What time was the class on social skills?

So as I kind of explained in my introduction post, I’m not the most eloquent or charismatic person in real life. And it is a serious problem. It could be borderline social disorder. Seriously. 

The other day, I had to go to the library to get a magazine for a school project. My first worry was that I had no idea where the magazine section was. It was easy enough to find, with its big sign saying “Periodicals,” so no problem with that. But then the problems start. I see that they have rows of magazines, the ones they keep in plastic sleeves, meaning that they aren’t for check out because they are the latest edition. I glance around, but no magazines for check out are spotted. The next reasonable action would be to ask someone if they have any magazines that I could take. But no. How could I possibly talk to someone? That would be a horrible idea, asking them where I could find magazines. So then, one would think, if I was not going to talk to someone and ask where I could find them, that my next action would be to leave. Huh uh. I had to check out a book because oh-my-goodness-what-will-they-think-of-me-if-I-just-walk-into-a-library-and-don’t-check-anything-out. So I go pick a random book off of a shelf and check out. 

It’s pretty horrible. And it gets even more ridiculous. I even worry about my actions when driving. I’ll see what I think is my exit or turn, and then second guess myself, then realize that I was correct in the first place, and then decide not to turn or exit because I’d feel silly just suddenly slowing or turning. And it may not even be a dangerous thing, like it’s not too close that I’d have to slam on the brakes or anything. It’s just a little too close to be normal. And then I have to figure out a way to somehow turn around and make my way back to where my turn or exit was. 

If it weren’t for my “socially aggressive” friends, I’m pretty sure I’d never do anything exciting. They’ll decide that it’d be a great idea to just drive around until we find something interesting, they take hairpin turns when they almost miss a turn. It’s both terrifying and riveting. Thanks to them, I can say I’ve actually done some stuff and they help me be less socially discombobulated. 

Sometimes, I wish I could grow up to be just like them.

Living large, in a small way

We’ve all heard of their mystical existence. But few of us have actually seen one in real life.

Private islands. 

We don’t often think about it, but in the world, there are hundreds of thousands of islands. What happens with them? Some sit uninhabited, but many are considered to be a part of the nearest country’s jurisdiction. Most are then parceled and sold to buyers for whatever they choose, whether they develop them or not.

Islands you find nowadays for sale are grouped into two types. The first is simply a private island. These are owned by an individual or a corporation. These can range from thousands of acres to fractions of an acre in size.  They can be any price, between around thirty thousand up to hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars. The more expensive ones of course tend to be larger and developed. The cheaper islands are most likely small and have no utilities or developments.

However, if you feel that buying your own island would be much too daunting of a task, you could always buy an island parcel. When you purchase a parcel, you are purchasing a plot (or parcel, obviously) of land on an island. You don’t own the entire island, but depending on how much cash you’re willing to shell out, you could own a good chunk of it. Parcels tend to be relatively smaller than islands that are for sale, for obvious reasons. Most parcels can range from one thousand square acres or fractions of acres. Parcels are less commonly for sale than islands, and their prices don’t go quite as high as island prices do. They can range from about forty thousand U.S. dollars to twelve million.  These most likely are more developed and may already have docks or other landing locations on them.

Of course, if the seas make you weary, you can always buy a peninsula. You get the same great experience of an island, without the separation from the mainland. Though typically more expensive, they offer easier access and less hassle. Most would be fairly simple to set up utilities, if they were not already pre-existing. Peninsulas can range from three hundred thousand to about thirty million U.S. dollars. They also are on average larger than many islands and parcels for sale. Their sizes can range from tens of acres to hundreds of acres.

So the next time you’re sitting around, wondering what you should do with the millions of dollars you have just lying around, think about investing in an island. Your children will love it.

Who's your daddy? Or your mommy?

Like most young women my age, I think about someday having a family, of having a husband, 1.5 children, and a house with a white picket fence. I wonder what kind of mother I’m going to be. Then I look at the mothers I know and see in the world. And often, I am horrified. 

Many parents I see now have very little control over their children and use very little discipline or ineffective methods. Their child will be acting loud and obnoxious, and they will simply ignore the child. That will not solve anything. Ever. Ignoring problems do not make them fix themselves or make them disappear. To some extent that does work, but when your child is disrupting an event or is being loud in a public setting and bothering others, then you should step up and discipline your child.  Many parents choose to not do anything. And people wonder why children nowadays are so disobedient. 

Another example I’ve seen, many times, is children not listening to their parents. I work teaching gymnastics to three and four year olds and it amazes me how unruly the children can be. One child I work with always refuses to leave, and her mother can do little to nothing about it. Her daughter will run around the gym, avoiding being caught and won’t listen to her mother’s calls. My own mother would never have tolerated that, and I would be in so much trouble. 

Often, I will also see overbearing parents. This both annoys and disappoints me. Maybe your child just wants to have fun. There is no need to get your child involved in five different activities when they are only five. There is also no need to force your dreams and aspirations onto your child. The television show “Toddlers & Tiaras” is an example of this. When watching that show, often times you’ll hear the child complain about not wanting to participate and almost immediately the parent will chirp in saying something like, "Think about how much you want this!” Is that really what your child wants? 

I know that now it is a bad thing to beat your children. I agree with this. However, that doesn’t mean that some methods used during the time when it was acceptable should also be taboo. I have a younger cousin who is around the age of five. He is quite unruly and often doesn’t listen very well. His parents do discipline him; however, they use a rather ineffective method. They have chosen to use time-outs as both punishments and (often empty) threats. They also have not realized that for their child, (as each child is different,) this does not work. I once heard a story from my grandmother when she tried to discipline him a different way. He was reaching for something that she had repeatedly told him not to touch, and she swatted at his hand. This in no way would physically harm the boy, and would clearly get the message across. However, he bursts into tears. It was ridiculous. Babying children and letting them get away with things they are not supposed to do is ridiculous. 

In conclusion, I have decided that my children will be angels. They don’t get a choice in the matter.

An opinion on legalizing marijuana from someone who doesn't really know anything or care

We’ve all heard about the debate. It’s especially a big topic with the upcoming presidential election. Should marijuana be legalized or not?

Honestly, I don’t know much about the debate. And I also don’t care very much. I don’t partake in drugs and don’t really ever plan to. But it’s always good to have an opinion. 

Many people say that marijuana isn’t addictive. Then others say it is. It’s apparently difficult to tell. It can be addictive for some, but others may never get addicted. However, this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have harmful effects.

According to the author of “The Case Against Marijuana” at www.pathguy.com, users often report having short term memory problems. I don’t know about you, but I find short term memory to be a very useful thing. 

The article goes on to explain that those who use marijuana while pregnant could possibly harm the baby or cause it to have behavioral issues. This shows that using marijuana affects not only you, but could affect your own child.

“The Case Against Marijuana” also tells of the dangers while using the drug. Users have shown to have impaired motor abilities. Do we really want to add another danger on the streets? We have enough problems with intoxicated drivers. I suppose there will always be that problem, as many people still use marijuana even though it’s illegal, but there would be an increase in users if it was legalized. 

There are psychological effects with marijuana as well. It can cause a user to become less motivated in their overall life and thus become a less productive member of society. While this will not be all users, it would still be some percentage. It can cause depression in some users and cause them to be more introverted, especially when using. 

Overall, even though marijuana might give a fun high, it can have lasting effects. Those effects are a reason why many feel that marijuana should not be legalized. While people have control over their own bodies, if many chose to destroy theirs, it affects those who do not. And you should never force anyone else to take responsibility for you.

Find the other side of this argument at finleysawesomeblog.blogspot.com

Big Brother is Watching You

Last year, in my language arts class, we began talking about dystopian societies. It was a precursor to a series of books that we would be reading, all about dystopias. We read famous titles including Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, and The Hunger Games. All had the common theme of dystopian societies.

So before reading, we learned what exactly a dystopian society was. This got me thinking. I began to notice how dystopian-like our school system was.

One of the main characteristics of a dystopian society is that its citizens are under constant surveillance. That is exactly how our schools are now. In nearly every hallway, there is at least one camera, if not more, monitoring the hallways and recording the daily goings-on. Students are also rarely alone. Sure the teacher will occasionally leave the classroom for a moment, but there are never any unsupervised classes. Teachers from nearby classes will keep an eye on the temporarily unattended class and if any of the students leave, then the cameras will be there to keep watch on the vagabond. You are never really alone in a school building.

The second characteristic that stuck out to me was the usage of propaganda to control the citizens. Everywhere we look, in every classroom, there is always, ALWAYS, at least one poster promoting the fun, the great learning opportunity, or the sense of accomplishment one could receive from excelling in said class. Some posters even express the idea that quitting, or not sticking with something because of the negative side effects, is worse than what those negative side effects could do. Many schools have posters even promoting themselves, glorifying sports, exalting AP classes, and commending their wonderful staff members. Everywhere students look, they see some form of propaganda.

Another dystopian characteristic that can be seen in schools is it’s restriction of its “citizens.” The first main restriction is on our travel. I understand that it helps keep order, but it is somewhat ridiculous. If a teacher is going to give a test that will on average only take half of the class period, it is unreasonable to keep the students in class unless the teacher is going to continue teaching after the testing period. However, most teachers simply allow students to mingle, talk, and generally goof around. Why not just let the students leave class? Especially if it happens to be a class during the lunch hour or during the last period of the day. It seems like a waste of the teacher’s time to have to keep the students under control and a waste of the student’s time when they could be doing other, more beneficial things (,not that all students would use the out-of-class time beneficially.)

It was just something that I noticed, that struck me as odd. One might think that I’m stretching to make these connections; however, I think most students nowadays would agree with me. School is essentially a dystopia.

Fast and furious and grinding

We’ve all seen the movies with amazing drivers. The peel off in a cloud of smoke, pull sharp maneuvers, drift through corners, all while going at high speeds. It makes you want to become a stunt driver when you grow up, no matter what age you actually happen to be. But in most cases, there’s a little fact that’s overlooked. 

Sometimes, the driver is actually shifting. This means that he or she is driving a manual car, a near unheard of thing here in the U.S. While manual transmission cars are quite common in Europe, the same does not ring true in America. I see this as due to American laziness and the initial difficulty to learn to drive a manual car. 

A manual car differs from an automatic transmission car in who has to shift the gears. In automatic cars, the car itself senses when the revolutions per minute get too high and it needs to change to a larger gear as to not potentially damage the gears and/or engine. In a manual transmission vehicle, the driver controls when the transmission changes gears, using what is called a clutch and a gear shift. The driver pushes in the clutch, a pedal, using their left foot. This disengages the spinning engine from the spinning wheels and allows the driver to shift to a different gear. The driver then moves the gear shift to a different position, changing which gear will be engaged once the driver lets out the clutch. (If this doesn't make sense to you, just Google it, there are much better explanations out there than mine.)

That is part of the reason that learning to drive a manual car is so difficult. You have to let out the clutch and give the engine just enough gas so that the gears catch correctly on the engine. It is most difficult to get started from a stop, which might be why many choose to not drive a manual. It tends to be very frustrating at the beginning. However, once you master first gear, the others come easily. 

There are some benefits to driving a manual transmission vehicle. One is its gas mileage. Most manuals can be more gas efficient than their automatic counterparts, due to numerous factors, one factor being that automatics require more power to operate the mechanisms that automatically shift gears. 

Many people decide to drive a manual simply because it is more fun. Since you get to control the gear shifts, you can keep the transmission on a smaller gear for longer, allowing the car to accelerate more quickly than an automatic could. While it may not be a smart way to drive, it does make driving more fun. 

Either way, a manual car essentially works the same way an automatic does. It will get you to your destination the same as an automatic, it may just get you there at a different rate or with more “work” from you. Personally though, I find that manuals are more fun, and make driving a more enjoyable experience.

Let them eat cake

No, actually, don’t. 

As of late, more and more schools and school districts are switching to healthier foods, removing junk foods from vending machines, and encouraging healthy eating. 

If you go to most schools now, you won’t be able to buy a soda. All carbonated beverages have been removed and you can now choose from healthier choices, such as water, sports drinks, milk, and tea. If you want a snack from the vending machines, you can choose from whole grain snacks, baked chips instead of however they normally do them, or rice based products. Many schools also limit food during lunch, like at mine. Desert is only served once a week and the number of sides you can get is limited. Some elementary schools will have a staff member check the snack that a student brings to make sure it’s healthy.

Some may say that the school or school district should not have control over this aspect of the students’ lives. However, this is a very beneficial thing. 

Most students do not buy groceries and make meals for themselves. It’s usually the parents’ responsibility to do that. This gives the student little to no control over their meal. But since they attend school, they do get to decide what they eat for lunch and for high schoolers, what they eat as a snack. 

By only giving students a healthy choice for meals and snacks, this could impact their future habits. If they’re only around unhealthy food, then they’re more likely to continue those habits once they become independent. By exposing students to healthier options, this could potentially lead to more sound choices and an overall healthier population. 

One argument against this deals with staff members checking elementary students’ snacks. Many say that they cannot afford to buy healthy snacks for their children and must resort to unhealthy snacks such as Doritos. I find that hard to believe when one bag of Doritos costs from $2.50 to $3.50 and a bag of apples can cost the exact same, if not less. So that argument is clearly invalid. Having staff “ok” snacks could also encourage parents to buy more healthy food for their families. 

So while many think the educational branch is overstepping its limitations, they are really just trying to encourage good habits. This will hopefully promote a healthier America and increase the overall health of our population. 

To see the other side of the argument,  visit http://finleysawesomeblog.blogspot.com/.