After reading Chapter 4 on The Construction of Self and Society, I realized that there are many aspects of life that we are just "going through the motions" on. We have developed into a society that expects and predicts the norm to be presented to us in every instance. Today, I decided to change it up a bit and throw off my sister, Kelly, in our bi-weekly Skype date.
I had laid out a game plan of how I would make the conversation go, in order to go against the social norm as much as I could humanly do; however, I just couldn't stay according to plan. I started off with asking "Who is this?" when she answered , throwing her off and making her question whether she was being prank called or not. For questions like, "What did you do today?" I gave an EXTREMELY thorough account of my day, everything down to the detail, which ended up being a good five minute explanation in itself. Eventually, things got into a semi-normal conversation, but I did my best to try to give behavior against what is normal.
Throughout this conversation, I began to realize it was very difficult to come up with unusual responses to what she was asking or telling me. The conversation started to get spacey, as I was trying to think up responses to throw back at her. Lucky for me this wasn't an in-person conversation because if that had been the case, I never would've been able to keep my composure and think up strange behavior to give her.
I could definitely tell that my unusual behavior was getting to Kelly. She was becoming quite confused in some of my responses and frustrated in having to answer normally understood questions with reasons and other things pertaining to what she was asking. Her expressions told me that I was getting to her; her looks of confusion and hand gestures told me it was time to break character. After telling her of my assignment, her mind cleared a little bit and thought it was interested in what I had to do. She was excited when I told her that I pretty much got to screw with people and be a smart ass in a college class for credit! She told me at first she thought everything was normal, but then she suspected something was up. She explained how she wasn't sure how to address my behavior so she just went with the flow.
This activity would be something I would enjoy doing in the general public with a group of friends. Going to a place like the Mall of America and totally going against what we think is "normal" in society would definitely turn a lot of heads and make people question our behavior. However, there will always be that one person that would complain to security or someone and would get us in trouble. I would most likely be questioned by security about why I was presenting such behavior. Thinking of this from a sociology standpoint, I could very well say that I was just acting in normal behavior because who actually knows what normal is? We have an idea what normal is, but that's just it; its only an IDEA.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Billboard Advertising Taken Personal
Up until reading the insert in our sociology textbook, I had never envisioned billboards to be anything more than the large signs I've constantly passed on many drives throughout my life. I didn't take into consideration that how we present ourselves to others by our wardrobe or something as simple as a bumper sticker.
One example of a personal billboard is a personalized license plate.
I personalized this Minnesota license plate with my initials and the word "emoja." Although I was born in North Dakota, I consider Minnesota to be my home and it's where I will continue to live my life and be "Minnesota Nice."By placing my initials on my license plate, I am communicating the pride of being a part of my family and my relatives I am named for. Being named after family members constantly reminds me of the value of family, something that I take very seriously in my life. I also personalized the license plate with the word "emoja" because it represents both the aspect of a team and overcoming obstacles. This word was first told to me by a local pastor from my hometown during my sophomore season in basketball. Pastor Frovik told us he heard of the word while he was working as a mission in South Africa and felt that it fit perfectly into the team aspect we were looking for in our postseason run. Emoja means "I am because we are." Although the word is very unknown to most of the general US population, the word shows the importance of being a team, that a team effort will benefit all those involved in the team. No one expected much from our basketball team that year, being comprised of one senior, five sophomores, and two freshman in the varsity rotation. Our team unity propelled us to the section finals, against all odds.
After looking through my wardrobe, I discovered that I am not one that shows off many personal billboards through my apparel choices. However, I found that I own a large amount of both Windom and Hamline gear. Within this particular articles of clothing, I am advertising the schools of Windom and Hamline, as well as the Eagle and Piper athletic communities. Many times I have been approached by someone at an event or elsewhere in the community and asked about the school I was representing on my chest. Nearly every time I provided a great deal of detail into Windom or Hamline, leaving the person who came up to me with a wealth of knowledge about either of my two particular schools.
A personal billboard allows me to publicly show my support for my schools or other things I believe in. Taking a quote from a favorite movie of mine, Forrest Gump says, "Momma always says there's an awful lot you could tell about a person by their shoes. Where they're going. Where they've been." Shoes, in this case, are personal billboards; detailing the life of the person and where their feet have taken them. Personal billboards are an excellent way to learn about someone without directly interacting with them, and I have been able to generally know a little something about a stranger just by "checking out their advertisements."
One example of a personal billboard is a personalized license plate.
After looking through my wardrobe, I discovered that I am not one that shows off many personal billboards through my apparel choices. However, I found that I own a large amount of both Windom and Hamline gear. Within this particular articles of clothing, I am advertising the schools of Windom and Hamline, as well as the Eagle and Piper athletic communities. Many times I have been approached by someone at an event or elsewhere in the community and asked about the school I was representing on my chest. Nearly every time I provided a great deal of detail into Windom or Hamline, leaving the person who came up to me with a wealth of knowledge about either of my two particular schools.
A personal billboard allows me to publicly show my support for my schools or other things I believe in. Taking a quote from a favorite movie of mine, Forrest Gump says, "Momma always says there's an awful lot you could tell about a person by their shoes. Where they're going. Where they've been." Shoes, in this case, are personal billboards; detailing the life of the person and where their feet have taken them. Personal billboards are an excellent way to learn about someone without directly interacting with them, and I have been able to generally know a little something about a stranger just by "checking out their advertisements."
Sunday, February 12, 2012
How 2004 Changed My Thinking
Sociological imagination helps us understand how our personal lives and the world around us converge and create meaning.
Looking back to when I was twelve years old in 2004, there were many historical happenings going on in the world. For example, the Summer Olympics were held in beautiful Athens, Greece. Although the Olympics is essentially one large competition, it has the ability to bring together nations across the world and within our own individual countries. Every four years the Olympics bring about true pride for our country as the best our country has to offer represent us on the world stage. I, too, gather an enormous amount of pride and support for those who represent the Stars and Stripes with honor.
Another memorable event, although for the wrong reasons, was the infamous tsunami in southeast Asia on December 26. This horrific event took the lives of a reported 200,000 plus people throughout the region of the Indian Ocean. Seeing the footage of the damage and destruction caused by Mother Nature made me realize to never take life for granted because in one instant things can completely change by something that I would have no control over. This event also provided me with an opportunity to help my fellow man by donating food and supplies to those affected by the tsunami. Volunteering to help those less fortunate has now become something I enjoy doing and hope to get more involved here at Hamline.
Another event from 2004 that didn't touch the lives of those around the world was the election of mayor of my hometown of Windom. My dad was one of three people running for the office, and believe me, I was extremely nervous on whether he'd be elected or not. Lo and behold the news came over the radio that he'd been elected by a large margin. I was so proud that he had accepted the challenge to become mayor after very few people were willing to step up and lead our city. His willingness to take a job that no one seemingly wanted and achieve great success showed that in order to make a difference with others, you have to go outside your comfort zone. He sacrificed many things with his job and our family with the hope of making Windom a better city, and I have enormous respect in respect to what he did for our town. Things were different for the next four years and when it came time to submit for re-election, he declined even after gaining great popularity with the citizens of Windom. Although he loved being mayor, family came first and he wanted to spend more time with us as we were growing towards the high school age. Because of this decision, I am a strong believer that family is the most important thing in our lives, not video games or parties or sports. Each moment you have to spend with your family is important whether it's seen that way or not. You never know when your lives can change, your family is no longer there, and you're regretting not spending time with them. Enjoy the time you can spend with your family while you can!
Looking back to when I was twelve years old in 2004, there were many historical happenings going on in the world. For example, the Summer Olympics were held in beautiful Athens, Greece. Although the Olympics is essentially one large competition, it has the ability to bring together nations across the world and within our own individual countries. Every four years the Olympics bring about true pride for our country as the best our country has to offer represent us on the world stage. I, too, gather an enormous amount of pride and support for those who represent the Stars and Stripes with honor.
Another memorable event, although for the wrong reasons, was the infamous tsunami in southeast Asia on December 26. This horrific event took the lives of a reported 200,000 plus people throughout the region of the Indian Ocean. Seeing the footage of the damage and destruction caused by Mother Nature made me realize to never take life for granted because in one instant things can completely change by something that I would have no control over. This event also provided me with an opportunity to help my fellow man by donating food and supplies to those affected by the tsunami. Volunteering to help those less fortunate has now become something I enjoy doing and hope to get more involved here at Hamline.
Another event from 2004 that didn't touch the lives of those around the world was the election of mayor of my hometown of Windom. My dad was one of three people running for the office, and believe me, I was extremely nervous on whether he'd be elected or not. Lo and behold the news came over the radio that he'd been elected by a large margin. I was so proud that he had accepted the challenge to become mayor after very few people were willing to step up and lead our city. His willingness to take a job that no one seemingly wanted and achieve great success showed that in order to make a difference with others, you have to go outside your comfort zone. He sacrificed many things with his job and our family with the hope of making Windom a better city, and I have enormous respect in respect to what he did for our town. Things were different for the next four years and when it came time to submit for re-election, he declined even after gaining great popularity with the citizens of Windom. Although he loved being mayor, family came first and he wanted to spend more time with us as we were growing towards the high school age. Because of this decision, I am a strong believer that family is the most important thing in our lives, not video games or parties or sports. Each moment you have to spend with your family is important whether it's seen that way or not. You never know when your lives can change, your family is no longer there, and you're regretting not spending time with them. Enjoy the time you can spend with your family while you can!
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