Blogs For You To Look At

Dear Mr. Kramer,


I would like you to look at Blog # 1 and my Blog # 9. I think that with both of these I master what my first thoughts on the story were and important details in the story. I also used key text evidance to support what I was talking about. I also made some connections to what I learned in class and key ideas came out in my blogs. These ones were my best I think.

Blog #9 Diane Romano / Larry Heineman

            For my last blog I decided to go with Diane Romano’s story from the Studs Terkel Book. I chose this as my first story that I read because as I was looking at the different stories I could read I saw that under race there was a story called a white mother of six children. I thought that it was strange because when I thought of race, I thought of blacks and their stories and how race affected their lives. I had to read the story, and after reading the story, the whole idea of having sympathy for the blacks, but then working in a place where it makes it so much more difficult to not judge another color to me seemed so complex and Diane seemed to be lost and didn’t know what to do. In the story Diane talked about how she had sympathy for the blacks. She’ll, “…go march with them if it’s something big. [She doesn’t] use the term “nigger” in the house, and [she] never allow[ed] it” (Terkel 459). That just seemed so big of her because most white people at the time were so against the blacks and disrespected them. However, Diane did start working to find crooks and criminals. It made it difficult to keep her beliefs of blacks being treated equally and them not being any different, difficult. Diane stated, “It’s a shame to say it, but quite a few of these are black people. They seem like they’re all involved with the negative part of living: cheating, lying, stealing, dope, that type of thing” (Terkel 461). That contradicts what she was saying at the very beginning when she said that she would support them. Diane is being influenced by the work that is being done around her. What she fails to realize is that, those crooks and criminals are just a small fraction of the entire African-American race and she is letting it get to her head. Her job must be extremely stressful and take a toll on her morals and her beliefs as she works. When Diane said, “I think it’s going to take another hundred years, maybe two hundred, before the feeling of white superiority goes-this feeling against blacks, against Mexicans, against Orientals. Because they’re different than us” (Terkel 466). I think that she is on to something. Whites have it in their mind set that they are superior and better than everyone else around them. Even in today’s society the whites are wanting to be superior and there are stereotypes of Mexicans and people of different races other than whites. I don’t think this idea of being on top of everyone else is ever going to go away, but I think that it won’t be as big as time goes on. Back when we were learning about Black History we saw that the Whites wanted to have the upper hand and that they felt what ever they did they could.  People are afraid of change, and they are afraid of those who might come out on top of them, so they do what ever they can to make them fall to the ground. It’s natural instinct. That feeling is never going to go away because we’re all humans. How people respond to other peoples actions though are going to be different.

            The second story that I chose was Larry Heinemann’s. I chose this story because as I was looking at the list again I thought that I should read a story about Vietnam War Veteran. I would get to hear about his War stories and what it was like for him to fight in Vietnam. I was not exactly told war stories, but more I was told how the war affected him at home after. In the summer of 1968 Larry got a job as a CTA bus driver. He had returned from Vietnam and he thought that it was the worst decision he had ever made because he was so used to driving around with a .45 and a shot gun. The roads were to themselves. Now, as a bus driver he would have to interact with different people, people who irritate him, and other people on the street. “The only thing they teach about bus driving is that you’re a public servant, okay? Any asshole with a fare can give you shit and you have to sit there and take it” (Terkel 417-18). That was not how Larry was used to doing things. If anyone gave him a hard time he would throw them off the bus. The affects of war and what they do to a person. I think that Larry’s perspective of the real world and how people act are being affected by his memories that happened at Vietnam and what is happening as he is a bus driver is he is putting his guard up, because that’s what he had to do when he was in Vietnam. Like when he was near Lincoln park there were cop cars and kids and he stopped the bus until the smell of carbon died down and the passengers were hollering at him to go on, but he kept saying no “You don’t want to get a snort of that tear gas, it’ll make you sick…I fully expected people were gonna get killed” (Terkel 418). That kind of fear in the world shows how going to war has a toll on people when they return. Those passengers did not even think twice before asking Larry to go back driving. But Larry was hesitant. When Larry talks about the Vietnam Veterans’ Parade and how it is supposed to be remembered as a positive experience he said, “They wanted so hard for it to be all right. It’s not. It’s going to be an evil thing in our lives and nothing’s gonna change it” (Terkel 420). That is something I did not expect him to say. When we were taught about Vietnam and about the memorial that was set up for them, it is supposed to be a good thing, and something to honor the soldiers, but in Larry’s mind it’s not. That just surprised me because I was thinking that he would be grateful for it. If you are in the war though, I think there is a different point of view on weather or not what the government and people do to show respect towards a war is sufficient enough or not though, and in Larry’s mind, it wasn’t.

Blog #8 Dolores Dante / Phil Stallings

Dolores Dante-

           Dolores Dante worked as a waitress as a way to get “fast cash.” Her husband left her with lots of debts and three children. Dolores loved her job still and was never feeling shame towards it. In-fact, this job helped her pay off the debts and make it alright at home. However, she could not stray from the fact that, “everyone says all waitresses have broken homes” (Terkel 329). Dolores makes the point though that people have broken homes because they need to make money quickly to do work, not the other way around. Dolores said, “I have to be a waitress. How else can I learn about people? How else does the world come to me? I can’t go to everyone. So they have to come to me” (Terkel 330). It is almost as if Dolores has doubts when she says this. She says that she is proud to be a waitress, yet here it seems as if she almost wishes she wasn’t a waitress and doesn’t like the idea of it; like she has lost all other hope and dreams of getting money to support her family that she would resort to doing waitressing. Dolores made sure that she pleased everyone by giving them compliments, and she rearranged food in specific ways to help with its appeal, she wanted to make a good impression on people. Dolores talked about how people say that there is no good work done anymore and she said that she didn’t believe it. I strongly agree with her statement. She states, “The man at the top, who says the people beneath him are not doing a good job. He’s the one who always said, “you’re nothing.’…if it weren’t so demeaning, why didn’t she do it?” (Terkel 334). She worked her self so hard to get people to respect her, and people started to get jealous of her. Because of her jealousy, thoughts of guilt started to creep on her, but she still kept going. She served her neighborhood well, and herself with pride and dignity. That’s what hard work is all about.

            In the story of Phil Stallings I got a different kind of feeling from this story than the last one that I read. This one, Phil did not seem to care much about his job, and really disliked it. Phil said, “I stand in one spot, about two- or three feet area, all night. The only time a person stops is when the line stops. We do about thirty two jobs per car, per unity….”(Terkel 354-55). This kind of job does not seem to be communicative like Dolores is and Phil does not get to express his feelings about how he feels about certain situations because of the working conditions he is working in. Phil did not like the intimidation or the pressure that came with his job; he especially did not like having to have to go up to someone of greater power to ask to do something because he was petrified that they would ignore him or make him hold it. The working environment is much different from Dolores in the since that she got to interact with her community and get to know people why Phil never got that chance because he was to scared to do it. When Phil talks about the foremen, I start to feel sorry for him and what he had to deal with. “When a man becomes a foreman, he has to forget about even being human, as far as feelings are concerned. You see a guy there bleeding to death. So what, buddy? That lines gotta keep goin’’” (Terkel 357). This kind of treatment is not right, and it made me think back to a video we watched in class when a group of women working inside a sweat shop got locked in when a fire started and they jumped out of the window and died. That kind of working conditions and how bad they are and how the bad working conditions have such a negative effect on your morale and outcome of life.

            From these two posts it made me think a lot about the working life and the kind of environment that I want my life to be in. I want to be an English teacher, and I want the kids the be in a safe and fun learning environment. I don’t want them to feel like Phil, where they are restricted and feel like they can’t express themselves. I want to be proud of my job just like Dolores was, even if other people think I'm crazy for wanting to teach english.

Blog # 7 Florence Scala / Tom Kearney

 In the story of Florence Scala she grew up around Hull House. Florence talks about how she loved the excitement of the city but that she also felt a detachment to the city as well. She grew up poor and talked about how, "you cannot have the nice rich people on top passing on a program for the poor, because they simply don't understand, they can't understand" (Terkel 230) this is something that I think has been a problem for a very long time- the rich having more power over the poor. That has a direct correlation to today's society when people think that they are more worthy than others. When people are rich they tend to make people feel in-superior and that is the feeling that I got from Florence when reading this. One line that sticks out to menus when Florence says, "I don't believe so much anymore. I don't believe so much in people as I used to. I believe in some people but not in all people anymore...I have to be careful about this business of believing in all people"(Terkel 234) when a person grows up poor it makes them think about who they can trust and when things : such as when the Board of Trustee's decided to take more land- like that happen, it does cause a person to become more aware of their surroundings. I think that has to do with real life too. You cannot go around trusting everyone because then some people are going to take you for granted and that's not fair to yourself.

In the story of of Tom Kearney I really liked the lay of this story. It was different from the other ones we've read so far in the sense that it was a question and answer type story. Tom was a police man and i thought that it was really neat to see a perspective from him and what he thought about race and what he thought about change. Those were the two things that I pulled out of this story. Was that the times are changing from when he was a child. "it's changing rapidly. Look at the city. Of course everyone resists change good or bad" (Terkel 266). My question for you guys is do you think that change is a bad thing? In the sense of society and technology. That is something that is always changing and affecting people and the way that they act. When Tom talks about change he talks about he has colored friends but that he doesn't know what they think of him. That is something that I've never thought of. What the other side of the view is on this situation. When Tom was at a party he was talking with a black women and she told him, "you're my Caucasian enemy" (Terkel 268). That surprised me because I would never think that a black would say that. I don't know why I think that, maybe it's because when learning about the way whites treated the blacks and how innocent the blacks were it just seems weird to me that they would say something like that. What was your reaction when reading that part of the story? Did you have a different reaction?

Blog # 6 Peter Ota / Betty Basye Hutchinson

In the story of Peter Ota it talks about the Japanese concentration camps and what it was like for him. He talks about how his father was at a wedding and the FBI agents rounded up people and took them to the county jail. Peter's father was a very outgoing person and had worked so hard to get the life that he did and how in the blink of an eye it just went away. Peter remembers thinking, "at the time we [his sister and him] didn't know were we were going, how long we'd be gone. We didn't know what to take. A toothbrush, toilet supplies, some clothes. Only what you could carry. We left with a caravan" (Terkel 206). This shows how sudden it was when during WWII the American Japanese citizens were being treated. It disgusts me to even think that we would do something like that to our own people. We were fighting against the Japanese, and people feared that maybe the American-Japanese citizens were giving away information, but even if that were true, the entire American Japanese citizens did not have to suffer. I remember watching a video clip in class of the Japanese citizens lining up at the railroads to go to the camps that they were assigned. How cruel. They were treated with no respect and they were so innocent and were not doing anything wrong. It was the way everyone else in the world viewed them The Japanese people would get looks and people saying things to them like "dirty jap's". It would be very hurtful. It makes me feel ashamed of America that we did this to them.

In the story of Betty Basye Hutchinson she became a nurse after she realized what had happened at Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is when America got involved with WWII because they were attacked. American citizens started to sign up for war and do things to help with the war. Betty became a nurse and helped in that way. Betty, "wanted to really have something to do with the war" (Terkel 212). Her dedication and how she is being tested. One thing that I never really thought about was how the men reacted when they saw the women. Betty said that it was important to the men to have young nurses around them. I feel like that is because they are off fighting in the war and they are away from their home and their everyday life. Betty had a really busy life and, "you could never get the father of [her] four children to talk about the war. it was like [they] had put blinders on the past" (Terkel 217). Sometimes it is difficult to pick up the pieces from where you left off and certain topics are just left unsaid. War was difficult to talk about because so much emotion and memory go along with it and people have a hard time coming to terms with their own feelings alot of the time.

Blog # 5 Peggy Terry / E.B (Sledgehammer) Sledge

In the story of Peggy Terry she worked at a shell-loading plant in Viola, Kentucky. This was during WWII which meant that women had started to take charge in the work force and do more at the home front. In class we watching video's about how women were still not getting the proper respect in the work force, or as much money, but they were working. Peggy, her mother and sister had to take turns working because they had children at home that needed to be watched. This just shows how strong and how much stress was put upon women at this time. The men were off fighting in the war, and then here the women are trying to balance work, family and trying to make sure there is enough food on the table. Peggy, "think[s] of how little [she] knew of human rights, union rights" (Terkel 191). The working conditions that she worked in were not the best and must of been difficult. This was a time that was changing for women and it was a time when many people were frightened because of the war that was going on. The women, like Peggy did in her story helped the men build bombs for the men off at war. Without these women off working, there would be no help for the soldiers off at war. One part of the story that shocked me, or that I never really thought about and that we never really talked about in class, was how soldiers acted when they returned home after the war. Peggy recalls, "When he came back he was an absolute drunkard. And he used to have the most awful nightmares....I'd just sit for hours and hold him while he just shook....He started slapping me around and slapped the kids around. He became a brute" (Terkel 194). The caution that these men that were off fighting now have, and their whole culture shock change is so different now. It has got to be so difficult. I feel so bad for them.

I really enjoyed reading the story of E.B (Sledgehammer) Sledge because you really got a sense of what it felt like to be off at war and the emotions behind it. You could feel how at the battlefront the soldiers were being tested during this war. E.B. at the beginning of his story talked about how there is nothing “macho” about war at all. People have these perceptions about if you go off to war that you are going to become a man and that it is not that bad. But that is clearly not the reality of it until you are in the midst of it. E.B said, “We were in it to get it over with, so we could go back home and do what we wanted to do with out lives” (Terkel 197). E.B did not find anything glamorous or macho about it and just was doing what he was told to do to get it over with. E.B got to encounter the Japanese and the war he was in was a total savage. His drill instructor at boot camp would tell him, “You’re not going to Europe; you’re going to the Pacific. Don’t hesitate to fight the Japs dirty…It’s not sportsmanlike. Well, nobody has taught the Japs that, and war ain’t sport. Kick him in the balls before he kicks you in yours” (Terkel 199-200). This shows the struggle and the hatred that people had towards the Japanese and yet they did not even know them. It was a war and the Americans were just told to fight against them and so they did. A lot of men did not know what they were fighting for when they were off at war, and this just shows how the men were being tested at the battlefront.