Thursday, September 19, 2013

A & P

The first thing I would examine as a feminist criticism of “A & P” is the incredibly small amount of words that the females actually say. The entire story is basically one male’s thoughts about the situation (which mainly consists of ogling, but I’ll cover that more later). Even when the time comes for the girls to speak up they talk very little compared to the other males who speak. The conversation is basically a one-sided argument with the male character asserting himself in a way that gives little leeway to the females’ argument.
The second thing is the Sammy’s thinking on the situation. Basically the only thing he does is judge how they look and stare at them the whole time. He does offer some compliments on Queene’s body, but even then the attitude is still a disdainful one in that it demeans the worth of women to nothing more than how they look.
The statement that really irked me the most was what he said about “women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs.” This is basically Sammy saying that it is ok for young, pretty girls to walk around in clothes that cover nothing but their privates but other women should have to put on clothes because we don’t want to see that. If I had to pick out the most belittling comment in the whole entire story this would be it hands-down.

Sammy’s attitude is clearly one that says women are worth nothing except their bodies. He never, at any point, regards the female mind as part of a woman’s worth other than when he says, “Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldn’t help it.” This is Sammy inferring that the girls can’t even understand why everybody is reacting. He doesn’t see that maybe the girls realize the situation they’re in but have certain circumstances that made them have to walk into the store in their bikinis.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Mrs. Mallard Closed Her Account

Mrs. Mallard
Brently just left for his business trip! Time to get wild.
10:00am Sept. 16
     2 people like this
Comments:
10:05am Josephine- heyyyyyyy girl! finna be a great night!!!

Mrs. Mallard
Miss you Brent Boy... It's been great having a bit of free time but please come home soon.
3:47am Sept. 17

Mrs. Mallard
 my head...
11:56am Sept. 17
Comments:
12:10pm Josephine- ditto

Brently Mallard closed his account

Mrs. Mallard
Never could have imagined that this would happen. Sometimes life sucker punches you out of nowhere but this is over the top.
3:22pm Sept. 17
Comments:
3:23pm Sept. 17 Laurie- We love you honey! Keep your head up. Words can't describe how much my heart aches for you right now.
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Mrs. Mallard
3:30pm Sept. 17
     24 people like this

Mrs. Mallard
The accident that took my hubby.
3:33 Sept. 17
Comments:
4:15pm Richard- O.o

Mrs. Mallard
Don't talk to me right now
3:35pm Sept. 17

Mrs. Mallard
Seriously, I just want to be left alone!!!!
3:36pm Sept. 17
Comments:
3:36pm Sept. 17 Josephine- your gonna make yourself sick!!!!!
3:67pm Sept. 17 Troll- *you're
     10 people like this comment

Mrs. Mallard
"Free! Body and soul free!"
3:45pm Sept. 17
     4 people like this

Brently Mallard reopened his account

Brently Mallard----->Mrs. Mallard
wut?
3:56pm Sept. 17

Mrs. Mallard closed her account



Thursday, September 12, 2013

Orientation

So this is where you'll park your car when you show up. Make sure you park in this section- otherwise the Ballard Insurance people will throw a major fit and complain to me that you're taking customer parking spaces. ...as if they even have any customers. I don't care for those guys much, so please don't give me a reason to have to deal with them.

Once you get here, this is the break room. These lockers are for you guys to use so pick one and put your stuff in it or put your stuff on the table. In here we've got a microwave for you to use for your lunch and there's paper plates and some plastic forks and knives in that top locker up there. Right over here we've got the time off slips. If you ever need to request time off I'll need you to fill this sheet out and bring it to me yourself. Make sure you give it to me, because there's a very good chance it will get lost on my desk or disappear if you give it to one of the other managers.

I'm not sure if you're a smoker or not, but if you do like to smoke be sure to go over to the parking lot. The owners used to let people smoke out behind the dumpster back there but for some reason they don't like that anymore. Don't ask me why. Ugh. And definitely don't be smoking in the bathrooms or in the break room. That's a sure way to get written up.

As far as what to wear, here's your uniform. We usually make people tuck in their shirts, but keep this on the down-low: I really don't care either way. I think it's pretty goofy personally. Be sure to wear closed-toed shoes, and always wear jeans or cargo shorts. They're great for working. I prefer darker colors myself because stains don't show up so easily.

Really, really watch what you say and who you say it around. You'll figure out pretty quickly who you can joke with. Not trying to be offensive or anything, but the girls are the ones you've gotta watch out for. Rumors spread like wildfire here and it can get out of hand very quickly. If you want my advice, I'd say that the best way to stay out of trouble is to not associate yourself with it. That's how I do it.

Over here is where you'll be washing cars. Vacuuming them, to be more specific. I'll show you how to do it in a minute. That girl there is our greeter. She's the one who meets the cars as they pull in and sells the car washes. You'll check out what she writes on the ticket that will be on the dashboard to see what service we'll be doing for the wash. And I seriously suggest that you pay attention to what Chelsea says. She's been here seven years and can be a bit snappy at times, but I promise she knows what she's talking about. Don't take it too personally if she gets angry- just take her advice.

Start off by scrubbing the bugs off of the grill and the windshield. There's sponges in those two buckets there and brushes to use if there aren't that many bugs. After you've done that, scrub the rims with the brushes in these smaller buckets here. That'll be all for you on the outside of the car for now. Grab the vacuum and start with the floor mats. Once you've vacuumed them, put them on the seat and vacuum the floor. Be sure to get the seat after the floor as well. After that, move the seat forward and do the back seat. Stuff to remember: be sure to empty trash bags, vacuum out the cupholders and door pockets, and don't forget the trunk. After you've finished that, push the side mirrors in. Be aware of whether they're manual or if there's a button on the inside to fold them in. On a side note, don't vacuum up change or receipts. That's a surefire way to get us yelled at by a customer. The last thing on the checklist is to make sure the windows are up. Not many things get under the customers' skin than their car coming out sopping wet on the inside because of a window down when it went through the wash.

Don't worry about driving the cars up to the tunnel for a few days. We'll have the more experienced guys do that until you're ready.

Last thing, just hang tight until we give you a lunch. There's no set time every day so you'll just get it whenever we get a chance. Also, if it's a slow day we might ask if anybody feels like going home and if you feel like it you're more than welcome to take off. If you want there's also the option to take a second lunch.

That's about all I've got for you. If you need me I'll most likely be up front drying off cars or in the office where I got your uniform. Nice meeting you bud- good luck today.

Peace.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Southern Grotesque

I think that one of the biggest directions literature can go to be grotesque is to show a hint of hope, whether small or large, and then crush it. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" doesn't start out the way you would expect something labeled grotesque to start. It seems like a semi-happy situation. The family is going on a trip and is having minor quarrels over where to go, as any regular family does. The first time somebody reads the story they are most likely unaware of the amount of foreshadowing going on (e.g. all of the mentions of The Misfit and them ending up dead, etc.). Unlike most short stories, this one fails to make clear what the real conflict is supposed to be, leaving the reader to question what the point is. This creates tension, making the reader edgy and wondering what direction the story is going to go. Are they going to have a good trip? Are they going to find the "Good Man?" Is some sort of disaster going to happen? Most people, I assume, would hope for the first two and subconsciously ignore the possibility of the third question. More tension is created when they run into The Misfit, and more questions arise. Is he the good man? Is he going to help them? Is he completely crazy? Again, I think most people secretly hope for the first couple of options. The grotesqueness, I feel, is brought about when the ever-so-growing hope of the story ending in finding the good man is made evident to be lost when they are all shot to death.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Lottery

In Shirley Jackson's, "The Lottery," one theme is Man's ability (and need) to rationalise generally unacceptable actions. This sounds a little bit to me like a movie I saw recently. The movie was called "The Purge," which was about an era of future government where every crime, including murder, was made legal for a period of 12 hours. It supposedly was meant to keep crime rates down by allowing people to "purge" all their anger. I thought the movie was a messed up concept, and I don't think much more about this story either but I think it paints a small picture of each of our lives. Just like the movie, the people seem to view the one extremely messed up thing that they do every year to be a completely normal thing. It really makes me wonder how many horrible things we do on a daily basis that we just throw under the rug because it is "tradition" and it is rationalized to us.