Archive for Lost Entries

Making Positive & Negative Perceptions

December 31, 2007   Filed Under: Lost Entries   618 words

This assignment is from my Interpersonal Communication class. This is one of the assignments that I found interesting, because it showed me that I make negative judgments first based on the stereotypes that are grafted into my brain. It was more complicated to think of positive perceptions! I never knew I was such a negative person.

Situation #1: You see a thirty-something aged man leaning across a table and holding the hands of an older woman in a restaurant.

Positive: Ah, it’s so sweet how this couple is not afraid to counteract stereotypes and have found love despite their obvious age difference. My positive perception of this situation is that couple is obviously dating. They aren’t concerned with age and that’s a great thing. They haven’t allowed age differences to affect their possibility of finding love.

Negative: Wow, what is that man doing with that old woman? Can’t he find someone his own age? My negative perception of this situation is that the couple is obviously dating. They aren’t concerned with age, and this is not a good thing. The man must be unable to find anybody his own age and is taking advantage of this lonely old lady. Maybe he’s dating the woman because she’s rich and he wants to gain her inheritance. A negative stereotype that comes to mind is that younger adults will date older people just for money.

Situation #2: You see a teenager giving money to a well-dressed man in the street.

Positive: It’s nice to see that today’s youth are interested in giving to others. My positive perception of this situation is that the teenager is taking part in philanthropy. Maybe the well-dressed man is a performer and has just done an act. Maybe the teenager has met the man before and owed him money.

Negative: What’s wrong with that man why he needs money from a child when he’s so obviously well-dressed? My negative perception of this situation is that the man is taking advantage of people. He’s probably a beggar and told the teenager that he got those clothes from some nice man. Maybe he’s pretending to be a fortune teller and giving fortunes for cash.

Situation #3: You see the police pull up to your neighbor’s house with all lights flashing.

Positive: It’s nice that the police are here to help out the neighbors. My positive perception of this situation is that the neighbor called the police because of some unfortunate event. Maybe the neighbor came home and just realized a robber was there, or maybe he’s having a heart attack, called 911, and didn’t get to say what is happening, so the ambulance isn’t there as yet.

Negative: What did my neighbor do? Is he some sort of criminal? He must be. He’s probably beating up his wife. My negative perception of this situation is that the neighbor must be bad. Maybe the police just found out that he’s linked to a robbery. Maybe the neighbor is a man and his wife called the police because she’s the subject of domestic violence.

Situation #4: You see a large, black dog standing over a screaming child lying on the ground.

Positive: Oh, it’s so nice that the dog is showing concern for the little child. My positive perception of this situation is that the child was screaming before the dog went to him or her, and so the dog is trying to comfort the child.

Negative: Oh my gosh, the dog is trying to kill the child! My negative perception of this situation is that the dog came over to sniff the child or maybe is ferocious and knocked the child down. This caused the child to cry and the dog refuses to move.

Near Death Experience

December 31, 2007   Filed Under: Lost Entries   455 words

I got into a car accident last night. I thought I was going to die. I saw the car right in front of me, and luckily I wasn’t talking to someone beside me, or I would be dead right now. My life didn’t flash before my eyes, and I’m thankful that I didn’t panic. I slammed the brakes and just barely hit the guy’s minivan. Never get a Dodge Caravan. Those things get in crashes all the time! That is the most unlucky car I’ve ever seen. The best car to get if you want to avoid crashes is a Volkswagen. I’m not even kidding, how many dented Buggies, Jettas, or Passats have you seen? When I have the money to buy a new car, I think I’m gonna go for a VW. Right now I have a Honda. I love it, though.

So, back to the crash. My head is hurting and I get out of the car to see if my front bumper is messed up. Nothing except for a little tiny scratch of the paint. I ask him if he is OK and if anything is wrong with his car. He said, “No.” I could’ve been mean about the situation, seeing as this is the guy who nearly ended my life, but his apology and concern was more than enough for me. He said that he’s so sorry and that he was trying to get over to the left lane before the light changed, so he wasn’t paying too much attention. I told him it’s OK and to just be careful. I went on my way.

My head was still hurting afterwards, and I began to wonder if I should have filed an accident report so that I could go to the hospital if necessary. Instead I prayed for the pain to go away, and of course, God came through for me. I do have minimal aching right now, but I know the pain will subside. I went babysitting afterwards. The kid was already asleep, so I spent the whole time returning comments, and watching The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Memoirs of a Geisha. I’ve watched both before, but I like them. I still haven’t seen The Return of the King. :angry:

On a brighter note, I’m so grateful for all the well wishes I got. I’m guessing I got an A on my Bio research paper and didn’t do too bad on the final. I got a B- in the class, and it’s a 4-credit class, so I’m really happy. Thank the Lord!

I gave; Now I’m wanting, something in return…

December 31, 2007   Filed Under: Lost Entries   615 words

I was having a great day today before my boyfriend ruined it. Well, now I’m feeling better, but I’m still upset with him.

It all started when the lady I babysit for gave me tickets to the Miami Dolphins vs. Baltimore Ravens football game. It’s not that I’m a big football fan or anything, but I thought this would be a great opportunity to spend time together. Besides, they were $100 fourth-row tickets, and I think I would enjoy it. I went to a hockey game earlier this year and unexpectedly enjoyed it.

I asked the boyfriend if he wants to go and he said he has to fix a car–drop in an engine. I was explaining to him that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get such good seats for free, and he said his dad has given him tickets to Dolphins’ games before. I tried reasoning that I had never been to a live football game before. Didn’t work. He would rather fix his friends’ car. His dad really does get free tickets sometimes…that’s how we got the hockey game tickets, but those seats weren’t as good (they weren’t that bad, though).

Now, I have to say that I do admire the loyalty. He told his friend from this morning that he would switch out the engine, so I can understand that he would want to take the time to do that. But, the actual problem lies in his loyalty to me. Whenever I ask him to do anything for my car, it takes the back seat…no matter how important it is.

I remember when I just got the car in January. Carmax inspected the car and said I need to get the brakes changed right away and have the timing belt adjusted/changed within 10,000 miles. I was going to go to a mechanic to get the brakes changed, but my bf said that he would take care of it. So I waited…and I waited…and I waited. About three months later, when the brakes actually started screaming to be changed (they build in this mechanism so it gets really squeaky before failure so that you’ll avoid crashes due to bad brakes), he finally took care of it. The same thing has happened with pretty much every car problem that I’ve encountered. So, basically, he does stuff for his friends’ cars, as well as his own, right away. Anything to do with my car has to wait.

So I said, “Awesome.” He asked me what I said that for, and I said because everything is truly awesome (regarding how I’m worthless to him and everything else is his top priority). He said that I’m jealous and petty because I’m upset that he’s fixing his friend’s car instead of taking me to the football game (well, not in so many words, but I think that was the point) and when I tried to give a rebuttal he hung up. How rude!

I’ll let you go with a word of advice. If a guy claims he loves you but can’t put you before his friends, do him the same justice. I’m not advocating revenge or spite, but this is actually a smart thing to do. If you put this guy before your own friends, every time he’s hanging out with his, you’ll have nothing to do. And you’ll be upset with him instead of appreciating the fact that you can both have alone time with your friends to relax and not think about romantic stuff. Just like how I had to give my neighbors the tickets instead of going with a friend.

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