Discrimination in Restaurants

What I am about to say is going to sound horrible and I am not saying it is a true statement. I work at a restaurant as a hostess and it is a known fact at the hostess stand that a few select servers do not want certain ethnic groups sat in their section.These select servers sometimes even come up to the hostess stand and get angry with us if it occurs. I am not saying these servers are bad people because they are honestly not but they definitely tend to prejudge some tables as to what tip they are going to get, based simply upon the person’s appearance and race. In some cases these prejudgment and racial prejudices cause some servers to treat a table differently and not put as much effort into it. I feel that is what causes them to receive a smaller tip. When someone prejudges someone and then acts differently and treats him or her differently then no wonder they tip you poorly. Anyone can sense when people are not happy and I feel that a lot of times the table senses a servers prejudices. The thing is that you cannot always tell who is going to be a good tipper based upon their outward appearance. For example a couple weeks ago I sat two gentlemen at a table, and they were Caucasian, polite, dressed in suits, and carrying briefcases, clearly they were business men. These two men ordered their food as they talked about some cases in court they had recently taken care of, indicating they were lawyers. After they got their bill they waited until their server was gone and then left with out paying. This is an outcome that no one would have guessed, and it happened. The point I am trying to make is that your judgments of people are not always correct and sometimes when people prejudge then they act different or look for the bad, and in doing this their prejudgment is usually made a reality, but only because in a way they wanted it to be.

Response to Indian Killer

Indian killer by Sherman Alexie was a good book. I did enjoy the setup of the book and how each chapter was a different character. This allowed me to stay interested and not get bored with any particular character. This is a very powerful book. Not just powerful with the story and incidents that occur but with the messages hidden within. This book I must admit is not my favorite. Though it was good, it was so good to the point that I had a nightmare about it last night. Books filled with violence are not my cup of tea and with Alexie’s ability to paint a picture with his words I found myself very uncomfortable with some of the situations within. For example when Aaron and his buddies were beating the Indian couple with bats I could barely read the pages and when John was talking about the 6-year old boy I was completely disgusted and angry. I felt that a lot of the book was intended to be a message to people that even though one grows up in a world full of intermixed people, it doesn’t mean hatred and resentment doesn’t exist. I feel Alexie does this with John. John was raised by white parents and given anything and everything he ever asked for but yet still hated all white people. I feel things like this are something that occurs within a lot of people. Even if these people don’t ever act on their feelings, hatred exists in a lot of societies and is social accepted and normal.

Response to Fear And Loathing!

Starting this book was extremely difficult, Due to the way Thompson explains things. Though the way Hunter S. Thompson explains the events that occurred in his life are interesting they are also very confusing. I am not saying that I am a totally innocent person, but I have never been on drugs. That fact alone not only made it difficult to understand some terms but I didn’t know what the different drugs did so it made it hard to decipher what exactly was real in some instances. The journey Thompson takes his readers on to find the American Dream is definitely an interesting one and it was entertaining, but I must say I was confused at the same time. I ended up actually reading the book and then renting the movie so some instances were made clear and then some things clicked, but without the movie I feel I might have misunderstood some parts. I did love the way he made the American Dream seem like a crock. His trip to Vegas was a symbol for finding your American Dream and I really found it interesting how he made all fun instances have a down fall, which is how the USA works. One can try and try and try and still not get what they initially wanted in the end. Thompson showed this in a way that could appeal to many audiences. He told a crazy story about drugs and Vegas, which only a few can relate to, but he also told a story that allows those who couldn’t relate to the drugs, to relate to the simple situation of everything going wrong.

The American Dream

In general the phrase The American Dream is used to refer to the desire of freedom. This for other countries could mean something as simple as what they are allowed to wear or it could mean better jobs with better pay. For Americans this has now been translated to the desire of success, the desire of money, and the ability to do with the money as one wishes. In USA everything is suppose to be better, and in some ways it is, but the country its self is not as great as it seems. We are in a huge debt crisis in which the country is taking money from its citizens with promises of later benefits, but in reality we are soon going to be paying out more than we take in. America is the place to become successful but one will need money to achieve anything.

The 21st Century American

In my opinion the 21st Century American in general isn’t a great person. Most of us are selfish and ungrateful. We take advantage of the things we have access to. I am not saying that I am a perfect person because I’m not. I along with many Americans take advantage of the life I am able to live. For example a shower is something not all people in the world have access to, but if I couldn’t take a shower I would feel as though the world was going to end. Most American’s spend money selfishly on new gadgets when some people in other countries or even people just down the road can barely keep their family fed. Yes, some Americans are not great, but there are other aspects that make us great. Most of us have the mind set that we can achieve whatever we set our minds to and we don’t allow things to get in our way. This is not a reality for some people in other countries. Because of this Americans are proud of what we are able to achieve which also gives us self-confidence. With this self-confidence we have achieved many great things some of which have allowed us to live a better life.