"English is a Crazy Language"

To tell you the truth, English is a crazy language. At least if i were from another country and coming to the United States. Trying to learn the difference between the words bear and bare, which is pronounced the same, but have different meanings could be confusing to understand. Or how about this one, knight and night. Still two completely different words that are pronounced the same, but have two different definitions. Lederer said that, "Language is like the air we breathe. It's invisible, inescapable, indispensable, and we take it for granted." When i hear that, i can't help but to agree with him. The language we use is how we communicate to each other whether it's verbally, physically, or with the use of sign language.

The use of the English language can be frustrating with words that having nothing to do with or being the complete opposite of the word. Like, grapefruit which doesn't contain grapes, or hot dogs can be cold and do not contain any parts of a dog. It's actually funny to me that we have so many strange ways of describing things.

Some people say that English is be taught all around the world as a second language. Which is good because it's good to be diverse. But why don't our schools teach more languages in a country where we have so much diversity? I mean sure Spanish and french are being taught, but how about Chinese, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, German, Polynesian, Swedish, Persian, Indonesian, Hebrew or even Arabic. Aren't these languages have just as much importance as English?

So in conclusion, we should be aware of other languages and learn them. I'm sure that many of them have their own phrases. For example in Africa, what we call football and what they call it is two totally different sports. So if you have the opportunity to learn outside the English language, take advantage of it and run with it. Have fun!

"Homeward Bound"

In my opinion, Wu and her grandmother are living bookends. They are connected by much more than blood. They hold between them distance, being family but somehow strangers, the inability to understand each others past and present lives, and the need to keep in contact even though the lines of communication are slim. Wu wanted to know and share her grandmother's journey in life. I believe that she is curious about the era when her grandmother had her foot bound as a child. Like, "How was her foot broken? Why was she chosen to endure such pain? How many times was the procedure done to achieve the form it has now? How could she make it through life being sought as a cripple?" I'm sure that these question would be on any one's mind who heard this story.

Even though the death of her father was unexpected and thought of as being "Doubly Cruel", she felt like she was being deprived of her foundation and the bridge to connecting with her grandmother. But still Wu continued to visit her distant relative and cherished the time they spent as though it would be there last.

"None Of This Is Fair"

Now this is just my opinion, so if this doesn't appeal to you than, read it anyway and smile. The argument that i believe that he's feels is that he doesn't think that he should be able to get special treatment because of his racial ethnicity. I can kind of understand the guilt part, but I'm tired of hearing people blame everything on race. People complain about not getting jobs because of, "The Whit Man" don't wanna hiring no blacks, Hispanics, Mexicans, or anyone who doesn't look the part. Affirmative Action is nothing but a way to keep racial discrimination organizations of their backs.

"The Ashen Guy: Lower Broadway, September11, 2001"

I find that Beller's description of the September 11Th tragedy was appropriate. He was in the belly of the beast (as some people would call it) when it all went down. They way that he described in day detail the events on that day, made you feel as though you were right there as well. Just like any major war or tragedy, i think that everyone remember where they were, what they ate, their feelings and emotions, and the panic of that day.

Even though it happen in New York, they pain and fear of being attacked by terrorist hit well beyond the borders. I can remember i was work when i first heard the news and i didn't know what to think. I went to the cafeteria to get a soda and noticed that everyone was staring at the TV. At first i thought that they were watching Jerry Springer or something like that. But when i turned from the soda machine, All i saw was a cloud of gray smoke coming from a building. They told me that a plane hit a building, and that the pilot must have lost control or something. But when the second plane was shot and viewed by the public, it seemed be more than what we bargained for. The news said something about another plane had been taken over and it involved terrorist. The panic quickly set in, everyone was scrambling trying to figure out what to do. There was a woman sitting at the table trying to call her sister who worked in the first tower. She could barely dial the number on her cell phone her hands were shaking so bad. I later found out that she got out alive and unharmed, traumatized but unharmed. I could go on and on from there about my accounts on that day but i don't think there would be enough typing space, LOL.

In closings, September 11Th will be forever embedded in our hearts and minds. They people who experienced it first hand will have years of therapy to help them go on with a normal life.

(REST IN PEACE, TO ALL THE LIVES LOST)

"No Wonder They Call Me Bitch"

Wow, now that title alone is outrageous! The first thing i thought of when i heard that title alone i thought it had something to do with women. I do think the title was in bad taste. I felt that from reading the story the author could have found a better topic to go with the story. But saying that, "No Wonder They Call Me Bitch" is a hell of a metaphor. It grabs you and makes you want to hear more. Now the essay it self, i thought it was very informative on the inside scoop on dog foods. But to be honesty i wasn't surprised to hear what i read. We live in a money driven country, and would stop at nothing in making a quick buck, even if we put others in harms way. We are the dominate species on this planet and anything next in line seems to be expendable. Dogs and other pets have no voice, so they are often mistreated and abused right down to what we feed them. They details in which Hodgman described the variety of dog foods was sometimes, to much to stomach. But it makes you think, what are we feeding our dogs? I guess the companies who make them don't really care and just trying to fill a quota or something. Most people think of their pets as family and you would be flabergasted to know that your child's baby food could contain more than what's on the lable. We want the best for our families, so why not give the best to our pets. I hope that more is done to makes sure that these dog food companies are not putting things like undevoloped eggs, beaks, feet, and any other thing that would cause harm to our pets. They should be investigated and monitored on a regular basis. They only way that we can stop this is to speak up, and take matters into our own hands.

"No Rainbows, No Roses"

After reading "No Rainbows, No Roses" I can truly say that i can relate to the story. I believe that sharing an expression of emotion does make her a better nurse and i don't feel that she is being unprofessional at all. Working in the health care field has been a love of mine for the past ten years now. So i definitely know how she felt.

There was a time when i worked at a nursing home and i found myself in a similar situation. Being young and inexperienced at life all i could think of was coming in to work and getting it over with as quickly as possible. I worked night shift from 11pm to 7:30am. One night as i did my rounds i noticed that there was a priest in the room where i was headed next. I stood at the door, not wanting to disturb his speech as he read from the bible. Afterwards he looked at me and said that she didn't have much longer and asked if i could make her last moments as peaceful as possible. I nodded and went into the darkened room. This woman was not in a good state of health. She very thin and seemed to be in pain. I introduced myself and to my surprise she gathered enough strength to turn her head my way. She looked at me and called me a name i don't remember. I figured maybe it was a family member. I tried to familiarize her that my name was LaToya, but she insisted that i was someone else. I started to undress her so that i could give her a bed bath. This woman was so frail that took twice as long as i normally would, being careful not to inflict any pain upon her.

Afterwards, i emptied the trash from her room and grabbed my cart and headed for the door. I couldn't help but notice that there were sounds of muffled words coming from the other end of the room. I started back toward her to see what was wrong. Now, this woman was in pain, and whether she had any medication to ease it-i don't know, but managed to reach for my hand. I grabbed it and asked would could i do for her. She said simply "Please don't leave me alone, I don't want to die by myself. Since she was the last of my patients that i visited, i stayed a while. Even though her words were shallow and spaced apart, we did talk awhile. For that brief period in time i felt as though i was connecting with her as well as the nurse did in the story. As it seemed that her words were slipping away slower and slower, i felt that i should be letting her get her rest. After she drifted off to sleep, i quietly stepped out of the room.

It was time for me to do rounds again, and by the time i got back to her room, there was a doctor, two nurses and the priest that i ran into earlier. Without having to ask any questions, i knew what happened. As i slowly walked past the room pushing my cart, i started to think about a lot of things. What if this was me and i was in that position and had no family or relatives to spend my last hours with? Would my family allow me to be in such a place where i felt distant from them? This was the first time i experienced death in this way, and felt the pain of someone i hardly knew. Though our time was short, she left a lasting impression on my heart.

So in reading the story, i felt that the nurse did nothing wrong by letting her humanity take over. I don't know anyone who could keep a straight face, while staring at someone who is slipping away from life. From that moment i changed my attitude at work from being somewhat cold-hearted, to being compassionate and wanting to make every moment count for each individual that resided at the nursing home.