Mother Tongue

     This is a reference used by the author to signify the the origin of different dialects of English. The reference is also personal since her mother who is Chinese has an extremly hard time with the proper use of the English language. Often this was an origin of sham and embarassment for the author. Oftem she would have to translate and be a liaison between her mother and billing companies. The way that these dialects are seen are wrong and irrational. The "broken" speech of an individual does not dictate the intelligence. The understanding of a person can not be weighted by the communication skill.

     The author's mother had a high intellect and cast amount of intelligence, but could not translate English into a litteral translation from her Chinese thought process. The way that the Chinese language is navigated is very different from English. The way a language works developes the individual's thought process and the way that the person is accustomed to forming a sentence. This can lead to problems with litteral translations and lead to the individual sounding ignorant and uneducated. Often, this is the contrary to the situation, but the individual can not get away from the association due to lack of language skills.

      The author has taken great strides to bridge this gap and help people understand that the way that poeple are seen becuase of this stigmatism is wrong and stereotypical and they deserve as much if not more time and effort to bridge the communication gap. The author's mother had an especially defficult experience with a medical clinic that lost some of her CT results. This was important to her to have the answer because she had personal losses from brain tumors in her life. The clinic did not treat her respectfully and seemed to take advantage of the communication barrier to ignore her protests. The author cleared the matter up for her mother and had admistrative actions taken for her that would have been taken for any other patient that had proper communication skills.

     This situation is sad, and as a health care provider the essay brought a new outlook to the care of non-english speaking patients. It has opened my eyes to some stereo-typical thinking of my own and prompted me to use the interpretation phone line more often.

The Lottery and The Storm

     In "The Lottery" a raffle is held every year and the winner is stoned to death. I hadno idea what would happen until the end. I just new that it was going to be bad. It was very surprising they stoned one of their own to death and then went to eat dinner shortly there after. "The Storm" had it's own list of betrayels. In "The Storm" Calixta give in to lust and has an affair with an ex-suitor. Both stories were stories of deep rooted hurt. In both stories the accosters were people that they new and trusted. No one would expect their own child to participate in stoning them to death. No one expects for their spouse to cheat on them either. Both tragedies were deeply hurtful on a personal level and both tragedies have trusted family members that are personally involve as a source of pain.
     There are several differences in the stories. "The Lottery" is a physical attack that the victim's own family actively participated in her cause of death. There are arguments during the story about the validity of the lottery and the desire to stop it. The action that leads to the victims death is a planned event that is basedon chance. Everyone there new that someone was going to be killed and they new that they were going to be the killers if ther were not the one drawn to be killed. In "The Storm" the alduter's husband has no idea that she cheated on him and more than likley never will. The affair was not planned. The affair happened during a chance encounter at the woman's house under circumstances that will most likley never happen again. In "The Lottery" the participants know that it will happen again and that they may be the next to be stoned to death just because they got unlucky.
     These two stories describe some very basic things in human nature. We at some point or another give into desires that hurt the people around us. These stories reflect political and personal struggles of the their times. They show that people will make choices despite negative consequences and that we have a tendency to lean our choices toward our own personal survival.

Beauty: Fact or Perception

     Everyone at one time or another worries about how other people view them. Alice Walker the author of "Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self" did that to the extent that she couldn't funcion for a lon time. An older brother had shot her in the eye with a "BB" gun. It left a horrible visible scar that repulsed her. She went from good grades in school to struggling to stay afloat. At one time she adored the public eye and wanted nothing more than to be in it. Up until the acident she craves attention and adoration.
     After the accident she began to shut herself off. She had trouble making friends, eye contact, and felt that the people around her viewed her as a monster because of the scar that was left on her eye. She even felt that the scar hindered her relationship with her father. Instead of realizing that she was pushing him away, she blamed herself for being ugly. Alice Walker felt like her father didn't love her as much because she wasn't as pretty.
     After years of dealing with internal ridicule the scar was surgically removed. Alice Walker went on to do bettter in school, open up to people, and eventually married and had a child. Women have a way of redefining themselves after the birth of a child and Alice Walker was no exception. When her daughter was old enough to talk, she reached up and touched her mother's face and asked about the world in her eye.
     These actions were symbolic on many levels. A daughter does see the world in her mother's eyes, and Alice's daughter took some of her mother's pain away. After the acceptance of her own child, Alice was more at ease with her eye and let some of her angst about the way that other's viewed it go.

Torch it baby!

     I know that slash and burn farming is an issue the we in Lawrence county deal with every season. Poeple get sick from all the ash and soot that float around in the air, and I have even kept my kids out of open air sporting events to prevent illness. I hear protest all the time about the mass burning of fields, which is the majority of the outer Walnut Ridge and Hoxie area. This is the area in which I live.
     My husband and other people with disease that inhibit oxygen uptake smuffer every year with the agonizing air. The air is so polluted at some points that soot falls out of the sky like volcanic ash and the clouds darken. I don't like, kids have a hard time breathing, and I hate watching my family struggle. I understand that it is cheaper, but it is also irresponsible.
     There are numerous buildings that have been caused damage that the owner has had to absorb. I bet you didn't know that the farmer that set blaze to the feild next to the house that caught fire is legally absolved from liability of damage. No  notice is given prior to burning, so the owner that is out of town during these occurences has no idea to call a neighbor to check in his property. I am certainly against the burning of the fields as a prepatory method for the next planting seasonl
     I don't want to cut into profits,and I don't look at gas margins and crop selling prices to keep up with a farmer's out of pocket cost. I do however see the irresponsible actions that cause my family and the members of others pain. I think that if farmers cut out burning in lieu of manual clearing that the environment would be better off. We would cut down on carbon emissions marginally and I wouldn't have to watch my husband suffer through asthma. It would also cut down on the worry of property damage.
    I have been one of those people outside with a water hose fighting of a small wild fire to protect property. To me it is just rediculous using these outdated methods. I hope that someday a good compromise can be had and burning can be retired. Until then the farmers will torch everything and I will stop up on asthma meds.

Hot Tamales: Latin Flair and Real Latinos

Respond to “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria”

This response should be 2-3 paragraphs long. The points below should be covered in the context of the blog.

· What is Cofer’s purpose?

· Who is her audience?

· What are three key methods Cofer uses to reach her purpose?

· What is your personal response to this work?

         The author of “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria”, has brought to light several concerns of Latina women to a caucasion working audience. She addresses such issues as why Latina women dress the way that they do, and the stereotype that surrounds them. Demonstrativly using, writing, performance, and herself as public example; Cofer poors out emotions in her writings and the way that she addresses the people around her.

         She charges herself with her heritage,and resents the way that people view her for it. She states that Latino women are boxed in and stereotyped according to their limited knowledge of the English language and no trained working skills. Then later in the essay she points out that "feminine Hispanic scholars" are lead to believe that the way Latina women are portrayed prevent them from getting jobs, promotions, and advancements in general. 

         She severes her documented evidence with her own statement about Latina women. If the fact is that they are not proficient in the local language, not educated, and know the social standards set in the society, and knowingly ignore them claiming heritage, then what outcome for their women can their be.

          Don't misunderstand my statement. I am just pointing out the "facts" as the essay puts them. I also believe that you should acknowledge and follow social customs of the area that you are in. If the rest of the world veiws an overly tight skirt, provacative make-up, and a sultry walk as a come on, then may be you should re-evaluate your dress and the way you walk. Again don't get me wrong. I love to show a little cleave and strut my "stuff". I just don't do it at work or church.

          Every social situation has some type of outline of conformity that is set. If you knowingly defy these forms of etiquette, then you knowingly put yourself in situations that you could have avoided. I agree with the writer that the way Latina women are seen isn't a fair assessment of who they are as a people. I feel that alot of the essay is not just about Latina women, but women in general.

          Lots of women of different cultures face the very same problems that Latina's face everyday. It coincides with the same issues that plague the other cultures. Low literacy, poor language, lack of education, poverty, and inability to provide oneself the basic needs in life. I myself grew up poor to two alcoholic parents in a country neighborhood. This left me as the "nigger" in the community. Only in a white school if you are a "white nigger" I should point out from experience that the proper term is "wigger". A co-joining of the two words that followed me until college.

           While I sympathize and have experiences that involve the writer's plight, some circumstances are created. If I had not dressed like Madonna and Janet Jackson , I would have been just plain trailer trash and subject to alot less ridcule. I, like the writer, was not about to be held down by everyone else's general opinion of me. When it is all said and done, I did have to take the consequences n of my own actions.

           If she wants the view of Latina's changed, then she should go to what she feels is the root of the problem. Help her people get educated and become proficient in English. She shouldn't try to go to other countries to attempt to leave her heritage, she should go to other countries to show that ettiquitte can be followed and at the end of the day there is one great salsa waiting when you get home!

Obama Care

     Obama Care is a set of guidelines for healthcare reform. In these outlined guidelines President Barrack Obama is trying to do several things. He wants to cap off healthcare premiums so that they can be affordable. He intends to deny insurance companies the right to refuse to pay for services due to pre-esxisting conditions, cap off total lifetime benefits, dropp coverage, or restrict benefits. He has covered several points of issue in his guidelines. The president wants to make preventitve care free, moniter how much of the premium money can be used for advertising, profit and salaries. President Obama also has incorporated hardship waivers, tax credits for small buisnesses, lowering the cost of healthcare for seniors, subsideis for working families, improving and extending the quality of Medicare, and a health exchange to increase choice and guarantee coverage. More importantly President Obama clains that this will reduce national deficit and that the money is already there to make this happen.
     I am against this healthcare reform. I do want to be able to choose my provider. I am a nurse and very selective about the care of myself and family. We all use different providers suited to each of us, not just one family doctor.  I would love to see insuarance companies shaking in their provebial boots, and pay out on everything for everyone. As a wife, mother, and chronic care patient, I love the concept.
     The reality of it is that this will bankrupt insurance companies. No advertisement means no consumers. The big names will float and the little names will drown. Insurance companies will be forced to work as non-profit companies, but no sanctions will be provided to stay afloat. Making preventitve care free would reduce physiscian pay significantly. Who wants to be a doctor if you aren't getting paid? Money does motivate people to go to medical school, as well as offsetting the cost of the four year education and four year  internship. I make higher hourly wages as a nurse than an intern makes as a "baby doctor".
      The attempt to cap off lifetime benefits will result in liberal use of hospitals and medical staff. The weight of this alone will bankrupt many companies. My lifetime limit is $2,000,000. I hop that I never even get close to that limit. My husband has diabetes, severe asthma, and sleep apnea. The clause that refuses the companies the ability to refuse to pay for his care is music to my ears. I would never have to worry about insulin, breathing teatments, and help with payment of equipment for him.
     There are some positives to Obama Care. The reduction of costs for seniors and extending Medicare. I think we need this. Our elders are left behind because we don't accept their decline, and there income becomes limited with physical capapbility. The reform should include new guidelines about family responsibilty to the patient, and family should prove every avenue was taken to reduce expenditure to care for the familly member. We as a society should help those as individuals understand this.
     The subsities for care that would pay out the individual are a good idea. This would put more money in the pockets of patients, but where would that money really go? The tax credits are a good idea. You have to provide proof of expenditure and payment of services for tax credits. That means that the money went to where it was meant to go in the first place.
      I could go on all day about this topic. The point is that this type of healthcare reform will stop competitve pricing, insurance company options, and overall patient choice. It will also result in another lapse of patient responsibility. Why should we as patients worry about how we take care of ourselves if we don't have to worry about whether or not the coverage will be ther. I think some points to Obama Care are valid, but I believe our new reform needs reform.
    
Sources:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100321224851AAJ59Og

The All American Girl who Forgot to be Chinese

          Elizabeth Wong wrote an essay that was published in the New York Times that gave a description of her struggle to resist her Chinese heritage. Targeting New York Times readers Wong uses sight, smell, and sounds to describe her experiences as an adolescent child.
           I think Wong's openess about her family and her description of the prinicpal impress me the most. I can almost sse and hear a slight chinese woman forcably toting a resistant child down the street while shouting out above all the commotion to get the best cut of meat or best bargain. Wisking herself stoicly into the crowd, commanding a sea of people to the side with her voice cutting to the nearest deal with a steel resolve.
           I can envision the the creepty principal spinning around  on his heels, or standing tight lipped with his hands grasped firmly behind his back. In my mind I seen an unattractive face, with half balding hair, and a thin stern stature. I wonder if the rest of the teachers started their day off with such obvious disapprovel. How did her parents think that they would flourish under such staunch influences.
           The last sentence,"At last I was one of you; not one of them. Sadly I still am."(The Struggle to Be An All American Girl, Elizabeth Wong) holds meaning for anyone who disconnects themselves from their family and then wished they hadn't. When Wong won the battle over the Chinese School and no longer had to go, she felt liberated. Maybe she finally felt that she was being given a lease to be who she wanted to be and not boxed in by her heritage.
           When this happened she didn't realize that to seperate herself from her heritage also seperated her from her family and the things that she would look back at as an adult that held an emotional signifigance. She, as a child, probably never thought she would long to be able to speak the words of her grandmother, or understand the little chinese slip ups that her mother made.
           Without knowing it, she gave away words that carried cultural signifigance and honor. Her parents can't use the words their parents used with them to show love and approval of an accomplishment or action. I am sure she had no idea that she would long to tell her father that she loved him in a way that he was taught was acceptable. She recongnized that she herself drove a wedge between her and her family, not just her heritage, that couldn't be pried out when she "culturally divorced" herself as she put it in her essay.

Patient Behavior

     Don't get me wrong. I love to be a nurse and I love to take care of people. I do approve of stricter guidlines to for nursing behavior. Nursing shortage and burnout can wear us to the bone. I teach, fetch, talk, encourage, and really care for people.
      With that all being said and avoiding the gross things that I do, I feel I have an oppertunity to get something off my chest. I will give you something that is not a secret that the healthcare industry rally doesn't want attention brought to. Surveys. That's right surveys. How does all this fit together?
       An insurance company pays for medical care on a pro-rated basis now. The happier the patient, the more money they give us. The insurance companies use you customer surveys, average a score, and post them to a website. The hospital is given a score, the score that is alloted  determines the percentage total that the insurance company pays. While I beleive something needs to be sone to ensure good patient care and education I am not so sure this is it.
      I have in the past year noticed ruder and more demanding patients. I understand that comfort is an issue, but I am hard pressed when someone chases me down the hall when I am trying to keep a different patient from declining to curse me (yes full out cursing that would make a sailor blush) because I can't readily take them a cup of coffee.
     I also have great unease at the fact that I am continuously treated like a servant because someone feels they are "paying enough money to get waited on hand and foot". I do go above and beyond, I make lists and rund myself ragged for pillows, ice, and snacks. In no way am I above this. I would just like to point out that when you stay in the hospial with your family, it is for you to give them general care. Give them a drink of water, run the kitchen and get them a snack,, and by all means make sure they get their medicine and ask me thousands of questions. Just don't be mean to me or split my hairs because you didn't het a cup of coffee when I am in an emergency.
      I can't make anyone happy all of the time and nursing is worse. I have to make you cough, deep breath, and roll over every couple of hours. I have to give you the shots in the belly theprevent blood clots, and yes I will get you a cup of coffee. A little patience is an order. Please understand that when I spend 30 minutes in your room answering questions, I spent 30 minutes in another room answering theirs as well. Nurses make rounds every other hour. When we ask if you need anyting, now is the time for a pain pill or that cup of coffee. Don't sit around wondering if you are getting better, ask about your lab results and grill you doctor with five thousand questions. Make a list and let them have it. They get paid big money to answer you when I can't.
      All I am asking is for some courtesy. I know people get angry and feel lonley, tell us. Yelling runs us off. We are not super human (although I think it is a requisite), and we love to care for people. Just understand that in time we will pamper you and that sometimes we ask alot of you to better your outcome, aggresion and curse words get you nowhere.