School: It's What You Make of It

           This school semester has been quite the challenge. I signed up for my classes a tad too late, so I got whatever else was available that could fit my schedule. I should’ve have known there was a catch to having only an hour of class once a week. It was just too good to be true. Come to find out, I had signed myself up for my first trial of on-line classes. That was definitely not what I had in mind, since it was going to be Math and English. 

Even though I have never taken an on-line class, I already expected the curriculum to move at a fast pace. At this point, I wasn’t looking forward to whatever may come next. All I knew is that I was going to take it in strides. It was my dedication to finish school that helped ignite my enthusiasm to stick with these classes, which I had accidentally agreed to take. I wasn’t about to give in before the semester even got underway.

The semester started as any other had before, with the first day jitters of getting familiar with the location of the class. Once I got settled in and learned each class’s routine, I was eager to tackle each assignment. Being in the midst of it all now, I tend to get overwhelmed with balancing time for both classes. I underestimated the responsibility of an on-line class. It takes a certain kind of person to want to learn each subject by teaching him or herself.

Now that we are mid-way, I feel a lack of luster for either class. Between working long hours, my pregnant fiancée, and these on-line classes, I find myself wanted to lie in bed more often. As easy as it would be to tap out, my determination won’t let me throw in the towel. There is more on the line for me now, since my daughter is due to arrive in a few months. I know I’m going to have to put a pause on school when she’s born, so it’s a must that I complete what I can until then. I want her to have an educated father, so I won't be staying away from school for too long. 

Not So Reality TV

           When it comes to what to watch on the tube, I do my best to avoid reality TV. The premise of these shows is to unveil candid moments of, in most cases, a celebrity profile. Producers market them as reality based, but what they fail to mention is that it’s actually scripted. Due to its likeability, however, reality TV has gained a large audience, but why do people gorge on it so much? I don’t get it, and, frankly, I’m choosing not to. Although watching these shows may be very entertaining, I believe it obscures the viewers take on what is positively true to life.

            Is watching another person live their “life” on television more interesting than living my own? Ask yourself this question, if you are an avid reality TV viewer. It’s one thing to watch a documentary on someone who actually made a difference in others’ lives, than it is to watch “wanna-be “ famous actors deal with trivial matters on a day-to-day basis. The monotony of drama that is presumed to be real is mundane. If you stop to think about it, can one person’s life really be as eventful as they portray? It boggles me that so many individuals believe and feed into that sham.

            Lets take into consideration the show called “Keeping up with the Kardashians.” I’m most certain everyone knows of this show. It consists of a dysfunctional family attempting to work through their differences in front of millions of spectators. Not only does it lack morals and values, but it also sheds light on how superficial some celebrities can be. The show is clearly meant for exploitation. I don’t see what one can gain from watching this form of debauchery. There is zero take-home content, and it often repeats its theme of unruly behavior.

            More and more, these types of shows are coming out of the wood works, because of it popularity. The television networks are fully aware of the amount of viewers that tune in to watch reality TV, so they must feel the urge to produce more of them. Now when I’m flipping through channels, all I see are talk shows and, what I like to call, surreal TV. I feel the “reality” that is being televised is skewed and embellished. Which in turn, gives the viewer an abnormal perception on what is real.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying, “Don’t believe everything you see on TV.” Well, that is because not everything you see on TV is what it seems. The only alternative for a true source of reality is the news. If you’re looking for a big dose of realism, feel free to take a gander at what’s going on around your city. Other than that, everything else on TV has been Hollywood fabricated, and cannot be trusted as factual events. If I want to get a glimpse of reality TV, I’ll turn my channel to either Discovery or National Geographic. So for me, I always make a hard pass when it comes to watching un-reality TV. 

Change of Heart

           Working as a rental agent with my boss, Alex, wasn’t always fun and games. In fact, I used to despise this man. He’s a fast talking Guatemalan in his mid-thirties with a, “I’m never wrong,” attitude. Because of his broken English, it made understating him very difficult at times. This is where we butted heads. His relatively quick speech approach would often land him in trouble with customers, which led to me having to take the heat upon their return. It wasn’t until I moved to a different location that I realized, Alex wasn’t really all that bad.

             Bob, my new manager, was an easygoing Middle Eastern man. He would allow me to choose my breaks and their duration. For example, if I wanted to take a two-hour break, he didn’t have a problem with it. At first, the work place seemed stress-free, but my mood was soon to change. Since I didn’t have seniority here, I was forced to start at the bottom; consequently making less than my original wage.  Even though I only agreed to maintain the rental vehicles, he would sneak in managerial duties such as printing reports or opening and closing the store. He was trying to get me to do more work at a low wage, which infuriated me.

            Three months had gone by, and the paychecks were scraps compared to what I was making with Alex. Aside from pay, Bob decided to cut my hours, because business was slow. I was barely making enough to pay for my necessities. A financial strain was becoming more stressful than customer attacks used to be at Alex’s location. I started to reevaluate my decisions at this point.

            Come to think of it, Alex did a lot for me such as buy breakfast and lunch everyday, provided pay advances when I need it, and worked around my school schedule. We had a powwow and settled our differences. Alex no longer makes promises to customers that he can’t keep. Him and I are communicating more with final decision making, which leaves no room for misunderstanding. He still talks fast, but I no longer have to stress the return of an unsatisfied customer, and we get along much better as a result.