I often see homeless people as I commute to and from work. Generally, they're just standing or sitting on the side of the road with their standard cardboard signs, hoping a passer-by will offer a handout of some kind. I'll also see some of them relaxing under a tree near a highway off-ramp or at the edge of a retail parking lot. Most of the time, I try to assume that they really are in desperate need of cash for food or other essentials, but I know that's not true for all of them.
Recently, however, I have noticed a number of homeless people who have a pet dog with them. I've seen three or four people now, each with a dog in tow, and it got me thinking.
If you're out of cash and nearly desperate for food, why would you willingly bring along a pet? It needs food and water just as much as you do, and it doesn't understand the concepts of sharing or rationing. It's just another mouth to feed. Having one along seems counter-intuitive to me.
However, I can easily understand the need for companionship. Having a job and an apartment (and even family) can somehow seem lonely at times. Undoubtedly, being alone while surrounded by deliberately oblivious strangers would magnify that loneliness. Having an animal along provides some other being to talk to and share experiences with, even if it doesn't understand what's going on. Still, I can also imagine a point where I would choose food over companionship.
It's also possible that they're keeping dogs with them for protection. I sometimes feel vulnerable enough behind a locked door. An extra set of eyes and ears (not to mention sharp teeth) would easily offer a sense of security in an otherwise completely insecure setting and may even serve to reduce psychological stress.
My first thought upon seeing a homeless person and his pet was that if he could afford to feed and keep the dog, he didn't really need an extra handout from me. Now I'm not so sure. Perhaps the down-and-out man (or woman) and his (or her) dog are really a package deal. Perhaps one really does need the other in more ways than I can know without experiencing the situation for myself.
Now my question is: Who chose whom? Man or beast?
25 June 2010
21 June 2010
Meteorology
Is anyone ever satisfied with the current weather conditions?
Everywhere I go, I hear someone talking about the weather. And, as much as I try, I can't help occasionally joining the conversation. It's a universal topic, I suppose, because we cannot control it, and we are all influenced by it in one way or another. Still, I've been paying attention to how people talk about the weather lately, and I've noticed a few trends.
1- Conversation about what the weather is "supposed to" do. This stems from watching meteorologists on TV attempt to predict upcoming weather conditions based on current conditions and complex atmospheric modeling systems. I find that they're frequently accurate when it comes to temperatures but almost never accurate regarding precipitation. However, there are people who take the weather forecasts as definite plans, explain what the weather is going to do in the next few days, and how they intend to react to it, then promptly complain that the meteorologists are never right.
2- A casual debate about the quality of the weather. One person mentions that he or she enjoyed the previous day's sunshine. Another person will complain that it was too hot. The first person will then agree and express a hope that temperatures will become more pleasant in the near future. The second person complains about the usual causes of cooler weather, such as clouds and rain or wind. The first person agrees that all those things are unpleasant. I (as an observer) note that these people must only be happy in climate-controlled buildings.
3- Pointing out the obvious. "It's raining." "Yes, it is."
I like the rain. When it leaves, I enjoy seeing the sun again. When it comes back, I welcome the clouds. Hot weather means I can leave the windows open at night. Cold weather means soup for lunch and more blankets on the bed.
It's probably a good thing we can't control the weather anyway. Not only would we manage to screw it all up somehow, only the person who had access to the weather-control system would ever be happy with the results.
Everywhere I go, I hear someone talking about the weather. And, as much as I try, I can't help occasionally joining the conversation. It's a universal topic, I suppose, because we cannot control it, and we are all influenced by it in one way or another. Still, I've been paying attention to how people talk about the weather lately, and I've noticed a few trends.
1- Conversation about what the weather is "supposed to" do. This stems from watching meteorologists on TV attempt to predict upcoming weather conditions based on current conditions and complex atmospheric modeling systems. I find that they're frequently accurate when it comes to temperatures but almost never accurate regarding precipitation. However, there are people who take the weather forecasts as definite plans, explain what the weather is going to do in the next few days, and how they intend to react to it, then promptly complain that the meteorologists are never right.
2- A casual debate about the quality of the weather. One person mentions that he or she enjoyed the previous day's sunshine. Another person will complain that it was too hot. The first person will then agree and express a hope that temperatures will become more pleasant in the near future. The second person complains about the usual causes of cooler weather, such as clouds and rain or wind. The first person agrees that all those things are unpleasant. I (as an observer) note that these people must only be happy in climate-controlled buildings.
3- Pointing out the obvious. "It's raining." "Yes, it is."
I like the rain. When it leaves, I enjoy seeing the sun again. When it comes back, I welcome the clouds. Hot weather means I can leave the windows open at night. Cold weather means soup for lunch and more blankets on the bed.
It's probably a good thing we can't control the weather anyway. Not only would we manage to screw it all up somehow, only the person who had access to the weather-control system would ever be happy with the results.
17 June 2010
iFriend
What does this say of our society?
I saw two girls (if I had to guess their ages, I'd say they were sophomores in high school or just a bit younger) walking down the sidewalk today. Each had a pair of earphones connected to her own personal music device. Judging by their proximity to one another and similar clothing styles, I had to assume that they were friends.
They did not speak. However, twice during the period I was stopped at a light and able to observe them, one would look at the other, smile, and nod her head in a rhythm (which likely coincided with the music she was listening to). The other would return the smile and nod her head as well, but to a distinctly different rhythmic pattern.
This counts as friendship these days? Listening to completely different music together? That's not social interaction at all!
I saw two girls (if I had to guess their ages, I'd say they were sophomores in high school or just a bit younger) walking down the sidewalk today. Each had a pair of earphones connected to her own personal music device. Judging by their proximity to one another and similar clothing styles, I had to assume that they were friends.
They did not speak. However, twice during the period I was stopped at a light and able to observe them, one would look at the other, smile, and nod her head in a rhythm (which likely coincided with the music she was listening to). The other would return the smile and nod her head as well, but to a distinctly different rhythmic pattern.
This counts as friendship these days? Listening to completely different music together? That's not social interaction at all!
11 June 2010
Soft
Why are the backs of the conference room chairs padded?
I don't mean the seat back that I lean against when I'm sitting in the chair. I understand that padding, and I prefer it over hard plastic or metal.
I mean the back of the chair--the part I look at when approaching the chair from behind, the part that gets pushed up against the wall. Why is that part of the chair padded?
It's not like anybody's going to sit there...
I don't mean the seat back that I lean against when I'm sitting in the chair. I understand that padding, and I prefer it over hard plastic or metal.
I mean the back of the chair--the part I look at when approaching the chair from behind, the part that gets pushed up against the wall. Why is that part of the chair padded?
It's not like anybody's going to sit there...
08 June 2010
Absorbency
I noticed something this morning. My breakfast cereals absorb the milk differently.
I think I always knew that, but it registered consciously today. I have to pour more milk in the bowl for some cereals than I do for others. It seems the "puffed" varieties require less milk to make the bowl look full enough but soak up more of it as I eat them, sometimes almost leaving me dry at the end, so I have to compensate by adding more than I think I need. The flakes seem to need more to make the bowl look full, but I often have too much milk left over when the cereal is gone, so I have to compensate for that by using less to begin with.
Now that I think about it, though, I realize that I'm assuming this has to do with cereal absorbency. I do think the "puffed" cereals can take up more fluid than the flakes can, simply because of their more porous nature, but it is possible that what I'm observing has more to do with the cereal's density, making me think that one type needs more milk than another because of some kind of optical illusion effect.
And here I just wanted breakfast.
I think I always knew that, but it registered consciously today. I have to pour more milk in the bowl for some cereals than I do for others. It seems the "puffed" varieties require less milk to make the bowl look full enough but soak up more of it as I eat them, sometimes almost leaving me dry at the end, so I have to compensate by adding more than I think I need. The flakes seem to need more to make the bowl look full, but I often have too much milk left over when the cereal is gone, so I have to compensate for that by using less to begin with.
Now that I think about it, though, I realize that I'm assuming this has to do with cereal absorbency. I do think the "puffed" cereals can take up more fluid than the flakes can, simply because of their more porous nature, but it is possible that what I'm observing has more to do with the cereal's density, making me think that one type needs more milk than another because of some kind of optical illusion effect.
And here I just wanted breakfast.
02 June 2010
Redundancy
I took a different route home from work today. I passed a furniture store. It sold only furniture, as evidenced by its name and slogan. For example's sake, let's say the store was Lots of Furniture and its slogan was "The best place to buy furniture." It had an elaborately painted advertisement on its front windows that said, "Furniture Sale."
Couldn't they have just called it a sale? Did they really have to specify that the sale covered furniture?
Couldn't they have just called it a sale? Did they really have to specify that the sale covered furniture?
01 June 2010
Graduation
For a long time, I thought that big graduation ceremonies and such were reserved for high school and college graduations. Those marked major milestones and/or major accomplishments. When I first heard about kindergarten graduations, I rolled my eyes. I didn't think that completing the first year of the American public education system deserved any special recognition.
I didn't get a kindergarten graduation ceremony.
My problem was the source of the idea for kindergarten graduation ceremonies: building a child's self-esteem. I don't want to make anybody think that self-esteem is bad or unnecessary, but I noticed the trend of kindergarten graduation during a time in which the self-esteem movement had many followers. People--parents, teachers, mental health professionals, family therapists, and many others--claimed that a positive self-esteem is so absolutely vital to a child's well-being and ability to grow up without becoming a serial murderer that everything had to have a positive spin. No more keeping score in sports, no more honor rolls listing the top achievers, easier assignments, more praise. I even heard that one teacher regularly responded to incorrect answers from her students by saying, "Well, that's the right answer to a different question." I found this movement absurd. A child who does not deal with childhood disappointments and failures will not grow up knowing how to deal with adulthood disappointments and failures.
I assumed that kindergarten graduations were part of the self-esteem thing, and it's likely that they were, but I have changed my opinion of them.
In some other "first world" and "developing" nations with compulsory education, the children perform better in nearly all subjects than American children do. Researchers propose that a major cause for this disparity has to do with culture. All children in all schools have to learn some difficult subjects, and few will report that school is always easy. But some have a different attitude toward it than others, and the attitude is usually that engendered by the adults in their lives.
In Russia, the first day of each school year is a national holiday, and it is customary for each child to bring flowers to his or her teacher. In another Asian country, children wear yellow hats on their first day of school, are escorted to the school by their parent(s), and are welcomed to the school by the older children. I've heard of schools in which children are rewarded with honey dropped on a writing tablet so that "learning becomes sweet" to them. In Jewish cultures, the most educated are the most revered; to be wealthy was good, but to be wise was better, as evidenced in Fiddler on the Roof when the lead character stated that he would like to be rich so he could spend his time studying scripture.
In America, we take our kids clothes shopping and plan what we're going to do when they have a vacation. We place more emphasis on sports or performance prowess than on learning. School and studying are viewed as means to an end, as unpleasant chores, almost as necessary evils.
Perhaps kindergarten graduation ceremonies, if they are used as a way of celebrating school and learning and not as a joyous escape from burdensome labor, can help us recapture the love of learning that should exist in childhood.
I didn't get a kindergarten graduation ceremony.
My problem was the source of the idea for kindergarten graduation ceremonies: building a child's self-esteem. I don't want to make anybody think that self-esteem is bad or unnecessary, but I noticed the trend of kindergarten graduation during a time in which the self-esteem movement had many followers. People--parents, teachers, mental health professionals, family therapists, and many others--claimed that a positive self-esteem is so absolutely vital to a child's well-being and ability to grow up without becoming a serial murderer that everything had to have a positive spin. No more keeping score in sports, no more honor rolls listing the top achievers, easier assignments, more praise. I even heard that one teacher regularly responded to incorrect answers from her students by saying, "Well, that's the right answer to a different question." I found this movement absurd. A child who does not deal with childhood disappointments and failures will not grow up knowing how to deal with adulthood disappointments and failures.
I assumed that kindergarten graduations were part of the self-esteem thing, and it's likely that they were, but I have changed my opinion of them.
In some other "first world" and "developing" nations with compulsory education, the children perform better in nearly all subjects than American children do. Researchers propose that a major cause for this disparity has to do with culture. All children in all schools have to learn some difficult subjects, and few will report that school is always easy. But some have a different attitude toward it than others, and the attitude is usually that engendered by the adults in their lives.
In Russia, the first day of each school year is a national holiday, and it is customary for each child to bring flowers to his or her teacher. In another Asian country, children wear yellow hats on their first day of school, are escorted to the school by their parent(s), and are welcomed to the school by the older children. I've heard of schools in which children are rewarded with honey dropped on a writing tablet so that "learning becomes sweet" to them. In Jewish cultures, the most educated are the most revered; to be wealthy was good, but to be wise was better, as evidenced in Fiddler on the Roof when the lead character stated that he would like to be rich so he could spend his time studying scripture.
In America, we take our kids clothes shopping and plan what we're going to do when they have a vacation. We place more emphasis on sports or performance prowess than on learning. School and studying are viewed as means to an end, as unpleasant chores, almost as necessary evils.
Perhaps kindergarten graduation ceremonies, if they are used as a way of celebrating school and learning and not as a joyous escape from burdensome labor, can help us recapture the love of learning that should exist in childhood.
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