the day. This is why I believe that the article that stated that having your kid start school early, is not real accurate.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
3/24/11
Wonder who makes the best parties, the Greeks or the Italians?
SPRING BREAK: Spring Break is coming up and all my friends are excited, yet no ones stops to think the that means that we are only a couple of months away from becoming Seniors, which means that we only have about one more year of High School :(. If 11:11 is real than I wish that my junior year wouldn't end so quickly. Life as a High School student sure is fun, but I know that once you cross the senior year age, fun ends and a new beginning awaits ..................... But still this spring break should be fun, I may go to a wedding ( should be interesting and scary, family weddings get a bit scary, interesting and out off control), o well you can't pick your family ( lol ). Hope that its fun.................
My mom's side of the family loved to party, they would have a party for just about any reason, it could be something as small as passing 2nd grade to celebrating for an anniversary. My uncle ( from my mom's side of the family) is the youngest of 15, since he was the youngest, everyone was expecting a final big wedding. All his siblings by this time were happily married and they have had a Big Fat Mexican Wedding ( lol ). In my mom's side of the family, weddings were of the most importance, every detail had to be noted and taken into consideration, their was no room for errors, basically my mom's side of the family was crazy when it came to weddings, to them weddings were sacred bonds that would last forever. On the other hand, my future to be aunt, didn't see the wedding the way that my family saw it. My future aunt had only one sibling, she said that her sisters wedding was small and it wasn't made into such an exaggeration,or at least as much as my family, and that was the way that she wanted. My future aunt wanted to have a very limited invite list for the church ceremony and she wanted their to be a maximum of 100 people at the after party. My grandparents weren't to please with the idea of having a small wedding, to them a wedding was something special that needed to be shared by all your love ones, which included cousins, siblings, aunts, uncles, second cousins, and ect. When it came down to the day of the wedding, things had been changed, the soon to be wife was convince to do a wedding the way that my grandparents had dreamed of making it. In the end, the wedding was AMAZING, a lot of family showed up at the church ceremony ( some people had to stand ), the limit that aunt placed for the after party was almost tripled. Overall the wedding was amazing and everybody enjoyed it, the best part is that its even almost 20 years since the wedding and people are still talking about it.
I wonder if when I get married, my wedding will turn out to be something as amazing as the wedding that my aunts and uncles have had.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
3/17/11
I hope the that never happens to me ever again............... Am I old?
Today at my job, this kids took some weird games and they were playing with it all afternoon. The kids seemed to have been having a lot of fun with the games, so I approach them ( I regret doing that ). When I asked the kids what they were playing, they quickly gave me a weird look and hesitated to tell me what they were doing, eventually they told ( it sounded a bit complicated.) The game seemed complicated but fun, I asked one of the kids if I could play, he said yeah. Not even three minutes had gone by when I had lost, I was surprise, I thought that I had the hang of it but apparently not. After losing about three times, the kid got mad and told me that should stop playing because I was to old to understand the game. I was shocked, a little kid was dissing me. The comment made me sad, it made me realize that maybe I was getting a bit old ;( .
In this depressing moment in my old life ;( , made me different from everyone else. In this example, I think that I was a member of the outgroup A.K.A the old group. I was one of the old kids in the room and they were the ingroup or the cool kids. Overall today was not a good day at work.
Anywayssssssssssss.
This week, we had to break a folkway and I can honestly say that breaking a folkway was fun and awkward at the same time. The folkway that I decided to break was related to clothing. People in America judge one another by the clothes that they are wearing. If someone saw a person wearing a lot of silk and flashy accessories, one might think that person was rich, compared to someone wearing old rags of clothes with dirt marks. What I decided to do was wear my underwear on top of my jeans. I went to the store and bought a boxer decorated with smiley face . When I got home, I rubbed it against the dirt so that it would get some uniqueness and I played tug of war with my dog ( poor dog, didn't know what she was doing). The idea of making the appearance of the underwear look bad was to try and change the peoples view towards my appearance more realistic ( people would notice that the boxer was new). At first I was scared the response that I would get from the people would be exaggerated and I could get in serious trouble ( lucky me nothing bad happened :)). My hypothesis was the people would start to walk away as soon as they saw me, and try to avoid any sort of contact with me. At first, the people weren't responding the way that I hoped. People instead gave me a dirty, disapproving look that made me a bit uncomfortable. I than thought that maybe people weren't doing anything because they were under the influence of groupthink. Maybe people weren't doing anything like telling the manager, or someone in authority because they thought that someone else was going to do it or the people just didn't want to be members of an outgroup that could arouse at any moment ( members of the outgroup could include people that made contact with me whether it was directly or indirectly ). So instead of changing my underwear lol, I decided to change the location and try to go somewhere else where the people would be different and surely the response should be too. I went to ALDI, La Tampico, Burger King and Jewel, and yet not many people responded the way the I was expecting. It seemed as though woman were the ones that did most of the moving and evil look thing. The males seemed to have been the ones that didn't take much notice to the fact that I was wearing my underwear over my jeans ( that worried me a bit I was thinking that maybe they had also done it so they weren't surprise).
Overall breaking a folkway was really fun and interesting. I found out that people will just try to give you a vibe that will make you uncomfortable than actually doing something about it. I wonder if people would change their respond if I would have changed my underwear.
After the whole experiment, I threw away my new boxers, I kind of wanted to keep them as a memory of what I did, but my mom made me throw them away, she said that it was disgusting, which I don't see how but ok.
Hope that we get to do something more like that, it was really fun and interesting.
Today at my job, this kids took some weird games and they were playing with it all afternoon. The kids seemed to have been having a lot of fun with the games, so I approach them ( I regret doing that ). When I asked the kids what they were playing, they quickly gave me a weird look and hesitated to tell me what they were doing, eventually they told ( it sounded a bit complicated.) The game seemed complicated but fun, I asked one of the kids if I could play, he said yeah. Not even three minutes had gone by when I had lost, I was surprise, I thought that I had the hang of it but apparently not. After losing about three times, the kid got mad and told me that should stop playing because I was to old to understand the game. I was shocked, a little kid was dissing me. The comment made me sad, it made me realize that maybe I was getting a bit old ;( .
In this depressing moment in my old life ;( , made me different from everyone else. In this example, I think that I was a member of the outgroup A.K.A the old group. I was one of the old kids in the room and they were the ingroup or the cool kids. Overall today was not a good day at work.
Anywayssssssssssss.
This week, we had to break a folkway and I can honestly say that breaking a folkway was fun and awkward at the same time. The folkway that I decided to break was related to clothing. People in America judge one another by the clothes that they are wearing. If someone saw a person wearing a lot of silk and flashy accessories, one might think that person was rich, compared to someone wearing old rags of clothes with dirt marks. What I decided to do was wear my underwear on top of my jeans. I went to the store and bought a boxer decorated with smiley face . When I got home, I rubbed it against the dirt so that it would get some uniqueness and I played tug of war with my dog ( poor dog, didn't know what she was doing). The idea of making the appearance of the underwear look bad was to try and change the peoples view towards my appearance more realistic ( people would notice that the boxer was new). At first I was scared the response that I would get from the people would be exaggerated and I could get in serious trouble ( lucky me nothing bad happened :)). My hypothesis was the people would start to walk away as soon as they saw me, and try to avoid any sort of contact with me. At first, the people weren't responding the way that I hoped. People instead gave me a dirty, disapproving look that made me a bit uncomfortable. I than thought that maybe people weren't doing anything because they were under the influence of groupthink. Maybe people weren't doing anything like telling the manager, or someone in authority because they thought that someone else was going to do it or the people just didn't want to be members of an outgroup that could arouse at any moment ( members of the outgroup could include people that made contact with me whether it was directly or indirectly ). So instead of changing my underwear lol, I decided to change the location and try to go somewhere else where the people would be different and surely the response should be too. I went to ALDI, La Tampico, Burger King and Jewel, and yet not many people responded the way the I was expecting. It seemed as though woman were the ones that did most of the moving and evil look thing. The males seemed to have been the ones that didn't take much notice to the fact that I was wearing my underwear over my jeans ( that worried me a bit I was thinking that maybe they had also done it so they weren't surprise).
Overall breaking a folkway was really fun and interesting. I found out that people will just try to give you a vibe that will make you uncomfortable than actually doing something about it. I wonder if people would change their respond if I would have changed my underwear.
After the whole experiment, I threw away my new boxers, I kind of wanted to keep them as a memory of what I did, but my mom made me throw them away, she said that it was disgusting, which I don't see how but ok.
Hope that we get to do something more like that, it was really fun and interesting.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
3/10/11
I think that teachers are out to get students this week ( students beware of your teachers). A lot of kids are saying how they have a ton of HW and how they've taken a test just everyday this week, it makes me wonder if teachers this week formed their own interest group, just for a week leaving the kids with a lot of test and HW ( what a nightmare ). Well anyways, this week seems really long.
This week in sociology we learned about the different types of culture and the components of a culture.
I think that the most important thing that we learned this week in sociology were the norms that a culture could have. I think that norms are the most important because they put a boundary on the members of a culture on how they are suppose to behave. Every culture has their own norms.
For example............................
One of my uncles was brought to America from Mexico, when he was really little ( a couple of months old) . He spent his whole life in America, so he is accustomed to the American culture rather than his birth culture ( Mexican ). Not so long ago, he got divorce from his wife. After he got divorce, it took him a long time before he told his parents that he got divorce because he knew that they wouldn't take it lightly and he was scared of what they were going to think. His parents lived in Mexico and they were not used to divorces, in their eyes a divorce was like a big sin. Getting a divorce, to them was like breaking a taboo. To them the consequences for breaking a taboo of that magnitude were severe ( I don't know what were the consequences). When my uncle was ready to tell my grandparents that he was divorce, he bought a ticket to go to Mexico and decided to tell them in their faces what had happen rather than giving them a call them and telling them the whole story. When my grandparents heard what happen, they were shock and they didn't know what to say. He was the first member o the family to get a divorce.
In the American culture, divorces aren't viewed the same, they don't fall under the same norm. Maybe to Americans, a divorce would be more like a folkway instead of a Taboo. Every culture has different boundaries as to where something falls in the norm system. In the American culture, woman aren't made to cover their body. In India woman are made to cover their entire body because they think that its bad for a woman to show her body for the public eye.For America, this example might just be a folkway ( depending ) and on India it could probably be a Taboo or a Law.
A Taboo is a norm in a culture, where if someone breaks this kind of norm, they would get severe consequences. The example of my uncle breaking a Taboo norm that was view as a big no no by grandparents culture, brought great consequences for him.
Sociology so far is really fun and I'm really learning a lot. :)
This week in sociology we learned about the different types of culture and the components of a culture.
I think that the most important thing that we learned this week in sociology were the norms that a culture could have. I think that norms are the most important because they put a boundary on the members of a culture on how they are suppose to behave. Every culture has their own norms.
For example............................
One of my uncles was brought to America from Mexico, when he was really little ( a couple of months old) . He spent his whole life in America, so he is accustomed to the American culture rather than his birth culture ( Mexican ). Not so long ago, he got divorce from his wife. After he got divorce, it took him a long time before he told his parents that he got divorce because he knew that they wouldn't take it lightly and he was scared of what they were going to think. His parents lived in Mexico and they were not used to divorces, in their eyes a divorce was like a big sin. Getting a divorce, to them was like breaking a taboo. To them the consequences for breaking a taboo of that magnitude were severe ( I don't know what were the consequences). When my uncle was ready to tell my grandparents that he was divorce, he bought a ticket to go to Mexico and decided to tell them in their faces what had happen rather than giving them a call them and telling them the whole story. When my grandparents heard what happen, they were shock and they didn't know what to say. He was the first member o the family to get a divorce.
In the American culture, divorces aren't viewed the same, they don't fall under the same norm. Maybe to Americans, a divorce would be more like a folkway instead of a Taboo. Every culture has different boundaries as to where something falls in the norm system. In the American culture, woman aren't made to cover their body. In India woman are made to cover their entire body because they think that its bad for a woman to show her body for the public eye.For America, this example might just be a folkway ( depending ) and on India it could probably be a Taboo or a Law.
A Taboo is a norm in a culture, where if someone breaks this kind of norm, they would get severe consequences. The example of my uncle breaking a Taboo norm that was view as a big no no by grandparents culture, brought great consequences for him.
Sociology so far is really fun and I'm really learning a lot. :)
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
America is.........................
My first choice is money since America is seen as a place that revolves around money. Money is on everyone's mind from little kids to adults. People in America see money as their only way to live a good life. I have a big extended family which the majority is of little cousins, and all they wanted for Christmas was money. Without money Americans couldn't pay for the new ipad, or the new droid, for fast food, or for an education. 
America now a days is so addicted to electronics especially cell phones. For my job I have to work with kids, and kids no older than 10 already have newest version of the ipod and they also already have a cell phone. When I was their age cell phones weren't even seen on kids younger than high school students, now a days I walk past my old Elementary school and I see just about every kid with a cell phone or an ipod. I think that if one electronics were to all of a suden disappear, the people of today would go nuts. Now a days, America depends on electronics for everything. Americans have computers to replace books, they have texting instead of sending letters by mail, they have T.Vs to replace going to an oprah show ( like the singing not the person). America today is addicted to electronics. 
America is a place where slowness is not allowed, were the slow get trampled on. America is all about having everything fast, they want fast jobs, fast food,fast internet, fast new products. America has no patience. Recently, fast food business has increase dramatically over a couple of years. Just about ten years ago Americans spent about $110 billion on fast food. On average an American will eat a fast food meal at least three times every two weeks. Fast food has taken over peoples lives. 
The American culture revolves a lot around sports. Their are a lot of baseball fans, Football fans, soccer fans, volleyball fans, basket ball fans, fans for every sport ever invented. It doesn't matter what sport it is because America just loves them all. People in America get really hyped up when two big rivals compete against one another or when a big game is coming up. America recently passed true a big game, the Super Bowl. When the Super Bowl was aired on live T.V, it was said to have been the most watched show on T. V. in a long time (or something like that).
America is a place that is well known for its school. Education is an important part of the American culture. My mom first came to America with a study visa. She came here to study and try and strive for a good future. Now my mom is pushing me and my siblings to get an education and to go to college and work hard to get a degree on something. Education is in every Americans mind, probably more now days given the economical problems.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
3-3-2011
The Awkward Moment..
The most awkward moment of my life was also the most wonderfull moment in my life. The day that my grandparents first came to West Chicago was by far the best day of my life. The first time that I met them was when I was three and that was in Mexico ( some good, funny memories ) , years passed (5 years ) before I saw them again. I was only a little kid, and I didn't know my inherited customs good enough when my grandparents first came. I had been waiting for the day that they would arrive at the airport, I was really excited to see them even though I hadn't seen them in a long time and I didn't remember much about them. My mom told me great stories of my grandparents ( really funny ones ). Days before my grandparents were to arrive at the airport, my mom tried to teach us as much as she could about how to behave in the presence of my grandparents. When they finally arrived at the airport, my whole family went to the airport to pick them up, everyone was excited and nervous to see them ( specially my mom). My mom was the first to recognize my grandparents, she started crying since it was her first time seeing them since she came to America. She tried to walk as fast as she could towards them ( my mom was in the process of giving birth to my little brother ) and she automatically went up to them and hugged them and kept on hugging them for a long time . When it was finally my turn to greet my grandparents, my mom taught me that they weren't used to shaking hands and that instead I should just skip to the hugging. I guess I was nervous when it was my turn, my extincts immediately kicked in and the first thing I did was stretch my hand to give them a hand shake ( I could see a confuse look on my grandparents face). It had taken my grandparents some time before reacting, I guess that they weren't used to the custom of shaking hands to greet a person, they were confused and just stood their not knowing what to do. The ride home was by far the most awkward ride of my life ( now I just go straight for a hug, I get to avoid the awkwardness).
The activity that we did in class was by far the most awkward activity I have ever done. The class got divided into two different cultures and of course with different cultures come different customs. The simulation was tricky since one group was suppose to start a conversation with a hand shake, but the other group was not allowed to have any kind of physical contact with another person. The simulation turned really awkward and confusing real fast since nobody knew what was going on or what to do. The different cultures had totally different customs that one must follow. It was hard at first, not being able to communicate with the other culture, but eventually the class pulled it toward people started to have some conversion. In real life something similar occurs just about every time one interacts with someone from a different culture. It can be something as simple as not being used to doing another cultures customs, as to not being allowed to do another cultures customs.
At the very least we know that people can never stop learning something new from the so many different cultures that the world has to offer.
The most awkward moment of my life was also the most wonderfull moment in my life. The day that my grandparents first came to West Chicago was by far the best day of my life. The first time that I met them was when I was three and that was in Mexico ( some good, funny memories ) , years passed (5 years ) before I saw them again. I was only a little kid, and I didn't know my inherited customs good enough when my grandparents first came. I had been waiting for the day that they would arrive at the airport, I was really excited to see them even though I hadn't seen them in a long time and I didn't remember much about them. My mom told me great stories of my grandparents ( really funny ones ). Days before my grandparents were to arrive at the airport, my mom tried to teach us as much as she could about how to behave in the presence of my grandparents. When they finally arrived at the airport, my whole family went to the airport to pick them up, everyone was excited and nervous to see them ( specially my mom). My mom was the first to recognize my grandparents, she started crying since it was her first time seeing them since she came to America. She tried to walk as fast as she could towards them ( my mom was in the process of giving birth to my little brother ) and she automatically went up to them and hugged them and kept on hugging them for a long time . When it was finally my turn to greet my grandparents, my mom taught me that they weren't used to shaking hands and that instead I should just skip to the hugging. I guess I was nervous when it was my turn, my extincts immediately kicked in and the first thing I did was stretch my hand to give them a hand shake ( I could see a confuse look on my grandparents face). It had taken my grandparents some time before reacting, I guess that they weren't used to the custom of shaking hands to greet a person, they were confused and just stood their not knowing what to do. The ride home was by far the most awkward ride of my life ( now I just go straight for a hug, I get to avoid the awkwardness).
Even though it started rough, both my grandparents and me learned something new from a different culture.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
2/17/2011
This week, sociology was packed with a bunch of vocabulary words. My favorite word was role since it is easy to remember and because their are billions of examples that one can use to describe the word. All of a sudden I started to think of as many roles that I witness on a daily bases, and also the important ones, that is when I realized that the world needs both good and bad roles. In order for the role of a doctor to work, he will need sick people, in order for policeman to do their job, they need criminals, in order for a teacher to teach, their needs to be student. Its disappointing to realize that their is a need for bad people in this world.
All my life, I have alwasy know what I wanted to be when I grew up, and that was to become a teacher and a social worker ( elementary school teacher). Even when I was little I had my mind set on becoming a teacher and a social worker because I knew that I wanted to help kids stay of the streets and to live a good life, even to this day I still have the same goal in mind. Its sad to hear on T. V. how a 14 year old boy got shoot just because he was involved in the wrong stuff, because he was a neglected kid, he was bullied, he wasn't cared for, he didn't find confort in anyone. Its sad to hear that now a days stories like that seem to occur more frequently.
Thats why when I grow up, I wanna try and make a difference and give kids an alternative, a motive to stay of the streets and try and live a good life. My goal for when I grow up is to take on the role of a teacher and a social worker along with other secondary roles that will some day help kids have the life that every person on Earth should have.
( and later on adults too, but most importantly children, they are the future after all )
All my life, I have alwasy know what I wanted to be when I grew up, and that was to become a teacher and a social worker ( elementary school teacher). Even when I was little I had my mind set on becoming a teacher and a social worker because I knew that I wanted to help kids stay of the streets and to live a good life, even to this day I still have the same goal in mind. Its sad to hear on T. V. how a 14 year old boy got shoot just because he was involved in the wrong stuff, because he was a neglected kid, he was bullied, he wasn't cared for, he didn't find confort in anyone. Its sad to hear that now a days stories like that seem to occur more frequently.
Thats why when I grow up, I wanna try and make a difference and give kids an alternative, a motive to stay of the streets and try and live a good life. My goal for when I grow up is to take on the role of a teacher and a social worker along with other secondary roles that will some day help kids have the life that every person on Earth should have.
( and later on adults too, but most importantly children, they are the future after all )
Thursday, February 3, 2011
# 3
This week was the best week in a long time because we had two snow days in a row ( that must be a world record ). This week in sociology we learned about theft and what determines whether the thief will get away with it, or if he will be stopped by the good civilians surrounding the victim. Their are many variables that determine whether or not a theft will be stopped. The victims age, looks, gender, race, the item that is being stolen and the thief's appearance, play a big role in determining whether the theft will be a success or not.
My brother and I went to Portillos on Thursday to conduct an experiment ( my uncle is the manager and he was ok with it ) ( we entered at different times). The experiment that we conduct was something similar to the experiment that we saw in class. In the first attempt, I was the victim and my brother was the thief. I Left the table where I was sitting and went to the bathroom, leaving my phone and wallet out in the open. When I got back to my table, two costumers came up to me and told me that I should be more careful where I leave my stuff because someone had tried to steal them. Before leaving, my brother and I told the good customers that it was all just a school assignment ( they were a bit skeptical). I was surprise that people actually stopped the theft from succeeding even though I didn't try to have a conversation with anyone.
On the Second experiment, my sister and I went to McDonnalds to conduct the same experiment, this time my sister was the victim and I was the thief. The results of this expirement were the same as the ones at Portillos, customers stopped me from stealing her phone and purse ( I was scared for my life, I thought that I was going to get beat up ). When she came out she got a lecture, and we had to tell them that we were just doing a homework assignment.
P.S. The customers took it seriously so I was a bit scared.
At the end of the day, both theft's were stopped and I finally came to a conclusion, that no matter what happens, Earth still has some good people. That makes me feel a bit more safe.
My brother and I went to Portillos on Thursday to conduct an experiment ( my uncle is the manager and he was ok with it ) ( we entered at different times). The experiment that we conduct was something similar to the experiment that we saw in class. In the first attempt, I was the victim and my brother was the thief. I Left the table where I was sitting and went to the bathroom, leaving my phone and wallet out in the open. When I got back to my table, two costumers came up to me and told me that I should be more careful where I leave my stuff because someone had tried to steal them. Before leaving, my brother and I told the good customers that it was all just a school assignment ( they were a bit skeptical). I was surprise that people actually stopped the theft from succeeding even though I didn't try to have a conversation with anyone.
On the Second experiment, my sister and I went to McDonnalds to conduct the same experiment, this time my sister was the victim and I was the thief. The results of this expirement were the same as the ones at Portillos, customers stopped me from stealing her phone and purse ( I was scared for my life, I thought that I was going to get beat up ). When she came out she got a lecture, and we had to tell them that we were just doing a homework assignment.
P.S. The customers took it seriously so I was a bit scared.
At the end of the day, both theft's were stopped and I finally came to a conclusion, that no matter what happens, Earth still has some good people. That makes me feel a bit more safe.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
#2
`This week in Sociology, we looked at some very important sociologist. The sociologist that I found to be the most interesting was Herbert Spencer and his theory of " survival of the fittest" and that poor people must remain poor and that rich people must always be rich ( or something like that). In my opinion, I think that Spencer hit the spot with both of does theories. It's sad to realize that both his theories are true, that both of his theories actually explain the way that society is at this very moment and how it will be in the future, It's sad to realize the that is the way that things will always work.
It doesn't matter what I do, or where I am, I always found an example of Spencer's theory (" survival of the fittest"). Not so long ago, we came across the idea that the world was going to end on 2012 ( I personally don't think that the world will end ). I started to wonder, what if the world was going to end ?, who would survive such a tragedy ?, who would be saved and who would be left to save the extinction of humans?. The way that people are looking right now, I think that a lot of people will not survive. It's obvious that if something that catastrophic was to happen, it would make the gov. make some very tough decisions. Their are a lot obese people in the world, and in order to prevent the extinction of people, the gov. will have to select the fittest people ( both physically and mentally) in order to ensure the survival of humans.
When I went to mexico last summer, I saw a lot of sad things. I saw people sleeping in parks with their belongings because they were poor and didn't have anywhere to go, I saw people looking half dead asking for some money so that they could have something to eat. It's sad how much poor people have to suffer. It's sad how their are rich people that try to ignore the fact that they could do something to help out the people in need. I am disappointed at the fact that Spencers theory that poor people need to stay poor and that rich people need to stay rich in order for society to function is actually true. If everybody in the world was to be rich than their wouldn't be anyone working, but if everyone was poor, than no one would be able to consume products, so the society needs both the poor and the rich even if the poor have to suffer more for it ):
I hope that someday, somewhere, someone can prove Spencer wrong, and give the world another option at how society can function.
It doesn't matter what I do, or where I am, I always found an example of Spencer's theory (" survival of the fittest"). Not so long ago, we came across the idea that the world was going to end on 2012 ( I personally don't think that the world will end ). I started to wonder, what if the world was going to end ?, who would survive such a tragedy ?, who would be saved and who would be left to save the extinction of humans?. The way that people are looking right now, I think that a lot of people will not survive. It's obvious that if something that catastrophic was to happen, it would make the gov. make some very tough decisions. Their are a lot obese people in the world, and in order to prevent the extinction of people, the gov. will have to select the fittest people ( both physically and mentally) in order to ensure the survival of humans.
When I went to mexico last summer, I saw a lot of sad things. I saw people sleeping in parks with their belongings because they were poor and didn't have anywhere to go, I saw people looking half dead asking for some money so that they could have something to eat. It's sad how much poor people have to suffer. It's sad how their are rich people that try to ignore the fact that they could do something to help out the people in need. I am disappointed at the fact that Spencers theory that poor people need to stay poor and that rich people need to stay rich in order for society to function is actually true. If everybody in the world was to be rich than their wouldn't be anyone working, but if everyone was poor, than no one would be able to consume products, so the society needs both the poor and the rich even if the poor have to suffer more for it ):
I hope that someday, somewhere, someone can prove Spencer wrong, and give the world another option at how society can function.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Who am I?
HI. Im Jose. I am currently a junior. I am a shy a person that respects others. My favorite class so far is English. After school I go to work, so their is no time for anything fun. My family is a big influence on me. I am very close to my family, my parents taught me to be patient and to be honest. My favorite sport is volleyball.
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