Captured Thought: Respecting Parents

Last night, I was eating dinner at The Cheesecake Factory with some friends. About halfway through our meal, a woman walked in with her son of about 10 years old, by the look of him. I continued talking with my friends and then suddenly I heard the boy saying "SHHH!" and fiddling with his iPod Touch. I heard his mom sharply whispering to him, "Do not shush me. I'm your mother. I was asking what you want to drink." Then the boy said, "Just ask me later!" (or something along those lines). The mom looked very distraught and of mixed emotions: She was angry with her son for talking back to her, she was hurt by the disrespect she was showing to her, and she was confused and frustrated about not being able to acceptably reprimand him in public. I know I have been disrespectful to my parents in public before, and I have seen it happening with other kids before, but seeing at this close proximity really hit me. Parents only want what is best for their children and hope to raise them with good manners. Seeing the iPod was another factor that added onto the discomfort of the situation. It represented a lot of things to me: The boy was more interested in the iPod than spending time with his mother, the boy was probably spoiled by his mother who is unsure of where to draw the line because she wants her son to be happy even though she probably knows she should say no sometimes, and kids growing up in this era are extremely electronically-materialistic (does that make sense?). I guess this isn't so much a captured thought as it is a captured experience, or emotion. Still though, it really shows me how important it is to be respectful to our parents and be grateful for everything they do for us and how hard they work.

Connection: The Kite Runner and October Sky

Although we finished reading the Kite Runner a while ago, I recently watched October Sky and found some striking similarities between the two stories. Both stories have main characters with controlling fathers who have specific plans for their futures. Amir's dad wants him to be a lawyer or a doctor or some other respectable profession while Amir wants to be a writer and Homer wants to be a rocket scientist while his father wants to follow in his footsteps and go into the mines. Both main characters have a supportive character who encourages them to follow their dreams. Amir has Rahim Kahn who is very impressed with his writing and wants him to continue, so he gives him a journal to help him write. Homer has his mother, but more importantly, Miss Riley who gives him the resources to help him pursue his rocketry like the rocket science book and the general science help. Both main characters end up pursuing their interests and gaining at least partial approval from their fathers. 

Blogging Around

I read Kate K's post about whether or not soulmates exist. She talks about how frightening it is that there may be one soulmate for a person, and how difficult it would be to find them. In addition, she talks about how so many marriages do not last. Here's my comment: 

Kate!! We are so alike in so many ways... I always think about the future and getting married and whether or not there are soulmates. I read Kyle's comment, and in many ways I agree with him. With over 6 billion people in the world, there are a lot of people who are similar. Since I do not really believe in fate, I don't really believe in soulmates. i think that, like Kyle said, there are multiple people who could make any given person happy. I am also a very firm believer of not rushing into relationships or claiming love too quickly. It always peeves me when kids our age or younger say "I love you" the first day they begin a relationship that lasts for, oh, a few weeks maybe. Then they'll get a new boy/girlfriend and tell them that they love them, too. I think when people rush into relationships like this it develops bad habits that, if copied when people are actually looking for someone to spend the rest of their life with, could have disastrous effects as they realize that the person they claimed to love, they don't really love. Anyway, your post was great! We should have a discussion about this some time :] 

I also read Alli S's post about homework and whether or not the amount we receive is appropriate. Here is my comment:   

Oh Alli, thank you for vocalizing this! :] Of course, just about every kid or teenager has the same views on homework. It is very true that some homework is necessary to help the learning process. For example, without math homework, I would be doing even worse in that class than I already am. However, I totally agree that a huge load of homework does quite a bit of bad. I know that when teachers dump the homework on, all it does is make me bitter towards a subject and less eager to learn it. Spending hours upon hours on something at home most definitely makes me less eager to put time and energy towards it at school. And, I know my mom hates the amount of homework I get. I feel sorry for her. With my sister at college and my dad working downstate during the week, I am the only one home to be with my mom. Then, by the time I get home from swimming, it is 6 o'clock. I have to eat a rushed dinner her and then immediately labor through my homework until 9:30 at which point I have to go to sleep because I need to get up for swimming again. This is another problem with all the homework- too many teachers have absolutely no tolerance for extracurricular activities, which is extremely frustrating. Anyway, thanks for the awesome blog!

360 Degrees: Politics

I'm not going to write about the economic crisis, or the war in Iraq, or abortion, or any of the things that politicians and non-politicians alike can argue so heatedly about. No, instead I am going to write about politics in general. Every day I wonder how many people who have labeled themselves as "Democrat" or "Republican" actually know what they have associated themselves with. I am not afraid to admit that I am pitifully ignorant when it comes to current events and politics. I have tried time and time again to educate myself about the problems in our world, but when I try to learn about the Middle Eastern conflict, for example, I find that to learn about what's happening now, I need to learn what happened previously, and I get lost trying to go back years and years to find out how the whole conflict started. When it comes to the economy, I am a lost cause. I always try to have my parents explain to me how the stock market works and what is going on in the economy, but I just get confused. I know very little about politicians' views, and because of the tugging in different directions I am faced with at school and home, I am hesitant to choose a party. So I wonder, how many people are like me, and know very little about current issues? And then I wonder, how many people like this have claimed that they belong to one party or another, or that they support this politician or that one? I believe that many people jump on the overwhelming Democratic bandwagon that dominates in many places around our country, and is most definitely dominant in these Chicago suburbs.  Should these people be able to bash politicians shamelessly? Should anybody, informed or not, be able to call a politician an idiot? If someone doesn't agree with a person's views, that's fine, say that. But to call someone an idiot, I think, is disrespectful (even if they actually are unintelligent). Do people realize that these politicians are being scrutinized CONSTANTLY, and that no matter what decision they make, SOMEBODY is going to disagree? I think that everybody who calls himself or herself a Democrat or Republican needs to be educated, and that the people who are educated need to show more respect.