Blog #4: Leave the baby outside?

In class we read about a women who was raised in Copenhagen, Denmark who brings her child to New York with her husband. They were arrested for leaving the baby outside this restaurant unattended while they ate inside. They did this because it is a very common thing in Denmark due to the smokey insides of restaurants. In their eyes, they were simply doing what they felt was normal. While the class was arguing about whether or not this was actually wrong, I was having conflicting view points in my head. My parents having grown up in South Africa and moving here a few years before I was born, my home life is far from the average Americans. When friends come over, they are often confused at things my parents and I do or things we have in our house. I've been visiting South Africa every year since I was six months to visit family so I know where my parents come from. Whenever we go there, we fit right in. In America, we seem to be the odd ones out. When we read this story, it reminded me of my family. My parents over the years have adapted to American social norms but it has taken time. I can definitely see my parents leaving me outside of a restaurant if that had been a normal thing to do in Africa. My parents are just people that like to bring their traditions to new places instead of trying to fit in. I don't know if that is what I would do, but it is what I am exposed to.
     I think it all comes down to our perspectives. Someone may look at a baby my himself outside of a restaurant and be alarmed while some one else might not even think twice about it. Similarly, this women who was arrested probably found many weird things in New York hat she would have looked down upon if it were in Denmark. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to adjust to a new place. Whether it is by bringing your own traditions or by changing your lifestyle to fit a new place, as long as you are happy and safe, I don't think it really matters.

Blog #3 Sociological Theory in My Life

As sad as it is to admit, my cell phone plays a huge role in my life. I take it everywhere with me. I'm not one of those people that is constantly texting or calling people, but I do feel weird if its not with me. I wouldn't say I feel lost without it, but on the days when I accidentally leave my phone at home I worry that I will miss an important text or call and will still go to check my messages during the day. This kind of relates to my blog about habits. It has become a habit of mine to worry about my messages and where my phone is. Usually I get casual texts from people just to talk but on the days when I don't have my phone or I have not checked it, I always feel like I'm missing the text of a lifetime. Some people think texting is bad because it takes away from our face to face communication and I actually agree that it does, but I also find it very convenient for those days (most days) when I am too busy to talk on the phone. It's so much easier to just send a quick text while I am doing my homework and not have to worry about wasting time. From a functionalist point of view, my phone would be something that I use to seek relative stability. I use it to communicate with people and keep my friends and myself on the same page and not left out. If I weren't talking with them it might create drama or something, so my phone helps keep things stable. For conflict theory, my phone is probably seen as something that brings change to my life. It changes my relationships with people because we tend to use different language while texting which causes conflict. If there is a misunderstanding because of the communication through my phone, this brings on change in my life and possibly even conflict.From symbolic interactionism, my cell phone 'lingo' is not the same as every day talk. With face to face communication, people see how I react and hear my voice change through my emotions. With a cell phone, we lose that symbolism. For example, when people read a text they hear it in their head and interpret it as just that.If they were talking tome, though, they may hear my says something differently and therefore give what I say a whole new meaning.

Blog #2

In class the other day, we did an activity that involved sixteen students fighting for their 'lives' on an abandoned ship. Each student was given a role to play and each role had unique attributes. Each seemed to have something positive going for them (like they have a large family or are well educated) as well as something negative (like being overweight or having one leg). As they sat in  the middle of the room, they had to, as a group, decide which seven people were going to be thrown off based on their roles. I decided not to be on the boat when Ms. Breuer was asking for volunteers but I ended up enjoying watching everyone. There were a few things people did during the activity that really struck me. First of all, there were some people that really stood out. I'd say there were three people who seemed to take charge basically either because they could talk the loudest or because they had good points. I think this is expected when a group of people get together. It seems that in even a random group of people, there is always going to be at least one person who likes to take charge. What was most interesting was that the people that seemed to take charge of the situation were not even questioned about being thrown off. It was as if they were untouchable.Even if someone did ask whether or not they should be on the boat, they were quickly shut down. Another thing that caught my attention was the reasons people gave for kicking others off. When I was deciding who I would kick off by myself, I mainly looked at whether or not the person had family. When everyone was in a group, though, people looked at their physical attributes. For example, one of the roles was a successful business woman who happens to be overweight. The others spent a lot of time arguing over whether or not she should stay- simply because she is overweight! I couldn't believe it. Another person didn't have hands but I kept him/her because she/he had a family back at home. In the group though, everyone wanted that person gone because of his hands. I guess it just shows how people act differently while in a big group under pressure. I really enjoyed watching this activity and I feel like it helped me better understand what we are going to be learning in this class and what it really means to observe a social situation.

Blog #1

 Before taking sociology, I never really gave much thought to habits we all have. It seems impossible to not form habits. When I think about my day from start to finish, one of the first things I do in my day is out of habit. Every day I go and sit with my friends at the same exact table in the same exact spot in the wood commons. Why don't we sit at a different table someday? Why do we always sit with the same people? After sitting there since freshmen year, it has become a habit for us to sit there. I think we do this for a few reasons but most importantly, we do it because we feel safe there. After sitting there for years, we feel completely comfortable being in the same spot. If we sat anywhere else, we would most likely feel uncomfortable and a little awkward. We aren't insecure or unhappy people, but sitting in the same spot gives us a feeling of security. Walking into school every day knowing that my friends will be waiting for me at our spot makes me feel safe. If we didn't have that spot, I would walk into school every day feeling a little lost and nervous that I wouldn't have somewhere to sit or that I wouldn't be able to find my friends. I think this is true for all our habits; we do them to feel safe and secure. Once we start a habit, we prefer to stick to it so we don't lose that feeling of security. I think the reason we prefer not to break our habits is because we are so accustomed to them that not doing them would just feel wrong. We can't help it; habits have become too big a part of our lives to stop doing them now. If there were no such things as habits, our lives would probably be a lot more interesting and we would probably all be better at adjusting to change. As my teachers blog says, 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks '. I don't think we have much  hope as far as breaking habits goes.