The Giant Eagle

The United States of America has many names; glorious names like the “melting pot”, the “land of opportunity”, and the “nation of immigrants” to name a few.  America likes its diversity and respects “weird” people by these names.  What an honor it must be to be bestowed these names especially in a world where being different is wrong!  I’d like to bestow a new name to the USA today; I shall call it the “Giant Eagle.”

To be more specific, I mean the produce section of Giant Eagle.  Here, customers can browse through either fruits or vegetables.  It is pretty clear which ones are which; the fruits are all placed in the middle of the floor in baskets that do not require any water to keep fresh.  They are further categorized by type in easy to distinguish baskets.  The vegetables are placed in the outer perimeter of the section in bunches, although there are no physical barriers between the different types, in slightly cooler cases and occasionally sprinkled with water.  Vegetables get really thirsty, you know.

The fruits also tend to be a bit more diverse in color than the vegetables.  There are the yellows, the reds, the oranges, and occasionally some greens.  The vegetables are vice-versa; they are mostly green with a sprinkle of red, yellow, and orange with those bell peppers.  The bell peppers are not included in the water-sprinkler cases, though.  These two groups are meant to be as separated as possible, even outside of the warehouse arena.  The names stick with them forever and once a fruit, it can never be a vegetable.  Once a vegetable and it can never be a fruit.  However, there are a few edibles that baffle everyone's’ minds.  Things like tomatoes.  

Tomatoes are the plights of the world.  Why is it impossible to categorize tomatoes?  Some argue that they are fruits and some argue that they are vegetables, but the tomatoes seem to have no answer for themselves.  Neither the fruits nor the vegetables seem to want to claim them either.  So we are left in a state of limbo.  Limbo is no good at Giant Eagle since everything must be categorized to be easily found.  So they get their own little case towards the end of the aisle and either people hate them, or people are indifferent.  That’s just how tomatoes roll.  

At least the tomatoes are recognized, though.  There are some that are so elusive that their appearance seem to shock, yet their meager existence, when acknowledged by the experts, will only wow.  These are the spices:  

The spices are neither a fruit nor a vegetable although there are people to argue for either side.  They exist quietly minding their own business and when someone wakes up from a reverie to finally acknowledge them, to use them, they bring something extra to the table.  An unexpected perspective.  The crowd wows at their brilliance at the time and then they fade again into obscurity until another brave person decides to take the adventurous route.  The abnormality of this group resides with the fact that they can choose to help the fruits or the vegetables.  That is their independence.

Finally, within each group, there are the rotten ones.  Customers seem to ignore these brown-lipped fruits, vegetables, tomatoes, and spices.  Over time, these poor creatures make their way to the bottom of the pile of their respective groups.  Since no one ever purchased these, they collect and grow at the bottom until finally, Giant Eagle is forced to acknowledge them because otherwise, they will pose a threat to their revenue.  Then what happens?  Some unfortunate soul is required to dig them out, place them on a stool for a discounted price.  Enough is done so that the Eagle doesn’t go underwater and then once again, they quietly grumble and live their existence under the piles of gleaming produce.

This is the Giant Eagle.

My Voice

I know it was only for my own good.  There will be countless reasons to defend my parents’ actions even after nearly a decade after the incident, but it still sticks on my mind to this day.  I cannot talk for my parents but perhaps they knew they did something wrong.  Perhaps they did something right.  I really don’t know.  I was largely brought up with the infamous “tiger-mom” style parenting but if I missed something of my childhood, it was my privacy.  Tears were worth very little when I grew and I was told that “tears solve nothing.” I was bottling up my emotions that begged to be dispersed at such a turbulent adolescent age.  Time and time again, I was denied the right to express anger, love, resentment, jealousy, weakness, and other emotions that plague the heart so easily during those teen years.  After tears, my second attempt was writing.  And this attempt was perhaps the most disastrous.

Writing is a very interesting mode of expressing emotions.  It betrays your most inner thoughts even those that you may not think will appear on paper.  Amongst the arts, there are many ways of expressing emotion, writing, music performance, acting, dancing, and many more.  The curious thing about writing is how distinct each piece of work can be.  Simply by reading a piece of work, it is possibly to identify the author.  It is also possible to discern some of the history and background of the author.  With the other modes of the arts, perhaps there is this transparency to some extent, but definitely not as much as writing.  Take for example music performance.  When performing a piece, the music itself was some story which you attempt to emote to the audience.  The story may or may not be yours, but you draw upon your life experiences to bring the emotion that the author wishes to emote.  The overall outcome is one of ambiguity: the final presentation is a mix of the song writer’s emotions and the performer’s emotive lens.  Acting has even less transparency since the character you perform is of someone else’s imagination.  Again, you draw upon your own experiences to emote as the character would, but the best actors betray very little of their personal personality to the public audience.

However, writing is ridiculously transparent.  It is possible to write as though you are someone else, but I fear that the true opinions that you wish to emote only appear in your natural writing.  And what more transparent writing can there be than a personal journal.  I used to keep one.  It was my second attempt at emotion.  There were a whole lot of emotions in that journal; I remember because I started writing it one day when the emotions were running the highest, the most powerful and worst kinds to befall on any human.  Ones that I needed to let go of somewhere, somehow.  And it was all written in that journal.  I am sure you know where this story goes: it was read.  The worst part of it was not that it was read, but by the subtle hints I received about needing to curb those emotions.  Randomly, I was told that certain emotions were bad, or not appropriate for my age.  And that was when I knew.  I took every single one of those pages to the shredder and never wrote again for the longest time aside from school assignments and the like.  I learned all sorts of tricks in the meantime: to write mirror image in cursive, to write with my left hand, to write so skinny that the individual letters were barely distinguishable.  Only now do I have an idea at perhaps what was going on.  I was unconsciously trying to find a secure outlet of emotion and hoping that one day I might be able to write again.

It took me a long time to gather strength to write again.  But I write publicly now and with a pen name.  It protects my emotions which are still regarded as weaknesses but I have learned other methods to relive them.  Although I appear to be bitter, I am not.  I know that parents are not perfect.  The episode has served its purpose and if nothing else, I know that I will never read another’s journal.  Perhaps I am also stronger because of it and have been able to creatively learn things I never would have done otherwise.  It has taught me much about myself and my limits.  And best of all, I have learned how to come out stronger and let my voice be heard.

The Tiger of Thanksgiving

The plotting and the planning begins as yet another year of stampedes for the latest swanky gadget, the must-haves, and the Doorbusters (regardless of whether it is actually needed or not).  The ancient way of celebrating Thanksgiving has morphed into a sensational day of browsing through mountains of ads and figuring out a game plan with the members of the family who have come to share this supposed day of thanks.  A typical weekend goes like this:  Wednesday cooking, Thursday eating and planning, Friday shopping.  That it, if you even call Friday a shopping day… I would call it more of a hogging and dehumanizing day when people suddenly become primitive animals fighting for a low-demand resource.  Take any biology class and suddenly the relationship between humans and iPads becomes starkly similar to that of a tiger and the carcass of a zebra.

This year, it has been particularly interesting to watch the news as the day of doom approaches closer and closer.  Black Friday is now getting backlash (gasp!) as stores are now infringing on the day of eating and planning.  With stores opening as early as 8PM on Thursday, workers are now needed on the one day of the year that everyone is supposed to get off.  The worked are not really happy about that (after all, they also need to do some eating and planning, right?) and so they have threatened to strike.  Why strike?  Well it is so that if no one comes at work at 8PM then the stores cannot open at 8PM and corporations will back off on their idea to open at 8PM.  It is pretty simple and believable logic right?

Well, not so much.  Let us take an approach so that the shoppers are the tigers and the goods are the zebras and the corporations are some secret hunters that spear down those zebras.  If the tigers are really hungry for more zebra and the hunters are willing to send more dead zebras down, the workers that are threatening to strike are like the tigers that suffer from consciousness and are trying to prevent the hunters from sending more zebra by doing unpleasant things.  Perhaps they are doing a rain dance to prevent all the zebras from coming out into the open.  All of this to say, perhaps the problem exists amongst the tigers and not the tigers with relation to the other players of the ecological system.  Last year, we got a whole 24 hours to plot our attack of Black Friday and the corporations decided well maybe they only need 20 hours.  In fact, they are right; we don’t need 24 hours and we can more than manage our scheming with less time.  One of the great things about humans is that we so easily adapt to changing environments so the corporations at least got that right.  So there are four hours up for grabs and there is money at stake.  There are shoppers and therefore there is money.  Are you starting to see the same logic as the corporations are?  I am.  And what’s more, there are people who are willing to get 8.50 plus an extra 50% bonus to work those four hours; not all, but some.  And in this case, some is enough.

So you see, the problem of the destruction of Thanksgiving comes not from external sources like the zebras or the hunters.  It is all an internal struggle and very much a philosophical struggle between multiple humans and humans themselves.  If we are truly to bring back the spirit of the holiday and return to the olden days of simply giving thanks and not expecting any receiving gifts, then I fear it will take much more than a strike to realize this rather formidable goal.  To take the human out a tiger may be an easy task but to yank out the tiger out of the entire populace of human will take a far greater will.

Sorting the Media

From my previous post called Chocolate and Media you probably can probably tell that I (usually) detest the media because of the sensational way they present even the most morbid news.  However I do depend on them, (where else would I get stuff to rant about) and I wish to alleviate the problems caused by sensationalism.

Well, one year from now, American citizens will be voting once again for their new/old president and I am going to start on the project of posting the most stripped down details about all of the presidential candidates.  Dang, that's going to take some work.  No bias, no politics, no nothing.  Just facts - only verifiable "news" about things that should matter in a campaign.  I hope that come next year, I will be able to make a wiser decision that will help America and I hope that this project will help some other people (who happen across the blog) too.

Wish me luck!

Ditch the Stress

Thought I'd put up some ways that I like to de-stress... for your benefit.  Which ones are your favorites?

1. Take a nap:  One of my favorites - I love to take an impromptu 10-15 snooze right after some heavy work.  If necessary (and if I have time) I might extend it to a half hour.  Want more proof that it is GOOD for you? http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=2831235
2. Go for a run (or walk):  Love this one too.  I stick my iPod in my ears and day dream as I run.  Gets me away from reality for a while and the steady thumping of my feet is really relaxing.  The fresh air is really, well, refreshing and the blood flow increases oxygen to your brain.  Voila - a new and energetic you.  http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/info-09-2010/martina_easiest_exercise_walking.html
3. Do a jigsaw puzzle:  OK, I know that not everyone is cut out for this kind of thing, but what I am trying to say is do something that is sort of mindless.  Keep your mind off of what "needs" to be done and focus completely on something else.  For me, jigsaws do this.  When going back to work afterwards, I have a totally fresh mind to start again with.  Anything that requires total attention will substitute for this.
4. Take a shower:  Yes, even if you just took one that morning.  I actually feel like I can be more productive with a clean body.  It is like working on a groggy day as opposed to a sunny day.  When the sun shines, everything just seems a lot better.  Taking a hot shower refreshes my mind and I just feel better, which in turn, helps me get rid of stress!
5. Switch it up:  I hate doing things for a long period of time because after a long period, I tend to get distracted.  For example, right now, I was doing some work and I took a break to write this post.  It's something I like to do.  Keep track of the time you have been working and treat yourself every hour or two, even if it is just a tiny stretch break to chat with someone or to go and have a bite to sustain yourself for the next stretch.  

So basically, with all of these: Give your mind rest time.  Make it a point to do so and hopefully you should feel a lot more relaxed and stress-less!

More college tuition rising to $50,000 a year - Oct. 28, 2011

More college tuition rising to $50,000 a year - Oct. 28, 2011

Did you read that? That is totally, utterly, disastrously ridiculous. How is the younger generation supposed to "lead the future" if they can't even get a decent education for a decent price. Hey Government, if you really want to fix our nation - if you really want to be able to compete against those upcoming countries called China and India - maybe you should think abut cutting education costs. China has their college yearly costs (including books, boarding, etc.) at $400-$2200 (http://www.foreigncredits.com/Articles/the-cost-of-college-in-china-60.htm). Wow. Perhaps instead of focusing on foreign relations, you should focus on American education. I rather would like that, thank you.

Chocolate and Media

Today is 9/11.  As much as this will probably irritate people, honestly, I don't feel much today.  Yes, I remember the day it happened and I remember watching amazed as the scene of two planes crashing into two huge towers replayed over and over on TV.  I remember where I was and I remember everyone's reaction.  But I was miles away.  9/11 didn't happen to me - I wasn't in the towers, I wasn't in New York, I didn't have any family or friends affected by the tragedy.  So how did I understand that it was tragic?  By the media.  The media sensationalized this event - replaying the scene over and over.  They dragging the event out and blowing its significance up by millions, especially today on its 10th anniversary.  Time magazine printed out a commemorative issue filled with pictures of smoky faced firefighters and children who lost parents.  Even the comic section of the newspaper was full of 9/11 - Baby Blues featured a single square where Baby Wren stacks building blocks into two towers.
The one thing I would think an enemy of the United States would love to see is the country being shattered by their deeds.  Think of a terrorist group like a baby - it will shout when it knows that you will pay attention to it when it does so.  I fear that the media has fallen right into the terrorists' hands in this way - by sensationalizing 9/11 and making it seem like it impacted more people than it actually did.  Won't they be inspired by this?  Won't they repeat it?  They already found our weak point - knowing that we would make a big deal out of a significant anniversary (10) the US were tipped about yet another threat in New York on the same day.  Suppose the news had been quiet.  Trust me, we would all remember still - the event would be written in history books, would it not?  But I would see the United States that is able to grow and mend; one that is incapable of being broken so easily; one that gives no media 'fame' for disgusting terrorism acts and therefore discourages it altogether.
Perhaps I have now alienated three quarters of the American population.  But I write about this for a reason.  I am angry at the American media.  9/11 is one example of its mistake.  Another example is something that shook me to the core - my own personal September 11th, 2001.
I was teaching a class of young boys ages 7-10.  They were working on a project to create a game with a certain program I was teaching at the time.  We went through step one which was deciding the theme of the game they wanted to create.  I went around to each student asking what they would like to do.  Most of them were normal - a maze or a pacman sort of game.  And then I was blown away.  One youngster told me that he wanted to create a game where there is a person who goes around shooting people and then at the end, he kills himself.  He then laughed.  The boy sitting next to him overheard and started laughing as well.  He asked me if he could change his game so it was the same.
At the time, I was so shocked that all I could do was tell another instructor and have the other instructor go and talk to them about this.  I honestly believe that they wouldn't do such a thing in real life, but you know what, I couldn't know.  They were good kids.  At this point, I believe now that its all because of what they see on TV.  Please tell me which kid doesn't want to be famous...  when kids see that people who do that kind of stuff get TV time, they think nothing of it.  The media is to blame for making events such as these seem so important and so relevant when in reality, most of us don't cannot understand the emotions that actually occur for those who are first hand witnesses.  So it makes us immune.  And for little kids, these events are misunderstood to be important.  What happened to the good old days when kids played with see-saws and swings?  Why must life revolve around guns and bombs?
What we really need in this country is a media revolution.  Let media be the parents and the American public be the kids.  Don't feed us what we want - candy and marshmallows.  Feed us the broccoli and spinach.  Give us happy news and emphasize that.  Give us educational news that makes us smarter and more prepared to lead the nation.  Don't you feel embarrassed broadcasting crap about the latest Kardashian outing?  Is that reflective of what we want to be?  As a warning, we will scream.  We will be begging for that old stuff.  But you know what's best right?  Think long run, not short.  I conclude with a small metaphor:  I used to love white chocolate and milk chocolate, full of butter, sugar and milk.  But after reading articles I found the benefits of dark chocolate and started eating it.  My god it was bitter.  But now what has happened?  I cannot stand white or milk chocolate.  Dark chocolate grew on me over time - its bitter taste is now pure and wholesome to my tongue.  Teach me to love wholesome news.  Ditch the sensationalism, once and for all!