Everyone has an iPhone.
Or at least it seems that way.
When I was on the bus the other day, I was texting on my own iPhone and looked up briefly to check if it was close to my stop yet. I noticed just by shear happenstance that a lot of other passengers were also texting. At first, I kinda laughed, as if to say, "Oh god, we're all so absorbed in our technology that we're texting." But then I noticed that not only were 10 of the 15 people on the bus (including myself) texting, but literally every one of those 10 people (including myself) was using an iPhone.
What kind of insanity is this??
Now, in no way am I complaining. Seriously. I love my iPhone, it's the best thing ever. It's simultaneously the most useful and unnecessary device ever created. But I took a minute and thought about something. And it made me feel like an old person because it was a thought of technological astonishment:
How is it that we've come to a point in time where it is normal for people to have the world at the touch of a finger on a glass screen in the palm of their hand?
It's really crazy when you think about it. If you'd told people in the 1800's that there was going to be something called a cell phone which would allow you to contact other people who also owned a cell phone. Even if they lived on the other side of the world. And it would take seconds. Well, they probably would have thought you were a witch or something.
In the 1950's, someone probably would have told you to go write a science fiction novel. At that time, computers took up literally entire rooms and sometimes even buildings. Then when cell phones did become common, who would have thought (besides Steve Jobs) that you would be able to own something with a touch screen?
Who the fuck is smart enough to think of and then actually invent this shit?? It's incredible! Have you ever looked at a touch screen anything and just thought about how awesome it is? How much thought went into creating it? You have the information of the world in your hand and you can see it clearly, listen to music, check the weather, make notes for yourself, cycle through different and complex windows by dragging your finger across a piece of glass and it allows you to contact people world wide in a matter of seconds.
It's crazy how often people (myself included) take these pieces of technology for granted. I'm sure you've heard this before, or maybe you've even said it yourself.
"God, this message is taking so long to send."
or
"Dammit, I don't have any service here."
Let's take it back to when people had to write letters by hand with a quill and ink and send them by boat. The person to whom they were writing the letter might be freakin' dead when it finally gets to them after a month, maybe longer. And they have no way of knowing that the boat didn't sink or the courier didn't die before delivering the message. And if the person did get the letter and wrote and sent a response, it would be easily another month at least before the initiator of the correspondence would receive the response. At which time the initiator might also be dead, or not get the letter for whatever reason etc.
I guess what I'm trying to say here (and it might sound kinda preachy, but I'm gonna attempt to follow my own advice here as well), is that we should really try to appreciate all the things we have, I don't mean just the technology. Think about the stuff you have, the people you have, the things you're good at, the things you believe in, everything. I'm not saying you should be ridiculous about it, but taking a moment to think about how much all of those things mean to you and how important or amazing they are I think is a valuable thing. To be able to recognize what you have instead of dwelling on what you don't, cause I guarantee that there will always be someone who has less than you do.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Youth is FOR the young
Yesterday I was talking to an elderly man in line at CVS, when he turned to me and said:
"So what are ya up to this weekend, partyin'?"
At first I was a little taken aback because his question was so out of the blue. But then without very much thought I responded:
"Well maybe, I don't know. I'll probably study, I'm not sure what else yet."
To which the man scoffed and said:
"Sheesh, youth is wasted on the young." And he turned back forward in his spot in line. That was it. He ended the conversation. Now, it wasn't the first time I've heard that saying, in fact I've gotten a fair dosage of it in my life. Mostly from my high school choir teacher who's a Vietnam War Vet. But that's another blog post...
The point is, I'd never really considered it before, but this old guy really got in my head. It wasn't the words he used, it was the way he used them. He had such disdain for the fact that going out and partying was even the slightest possibility for my weekend plans.
I have to admit that my immediate thought was actually a little bit of shame because this old man was judging me. But then I realized that I do not even a little bit agree with the sentiment:
"Youth is wasted on the young."
Nope.
"Youth is for the young."
Youth is for screwing up and learning so that you can grow up to be old and wise. Young bodies are for playing sports and falling down. Running around for hours. Doing stupid stuff and being okay afterwards. Then when you're old, you know what's up because you've been around the block. You've gotten your fill of all the stupid stuff because you were young.
Maybe I'll feel differently when I'm old, but for now, I think I'll be at least a little reckless. I'm young. I can handle it.
"So what are ya up to this weekend, partyin'?"
At first I was a little taken aback because his question was so out of the blue. But then without very much thought I responded:
"Well maybe, I don't know. I'll probably study, I'm not sure what else yet."
To which the man scoffed and said:
"Sheesh, youth is wasted on the young." And he turned back forward in his spot in line. That was it. He ended the conversation. Now, it wasn't the first time I've heard that saying, in fact I've gotten a fair dosage of it in my life. Mostly from my high school choir teacher who's a Vietnam War Vet. But that's another blog post...
The point is, I'd never really considered it before, but this old guy really got in my head. It wasn't the words he used, it was the way he used them. He had such disdain for the fact that going out and partying was even the slightest possibility for my weekend plans.
I have to admit that my immediate thought was actually a little bit of shame because this old man was judging me. But then I realized that I do not even a little bit agree with the sentiment:
"Youth is wasted on the young."
Nope.
"Youth is for the young."
Youth is for screwing up and learning so that you can grow up to be old and wise. Young bodies are for playing sports and falling down. Running around for hours. Doing stupid stuff and being okay afterwards. Then when you're old, you know what's up because you've been around the block. You've gotten your fill of all the stupid stuff because you were young.
Maybe I'll feel differently when I'm old, but for now, I think I'll be at least a little reckless. I'm young. I can handle it.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
(A)musing...
As I was walking to class the other day, rockin' out to my jams blasting at full volume through my headphones, in a sudden moment of clarity, I realized that I probably looked like a total moron headbanging, air drumming and mouthing the lyrics to music that only I could hear.
Yes, I was actually doing that in public while walking to class. What can I say, it was a great song.
Anyway, I took my headphones out and looked around to see who had observed my ridiculous jamming. But in doing so, I noticed that almost everyone else who was walking next to me, behind me or around me was also wearing headphones. Now, I've definitely noticed that a lot of people wear headphones before, but that day I considered something.
What if every person in the world, whenever they listened to music through headphones, had a digital display of what they were listening to hovering above their heads?
For example, that day, at that time, the words above my head would have read:
"Ozzy Osbourne, Hellraiser, Diary of a Madman" (Artist, Song, Album).
So then, instead of actually listening to my music, I spent the rest of my walk to class finding people who were wearing headphones and trying to figure out what their displays would say. It wasn't until I decided that this was going to be my blog entry for the week that I realized that I was stereotyping people.
I was stereotyping people based on music. What kind of wacky craziness is that? But then when I thought about it, it actually made a lot of sense. Music is a highly influential factor in the lives of many people. So logic should progress such that if a certain style of music is heavily influential in ones' life, that they would (intentionally or not) begin to embody certain qualities of that music or the musicians who play it.
To use myself as an example, I didn't start wearing a bandanna until I started listening to heavier music (rock, metal, glam etc.). I thought, and still think, it looks awesome, and why do I think that? Because guys like Steven Tyler, Nikki Sixx and Keith Richards were rocking the bandanna look.
But even though it's feasible to think that you can judge the kind of music someone is listening to by the way they look, I decided it's best not to. For me, there are few truer sayings than, "You can't judge a book by its cover." Literally and figuratively, I thought I was going to hate the Lord of the Rings, but today I regard it as one of the best pieces of literature ever written. Similarly, how do I (or anyone else for that matter) know that the tiny little girl wearing a PINK jacket and Uggs isn't listening to some seriously heavy shit? And who's to say that the kid with the leather jacket, tattoos and piercings isn't listening to a Beethoven Sonata, or Taylor Swift for that matter?
What I'm getting at here, is that music is one of those awesome things that transcends everything. Race, gender, ethnicity, creed, religion and so on. It's crazy.
Who would've thought that everyone could be brought together by sounds?
I feel like that last sentence was super hippie... but still it's missing something. I'm gonna try again.
Who would've thought that everyone could be brought together by sounds... man
Yes, I was actually doing that in public while walking to class. What can I say, it was a great song.
Anyway, I took my headphones out and looked around to see who had observed my ridiculous jamming. But in doing so, I noticed that almost everyone else who was walking next to me, behind me or around me was also wearing headphones. Now, I've definitely noticed that a lot of people wear headphones before, but that day I considered something.
What if every person in the world, whenever they listened to music through headphones, had a digital display of what they were listening to hovering above their heads?
For example, that day, at that time, the words above my head would have read:
"Ozzy Osbourne, Hellraiser, Diary of a Madman" (Artist, Song, Album).
So then, instead of actually listening to my music, I spent the rest of my walk to class finding people who were wearing headphones and trying to figure out what their displays would say. It wasn't until I decided that this was going to be my blog entry for the week that I realized that I was stereotyping people.
I was stereotyping people based on music. What kind of wacky craziness is that? But then when I thought about it, it actually made a lot of sense. Music is a highly influential factor in the lives of many people. So logic should progress such that if a certain style of music is heavily influential in ones' life, that they would (intentionally or not) begin to embody certain qualities of that music or the musicians who play it.
To use myself as an example, I didn't start wearing a bandanna until I started listening to heavier music (rock, metal, glam etc.). I thought, and still think, it looks awesome, and why do I think that? Because guys like Steven Tyler, Nikki Sixx and Keith Richards were rocking the bandanna look.
But even though it's feasible to think that you can judge the kind of music someone is listening to by the way they look, I decided it's best not to. For me, there are few truer sayings than, "You can't judge a book by its cover." Literally and figuratively, I thought I was going to hate the Lord of the Rings, but today I regard it as one of the best pieces of literature ever written. Similarly, how do I (or anyone else for that matter) know that the tiny little girl wearing a PINK jacket and Uggs isn't listening to some seriously heavy shit? And who's to say that the kid with the leather jacket, tattoos and piercings isn't listening to a Beethoven Sonata, or Taylor Swift for that matter?
What I'm getting at here, is that music is one of those awesome things that transcends everything. Race, gender, ethnicity, creed, religion and so on. It's crazy.
Who would've thought that everyone could be brought together by sounds?
I feel like that last sentence was super hippie... but still it's missing something. I'm gonna try again.
Who would've thought that everyone could be brought together by sounds... man
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Too many fillers
Since talking about fillers in class, I have been quite self conscious about my personal use of them. After class that day I kept a running tally of my "likes", "sortas" "kindas" and "whatevers". The grand total of tallies was well over 50, but my tallies got pretty sloppy towards the end, so I'm not sure of the exact number.
Suffice to say, I use a lot of fillers.
But the thing is, I didn't realize the extent to which fillers rule my sentences. Like everyone else, I thought I only used them sometimes. But once I started paying attention, I noticed little ones, sneaky ones, tricky little fillers that I would have missed if I wasn't paying attention. So I even counted the ones that I caught before even saying them.
Beyond just the pain of knowing that I am such a rampant abuser of fillers in sentences, I also started to feel very foolish every time I caught myself using a filler. And then when I started feeling like a moron, I started thinking about that and would lose my train of thought from what I was previously talking about.
"Yeah, and like... um, li- oh um... sorry, what was I saying?"
Yeah, it was that bad.
After looking at the tallies I reflected on my day. I came to the conclusion that I was not even sure why using fillers made me so uncomfortable. I knew that the reason I used fillers was because of society, so why was that same society now telling me to stop?
It was all very confusing. And frustrating.
Basically, I figured it was a better idea to just ignore my usage of fillers and try to subconsciously stop using them, because purposely thinking about them will drive me absolutely nuts.
So to close, I was wondering how many times on average do you think you use fillers each day? ESTIMATE, please do not count them for real unless you're genuinely interested. It's awful. I can't stop thinking about them now. But anyway, please add with any comment, the number of times a day you think you use fillers.
Suffice to say, I use a lot of fillers.
But the thing is, I didn't realize the extent to which fillers rule my sentences. Like everyone else, I thought I only used them sometimes. But once I started paying attention, I noticed little ones, sneaky ones, tricky little fillers that I would have missed if I wasn't paying attention. So I even counted the ones that I caught before even saying them.
Beyond just the pain of knowing that I am such a rampant abuser of fillers in sentences, I also started to feel very foolish every time I caught myself using a filler. And then when I started feeling like a moron, I started thinking about that and would lose my train of thought from what I was previously talking about.
"Yeah, and like... um, li- oh um... sorry, what was I saying?"
Yeah, it was that bad.
After looking at the tallies I reflected on my day. I came to the conclusion that I was not even sure why using fillers made me so uncomfortable. I knew that the reason I used fillers was because of society, so why was that same society now telling me to stop?
It was all very confusing. And frustrating.
Basically, I figured it was a better idea to just ignore my usage of fillers and try to subconsciously stop using them, because purposely thinking about them will drive me absolutely nuts.
So to close, I was wondering how many times on average do you think you use fillers each day? ESTIMATE, please do not count them for real unless you're genuinely interested. It's awful. I can't stop thinking about them now. But anyway, please add with any comment, the number of times a day you think you use fillers.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Oprah and the Former Rockstar
A couple days ago, my guitar teacher turned me on to this clip. BEFORE YOU WATCH IT. Let me preface that there is not one big "Aha!" moment or punchline. Moreover, it is a series of just completely ridiculous antics.
Okay, have you watched it? Are you laughing? I wasn't the first time I saw it. I was actually pretty confused as to what the hell was going on.
So I took another watch.
Okay, NOW I'm laughing. I decided immediately that I needed to break down this video.
The first thing that jumped out at me was the awkward way in which Oprah holds Steven Tyler's hand in the beginning as they are walking towards the woods. It looks as if they are not so much holding hands, but as if Oprah is literally holding Steven Tyler from falling down. And honestly, I don't think that's too far off from the truth, judging by the amount of drugs Tyler took throughout his career with Aerosmith.
The next thing that I thought was hysterical was about a minute in. Oprah stops to admire a rock covered in moss and highly obliviously, Steven Tyler ushers her on saying, "Okay, come on". It almost sounds like he's talking to a dog.
At one point, Tyler and Oprah are standing in the middle of the woods, and it's quiet and Oprah says, "It's the stillness..." with an inflection that maybe was supposed to have a lasting impact. If there is any silent, sacred magic to being in the woods, and I am inclined to believe that there is, Oprah, Steven Tyler and that camera crew are totally ruining it.
The part that really got me though, was when they were sitting on the moss, in the middle of the woods, smelling grass and talking about NOT being on drugs.
To end the video, Oprah proclaims, with a certain amount of unwarranted grandness I might add, "I don't think God is in the music, I think He... IS the music." Wow, like we all didn't know that one was coming.
The whole time, it seems as though Oprah is trying to be on Steven Tyler's level. That is impossible. Steven Tyler does not live on Earth, he's in his own little world, man.
Anyway, just thought I'd share this little gem. Lemme know what ya think.
Okay, have you watched it? Are you laughing? I wasn't the first time I saw it. I was actually pretty confused as to what the hell was going on.
So I took another watch.
Okay, NOW I'm laughing. I decided immediately that I needed to break down this video.
The first thing that jumped out at me was the awkward way in which Oprah holds Steven Tyler's hand in the beginning as they are walking towards the woods. It looks as if they are not so much holding hands, but as if Oprah is literally holding Steven Tyler from falling down. And honestly, I don't think that's too far off from the truth, judging by the amount of drugs Tyler took throughout his career with Aerosmith.
The next thing that I thought was hysterical was about a minute in. Oprah stops to admire a rock covered in moss and highly obliviously, Steven Tyler ushers her on saying, "Okay, come on". It almost sounds like he's talking to a dog.
At one point, Tyler and Oprah are standing in the middle of the woods, and it's quiet and Oprah says, "It's the stillness..." with an inflection that maybe was supposed to have a lasting impact. If there is any silent, sacred magic to being in the woods, and I am inclined to believe that there is, Oprah, Steven Tyler and that camera crew are totally ruining it.
The part that really got me though, was when they were sitting on the moss, in the middle of the woods, smelling grass and talking about NOT being on drugs.
To end the video, Oprah proclaims, with a certain amount of unwarranted grandness I might add, "I don't think God is in the music, I think He... IS the music." Wow, like we all didn't know that one was coming.
The whole time, it seems as though Oprah is trying to be on Steven Tyler's level. That is impossible. Steven Tyler does not live on Earth, he's in his own little world, man.
Anyway, just thought I'd share this little gem. Lemme know what ya think.
Friday, January 20, 2012
In Retrospect...
So to start off, I apologize for my tone in that last post. My
"ranting" tone as someone pointed out seems to have clouded the message I
was really trying to get across and I also seem to have offended some
people. I am sorry about that.
Let me see if I can be more clear and a little bit nicer.
I do not have a problem with the Greek system in and of itself. I am well aware that there are highly influential people who have come out of fraternities and sororities and I am also well aware of the positive things they stand for, especially, but not limited to their involvement in community service and raising money for organizations that help to cure diseases. These things are wonderful. I also know, because I have friends in frats and sororities, that you have to maintain a certain GPA to remain in good standing with the frat or sorority you are a part of. So the people in these things must be intelligent. They must be.
But it is because I know these things that I have a problem with the image they project.
When I was on my high school cross country team, my coach always reminded the team to represent our letters (our school) well and to hold the team in high regard, because we as individuals OF the team, have an effect on the ENTIRE team and by proxy our entire school.
Similarly, when I see girls and guys walking around with Greek letters, they represent not just themselves, but their own fraternity or sorority AND the Greek system as a whole. So I hope I am very clear when I say that my problem is NOT with sororities and fraternities inherently but with the manner in which their members portray them.
As someone pointed out in a comment on my previous post, not everyone in the Greek system is this way. I am not trying to say that 100% of the students in sororities and fraternities give their letters a bad name, but it is certainly enough of them that a stereotype has been created and is very well known. I would venture to say that most college have heard of the "ditsy sorority girl" and the "ultra-bro frat guy". Neither of which are particularly positive images.
Think about the riot that occurred after JoePa was canned. That created all kinds of terrible media for the ENTIRE school because of the less than 10% of students who participated in the destruction of public and university property while wearing the Penn State letters. It doesn't even take the majority of a population to cause a bad name for everyone.
So when a bunch of people wearing Greek letters are walking in front of you and not one of them holds the door, or you hold the door and not one of the says, "thank you". Or you drop a couple books and a couple people in frat or sorority sweatshirts just stares at you while they walk by without offering a helping hand. Or you've noticed that a group of girls or guys wearing letters act in a highly unpleasant manner, you tend to forget about all of the things that those Greek letters SHOULD stand for. Being in a fraternity or sorority should be a privilege, especially in a school where Greek life is so prominent. These people are all presented with incredible opportunities; most of them give up the occasional weekend to go canning for Thon, are very intelligent students and probably very interesting people...
But I would never know because of the way they represent themselves. And no, I'm not saying it's all of them, but it certainly is the majority of those I've interacted with. So just as I'm sure some of you will now view me differently, probably negatively, because of the way I represented myself in my last post, I view Greek life differently because of the way its members have represented themselves to me.
I imagine these organizations would garner much more respect if they held themselves in a manner which bespeaks the things their organizations really stand for.
I genuinely hope something changes or occurs for me to be able to change my mind about this subject.
Let me see if I can be more clear and a little bit nicer.
I do not have a problem with the Greek system in and of itself. I am well aware that there are highly influential people who have come out of fraternities and sororities and I am also well aware of the positive things they stand for, especially, but not limited to their involvement in community service and raising money for organizations that help to cure diseases. These things are wonderful. I also know, because I have friends in frats and sororities, that you have to maintain a certain GPA to remain in good standing with the frat or sorority you are a part of. So the people in these things must be intelligent. They must be.
But it is because I know these things that I have a problem with the image they project.
When I was on my high school cross country team, my coach always reminded the team to represent our letters (our school) well and to hold the team in high regard, because we as individuals OF the team, have an effect on the ENTIRE team and by proxy our entire school.
Similarly, when I see girls and guys walking around with Greek letters, they represent not just themselves, but their own fraternity or sorority AND the Greek system as a whole. So I hope I am very clear when I say that my problem is NOT with sororities and fraternities inherently but with the manner in which their members portray them.
As someone pointed out in a comment on my previous post, not everyone in the Greek system is this way. I am not trying to say that 100% of the students in sororities and fraternities give their letters a bad name, but it is certainly enough of them that a stereotype has been created and is very well known. I would venture to say that most college have heard of the "ditsy sorority girl" and the "ultra-bro frat guy". Neither of which are particularly positive images.
Think about the riot that occurred after JoePa was canned. That created all kinds of terrible media for the ENTIRE school because of the less than 10% of students who participated in the destruction of public and university property while wearing the Penn State letters. It doesn't even take the majority of a population to cause a bad name for everyone.
So when a bunch of people wearing Greek letters are walking in front of you and not one of them holds the door, or you hold the door and not one of the says, "thank you". Or you drop a couple books and a couple people in frat or sorority sweatshirts just stares at you while they walk by without offering a helping hand. Or you've noticed that a group of girls or guys wearing letters act in a highly unpleasant manner, you tend to forget about all of the things that those Greek letters SHOULD stand for. Being in a fraternity or sorority should be a privilege, especially in a school where Greek life is so prominent. These people are all presented with incredible opportunities; most of them give up the occasional weekend to go canning for Thon, are very intelligent students and probably very interesting people...
But I would never know because of the way they represent themselves. And no, I'm not saying it's all of them, but it certainly is the majority of those I've interacted with. So just as I'm sure some of you will now view me differently, probably negatively, because of the way I represented myself in my last post, I view Greek life differently because of the way its members have represented themselves to me.
I imagine these organizations would garner much more respect if they held themselves in a manner which bespeaks the things their organizations really stand for.
I genuinely hope something changes or occurs for me to be able to change my mind about this subject.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Girls Next Door
Hi, I'm Jeremy Eckstein and this year I have the unfortunate displeasure of living next to a sorority dorm. That is, 3 of the 5 floors of the building are sororities. Now, before I go further into this post, I would like to say that if you are in a sorority, or you are planning to Rush: I hope that what I'm about to say does not offend you.
To start, I suppose I should explain that in order to get from my dorm to my dining hall, I can completely avoid going outside. However, instead of braving the harsh Penn State winter, I must suffer through the inane happenings, dialogues and general antics that occur in the sorority building. Suffice to say, I can't wait until it gets warm again.
At first, I didn't think it was so bad, and after a while, it was actually pretty entertaining to observe the goings on of the ladies in the building. But just a couple days ago, I heard something that nearly made me lose faith in the entire human race.
Okay, here's the story: On Monday, while I was walking to go get dinner, I got stuck in the hallway behind two sorority sisters. They were having a conversation about their respective winter breaks and this is (basically) how the conversation went, I'll try to quote as best I can:
Girl 1: (Excitedly) I was super excited to see my boyfriend over the break, even though he only came up for a couple days.
Girl 2: Oh yeah! That must have been great, what'd you guys do?
Girl 1: Oh my god, it was sooooo cute, he took me to the zoo
Girl 2: Awwww!
Girl 1: Yeah, I think my favorite animals that we saw were (get ready for this) the striped horses
...what. The what horses? Striped? You mean the ones that look like this:
Because that has a name, IT'S CALLED A ZEBRA, NOT A STRIPED FREAKING HORSE.
THIS is a striped horse:
(Note how it's not actually a real horse.)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that the fact that zebras exist was fairly common knowledge, especially for a college student. When I heard this, I didn't know how to react. I knew it was funny, I mean come on, a striped horse? But she was just so sincere, I didn't know whether or not to laugh. Is it possible that this girl actually doesn't know what a zebra is? I almost felt bad for her... almost.
So then I got to thinking. I started thinking about every interaction I've ever had with sorority girls, and I used those interactions to try to figure out why I hold so much resentment towards this type of person and I think I've finally come up with a conclusion. It's because they perpetuate their own stereotype, seemingly on purpose. Now, I'm not saying that 100% of sorority girls are like this, but most of 'em sure are and I can't imagine why a young woman enrolled in an institution of higher learning would want to purposely degrade her own intelligence. I honestly can't believe that these girls are stupid or ignorant enough enough to make mistakes like calling zebras "striped horses". But as far as I can tell, this seems to be the case. Furthermore, I've never encountered a more judgmental group of people (and actually this goes for hardcore Frat Brothers as well). So, to summarize, Sororities are a group of young women who want to act like total morons, flaunt their sexuality in an almost vulgar manner on weekends, and judge each other and everyone else behind closed doors. And they call each other sisters?
This brings up the ultimate question: Why would any girl want to pay to join such an organization? Surely there are better ways to spend your time and more worthwhile people to be spending it with.
But somehow, these organizations continue to gain membership, and are actually quite popular. How could that possibly be?
Well, let's see if we can't break it down.
I would say that the number one reason that girls join a sorority is the number one reason why most people join any organization- to be a part of something. Simple as that. People like to feel like they are a part and that they matter and in a school the size of Penn State, it's easy to get lost, to be just another face in the crowd. For many girls, I imagine being in a sorority is one way to "make a big school small" so to speak.
Closely following at number two would be the party scene. It's much easier to get into frat parties if you are a Brother or Sister, so I would say that is also a leading cause in girls being attracted to sororities.
Coming in at number three would be the Greek involvement in Thon. This, in my opinion, is the best of these three reasons for joining a sorority. Fighting for a cause, especially one like Pediatric Cancer, is an excellent reason to join an organization. However, students can be involved with Thon without being involved in Greek life at all.
So there might be other reasons, but I think these three are the biggies.
I still don't get it.
I can't fathom why you would pay these people to pretend to be your friends while they secretly (or maybe even not so secretly) judge you based on your appearance and encourage you to demean and misrepresent your own intelligence and individuality to better fit the "sorority mold". Sororities (and fraternities for that matter) are the ultimate identity suppressor. How can you be yourself when there is an unquestionable stereotype in these groups that seems to be purposefully sustained by their own members and that they expect new recruits to uphold?
Maybe there is more to Greek life that I'm missing by not being a part of it, but at this point I feel I understand them pretty well. Suffice to say, I am not a fan.
To start, I suppose I should explain that in order to get from my dorm to my dining hall, I can completely avoid going outside. However, instead of braving the harsh Penn State winter, I must suffer through the inane happenings, dialogues and general antics that occur in the sorority building. Suffice to say, I can't wait until it gets warm again.
At first, I didn't think it was so bad, and after a while, it was actually pretty entertaining to observe the goings on of the ladies in the building. But just a couple days ago, I heard something that nearly made me lose faith in the entire human race.
Okay, here's the story: On Monday, while I was walking to go get dinner, I got stuck in the hallway behind two sorority sisters. They were having a conversation about their respective winter breaks and this is (basically) how the conversation went, I'll try to quote as best I can:
Girl 1: (Excitedly) I was super excited to see my boyfriend over the break, even though he only came up for a couple days.
Girl 2: Oh yeah! That must have been great, what'd you guys do?
Girl 1: Oh my god, it was sooooo cute, he took me to the zoo
Girl 2: Awwww!
Girl 1: Yeah, I think my favorite animals that we saw were (get ready for this) the striped horses
...what. The what horses? Striped? You mean the ones that look like this:
THIS is a striped horse:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that the fact that zebras exist was fairly common knowledge, especially for a college student. When I heard this, I didn't know how to react. I knew it was funny, I mean come on, a striped horse? But she was just so sincere, I didn't know whether or not to laugh. Is it possible that this girl actually doesn't know what a zebra is? I almost felt bad for her... almost.
So then I got to thinking. I started thinking about every interaction I've ever had with sorority girls, and I used those interactions to try to figure out why I hold so much resentment towards this type of person and I think I've finally come up with a conclusion. It's because they perpetuate their own stereotype, seemingly on purpose. Now, I'm not saying that 100% of sorority girls are like this, but most of 'em sure are and I can't imagine why a young woman enrolled in an institution of higher learning would want to purposely degrade her own intelligence. I honestly can't believe that these girls are stupid or ignorant enough enough to make mistakes like calling zebras "striped horses". But as far as I can tell, this seems to be the case. Furthermore, I've never encountered a more judgmental group of people (and actually this goes for hardcore Frat Brothers as well). So, to summarize, Sororities are a group of young women who want to act like total morons, flaunt their sexuality in an almost vulgar manner on weekends, and judge each other and everyone else behind closed doors. And they call each other sisters?
This brings up the ultimate question: Why would any girl want to pay to join such an organization? Surely there are better ways to spend your time and more worthwhile people to be spending it with.
But somehow, these organizations continue to gain membership, and are actually quite popular. How could that possibly be?
Well, let's see if we can't break it down.
I would say that the number one reason that girls join a sorority is the number one reason why most people join any organization- to be a part of something. Simple as that. People like to feel like they are a part and that they matter and in a school the size of Penn State, it's easy to get lost, to be just another face in the crowd. For many girls, I imagine being in a sorority is one way to "make a big school small" so to speak.
Closely following at number two would be the party scene. It's much easier to get into frat parties if you are a Brother or Sister, so I would say that is also a leading cause in girls being attracted to sororities.
Coming in at number three would be the Greek involvement in Thon. This, in my opinion, is the best of these three reasons for joining a sorority. Fighting for a cause, especially one like Pediatric Cancer, is an excellent reason to join an organization. However, students can be involved with Thon without being involved in Greek life at all.
So there might be other reasons, but I think these three are the biggies.
I still don't get it.
I can't fathom why you would pay these people to pretend to be your friends while they secretly (or maybe even not so secretly) judge you based on your appearance and encourage you to demean and misrepresent your own intelligence and individuality to better fit the "sorority mold". Sororities (and fraternities for that matter) are the ultimate identity suppressor. How can you be yourself when there is an unquestionable stereotype in these groups that seems to be purposefully sustained by their own members and that they expect new recruits to uphold?
Maybe there is more to Greek life that I'm missing by not being a part of it, but at this point I feel I understand them pretty well. Suffice to say, I am not a fan.
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