The Price of Life?

In my mind and probably to many others, I would say that there is no price to life.  Although healthcare makes it seem like this isn't so, who is anyone to tell another that there life is worth a certain amount of money.  On this note, I was with my sister and brother-in-law today in New York, meeting up with one of my sister's friend's, Kerri while we stopped and got luch on our 16 hour drive to North Carolina.  While with Kerri she asked us if we had heard about the breaking news?  Of course my mind went straight to Whitey Bulger as once breaking news hits, people for some reason cannot stop talking about it for weeks (even though it tends to be the same story over and over again).  Ironically, the New Yorker had little knowledge of the Whitey case, but told us of another horrific man.

At some point within the last day or two, a man went into a pharmacy wanting to rob the store of prescription medicine.  Robberies such as this have happened before, so I was waiting for the real "news" within this story, but I wish I hadn't.  The man did not just go into the pharmacy weilding a gun and leaving with his drugs, but he shot the 17 year old technician point-blank in the face before shooting the pharmacist execution style.  The man then left in his getaway car driven by his wife.  One man lost his fiance that day while another family lost their son.  It disgusts me that a human being could so easily kill someone, nevermind the fact that he killed them in order for a "quick fix."  Drugs can be damaging not only to the people that take them, but to innocent people that never thought they would face a danger just by going to work.  I too am working as a pharmacy technician to get by throughout college, so to think that that could have easily been me is extra terrifying.

How Things Have Changed

Like many other people, I feel like everything around me is constantly changing.  Just two years ago as a college freshman, I had left my part time job as a waitress at an retirement home and had no responsibilities other than school work and going out with friends.  Just a few years prior to that I didn't even have a job yet spent my time focusing on school and extracurriculars such as competitive cheerleading, lacrosse and Best Buddies.  Now that that life seems like a million years ago, I am realizing what people mean when they say, "You don't know what you have until it's gone."

Although I have amazing friends and a family that is always there for me, I still can't help but get sad and miss how simple things use to be and laugh at what I use to thing was "life-altering."  Everything that has every happened from middle school and beyond has made me who I am today and has given me the wonderful friends I can lean on.  Yet it is still scary and crazy to think of how quickly everything has changed.  Now I am more focused in school than ever before, I have become an aunt/Godmother and are expecting two more nieces/nephews in the winter time! If someone asked me last year if I thought I would have what I do now, I would've thought them ti be crazy.  Never did I think I would want to, nevermind could manage summer classes, but I know I'll be thankful in the future.  Hopefully I can look back in another few years at how much my life has changed since now and be just as happy and astonished as I am writing this.

What has Media and the Idea of "Beauty" Done to Us?

While working on my essay for my Communication Studies Theory class a few days ago I had to research news topics.  Wanting to find a topic that would interest me, I stumbled upon an article about a dating website created in Denmark that has stirred up A LOT of controversy.  This site, created by Greg Hodge has its members rate new applicants in order to gain entry.  Back in January of 2011, the BeautifulPeople.com caused some anger when they made already existing members re-apply after they posted pictures of themselves looking heavier than usual thanks to the holiday season.  Another jab by the site was toward an entire group as men from Ireland were rated as the ugliest on Earth by the site's members.  The latest controversy that took place just a month ago was when a disgruntled former employ caused the "Shrek virus" to run throughout the site's software and accept thousands of applicants.  After some review and rating, 30,000 people were dropped from BeautifulPeople.com as they were deemed "too ugly."  Founder and creator, Greg Hodge went on to say, "We have to stick to our founding principles of only accepting beautiful people -- that's what our members have paid for; We can't just sweep 30,000 ugly people under the carpet." 

Now I don't know about anyone else, but something such as this seems absolutely ridiculous!  Not only is it sad that a dating website exists such as this, but how narcissistic can people be?  To actually put yourself on a site such as BeautifulPeople.com seems entirely vain and although it stinks that 30,000 people got accepted and later rejected, what did they except when apply to a website that basis everything solely on appearance.  In an age when men and women are told to love themselves and their uniques qualities, it is definetly a step backwards when there are thousands upon thousands of people who are willing to let themselves be judged along with judging others instead of actually getting to know someone.  I don't know exactly how effective online dating is, but I'm positive my soulmate would not be one who only chose me based on my picture.

Children and Technology

On my 12th birthday, my twenty year old sister, Jill bought me my first cell phone.  Although most of my family thought I was still too young for my own phone, my parents believed a pay-as-you-go cell phone was a good starter for a twelve year old and neccessary since the payphones in school (yes payphones, that feels like centuries ago!) were annoying to use if I wanted to go to a friend's house after school as you couldn't use them during the day.  Though my cell phone wasn't a flip phone and had an antenna, I loved it!!  Though many people thought I was still too young for such a gift, I felt I was "grown-up" enough to use one.  Well times have definetly changed!!

Now, in the year 2011, eight years after I recieved my first cell phone, I now own an LG Envi Touch.  Though my latest phone was amazing when it first came out, it has recently been outshined by the likes of the iPhone, the Droid, etc.  The irony I want to speak of is that both the iPhone and the Droid are owned by my two younger cousins, aged thirteen and eleven.  Although i believe twelve is a good age to own a phone as these kids are gaining more independence (maybe going to the movies and the mall with their friends) and just for protection but at what age is too young and is it nessesary for a thirteen year old to own an iPhone?!

I know every child is raised differently and thus the age at which a child recieves a cell phone may differ, but from what I've seen, younger and younger children are getting their hands on impressive technology.  For instance, when I was seventeen and getting my first Envi 2, I was quite excited.  Unfortunetly, this excitement slowly disappearred when I visited my dad and realized my seven year old sister had the exact same one!  Maybe some will disagree, but I have absolutely no idea what a seven year old, or for that matter, a ten year old needs a cell phone for!  I wouldn't be so worried if it wasn't for the fact that all of my cousins' friends have phones similiar to theirs.  I don't know what Apps a thirteen year old needs or who they may be texting and about what, but in my opinion, the use of cell phones has gone too far and the same is true for Facebook.  Young kids do not need to stay connected via a social networking site when they are ten years old (the age my cousin was when her and her friends made theirs).  If the use of technology has gone this far I am definetly wary as to how it will be when I have children.  For all of us college students who may not have as impressive phones as the iPhone or Droid, you may know where I am coming from.  We have jobs and homework deadlines, along with trying to plan things with friends and keeping personal appointments, so it makes sense for people of our age to own phones or other forms of technology that manages our busy life,  but when I see a child just Youtubing videos on an expensive phone, I just think, "What happened in the ten years since I was a young kid?"  Are kids really kids anymore or has the use of technology made most of them into young adults way before they hit puberty.

America's Latest Obsession

Although Twitter has been out for some time now, I still have yet to see what the fascination with it is.  Celebrities are always talking about their "Twitter accounts" and it seems like a catastophe when celebrities such as Miley Cyrus delete theirs (only to re-establish it a few weeks later).  So I guess my question is this: Why are people so obsessed with posting every detail of their daily lives?  In some sense I understand how it is a tool to communicate with one another like any other social networking site such as Facebook (where I am a member).  Unlike Facebook, Twitter users from what I've seen through friends post that they just walked by a restaurant or are sitting waiting to eat.  Why this is so interesting to the masses is beyond me.  Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the site or its users and have even thought of joining to see what all the hype was about, but I just don't think I would post enough to be an avid Tweeter.

Facebook is not completly of the hook though as some Facebooker's write status' every five minutes to detail one's life or his/her relationship woes, which are often quite annoying, but Twitter was created in order to post every five minutes if the person so chooses to do so.  Also, many people such as celebrities "follow" one another so it seems as though your status in society is based upon how many or who is following you on Twitter.  Though this may have seemed like a rant about social networking, I really would just like some answers by anyone who may use Twitter as to why it is so appealing or maybe I will create an account and just find out for myself!

Conflicting Opinions

Earlier today I was reading the June issue of Marie Claire magazine.  As I was skimming through it an reading a few stories, I stumbled upon one that caught my eye.  Lately the media has been portraying first wife, Michelle Obama promoting her cause of limiting obesity within America.  Although Mrs. Obama's efforts have been held by high regard thus far, Marie Claire had an article that boasted a different kind of opinion.  In fact, the story basically stated how Michelle Obama may be doing both harm as well as good.

Though this may seem weird that people would dispute the first lady's efforts to help end America's obesity, the article definetly did make a point that I had not thought of before.  Thus, the article explained how the National Eating Disorders Association believes that by telling America that they are over-weight may actually make more and more people turn to an eating disorder.  Though I do see the point the association is trying to make, I don't think Michelle is trying to turn people away from food, just towards healthier options with better portion sizes.  The president's wife has even had a small stint on the Disney channel working with some of the young actors to portray what portions are best for certain body types.  Anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders, along with being obese itself are all problems within America and the media definetly does not help with the issue.  Between telling people they are too fat and then going on to say how they have become too thin messes with people's heads.  My opinion is that as a nation the focus shouldn't be on ending obestiy but how to live a healthy and fit lifestyle; one where you do not have to starve yourself, but you can eat within a decent portion size.

Irony in the Media

Just a little bit ago I was watching E! News (like I said before, I am an avid watcher) and heard something that has bothered me for quite some time.  In so many magazines and ads, women are told to "be who you are," "love yourself" and to "embrace differences."  While these messages are inspiring, they are quickly shot down by other forms of media and women themselves.  Although everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, making everyone's definition of beauty quite beautiful, irony definetely still lies within the media.

Whille watching E! tonight, Guliana Rancic spoke of what was coming up for the next story and what she said unfortunetly didn't shock me.  Ms. Rancic thus spoke of a story on "who has the best body parts in Hollywood."  Like I said before, no one is perfect and everyone's idea of beauty is clearly different, but how can one love and accept themselves when celebrity's are told how to look, who looks the best and shows images of when they might not look "their best."  So as a young woman myself, it is extremely frustrating to try to love and accept my flaws when I'm constantly shown images of diet regimen's and hearing how beautiful women are when they look a certain way.  Of course many campaigns like Dove and Seventeen's Body Peace are taking a step in the right direction, but my unfortunate encounter with E!'s story only proves how much more women AND men have to work for body peace.