Andrew Braaksma/ Appreciate What You Have-

Andrew Braaksma’s time working at the assembly line taught him some pretty important lessons. Braaksma was attending college and working at the same time which made him actually work harder. One of the most important lessons learned was to appreciate what you have, along with others like how easy it is to loose work once you have it. 

One day, my friend’s mom decided it would be a good idea for us to volunteer at a soup kitchen type of thing, it wasn’t exactly a soup kitchen for the homeless but for those who didn’t have as much money as the rest, though the homeless were more than welcome to attend. My friend, her sister and I all worked as waiter types to bring food and drinks to some of the tables. As I took a gander around the room, I saw how many people needed to come here to eat just because they didn’t have enough money on there own to buy there own food and feed there own families. Volunteering at this place wasn’t what changed my point of view, but what I saw around the room. I take to appreciate everything I own, the food I get to eat and the house I get to live in because I know that many of other people cant come close to afford the big and expensive things that others can.

Langston Hughes/ Giving In to Peer Pressure-

Langston Hughes writes about how he was pressured as a boy to believe in a religion he was not so sure about. I have given in to pier pressure but not exactly the names of religion. After the experience, I did not learn anything only because I already know wright from wrong, and I probably would have still done it if I could go back in time. One cold and gloomy night, probably considered morning since it was about 3am, my friends and I decided that it would be a good idea to walk to our local Safeway which so happens to be open 24/7. We did not have very much money, I recall not having any money at all actually. Circling the store for quite a bit we stopped by the sushi department. The people I was with wanted to take some, as I mentioned before, they did not have any money nor did they have thick clothes on-I was the only one that had a hoodie. They asked me to hide the sushi container under my clothes and just walk out. I just kept on replying with “why don't you do it?!” they again replied with them not having anything on to cover it. I finally gave in and hesitated as I lifted up my sweatshirt and stuck the container inside. After a few more minutes of roaming the store, we fled the scene. If I hadn't of stolen that sushi I probably would have felt kind of bad because my friend who wanted me to take it has stolen me hair spray once, or twice, maybe three times. I do know it's bad and that is why I choose not to steel anymore, no matter what anyone says.

Charles Fisher/ Cell Phone Usage-

Some people get really frustrated while others use cell phones in public. In “Cell Phones and Social Graces,” Charles Fisher talks about how he despises cell phones, and the ways other people tend to use them. He describes how disrespectful some people could get and how they may even take over some peoples lives. I personally never realized how somebody could hate cell phones so much. I some what agree with some of Fishers arguments such as when he talks about how people can not wait to use them. People talk on their phones while doing certain activities that they really could wait on, like while in church or on a carousel ride, as Fisher explains. Can they not wait two minutes at the most to return somebody's phone call? The situation gets worse, not only because they are being discourteous and answering a call at an inappropriate timing, but because of how they are handling the phone call. I do not think that a lot of people know the difference between their indoor and outdoor voices. I once was at a local Borders Book Store and some lady's phone happened to ring. She answered it and was talking into it as if she was in a crowd. I don't think she cared about what the people around her thought. Some people just don't get it.

Harold Krents/ Disabilities-

Harold’s purpose on writing Darkness at Noon was probably to tell that people with disabilities can work and do the same things that people without disabilities can. I mostly agree with his view point only because maybe some certain jobs would be harder to accomplish for people with certain disabilities.

Sometimes jobs would probably be harder to do if the person had certain disabilities, I would think that it would be harder if they were blind or deaf or something like that. But I guess who ever hired them, if they gave them a couple days or weeks to get used to everything they would probably do just as a good job or maybe even better than a person without disabilities. In the end, I guess it really doesn’t matter what kind of disabilities your have, it just depends on the person, their personality and how they would do things.