Identity, Culture & Society

Wooden closet organizers, walk in closet organizers, storage closet organizers, I never knew there were so many different kinds of organizers. I was standing there, staring at them in Home Depot, not knowing what to do. I was just there to run some errands and pick up a few things so I can work on the back porch my friends and I are building for my mom when my girlfriend Stacy called. She and I had been going out for 8 years. Really, 8 years. We started going out in college and never broke up. It was hard for me to imagine at first, but I was seriously starting to think about buying her an engagement ring and asking her to marry me. Then she called me while I’m looking at all these organizers and she’s crying over the phone as she tells me she’s in love with someone else and that we have to break up. She met him a year ago and they were just friends, or so they thought. But they spent more and more time together and it just happened. I don’t know this guy and I don’t want to know this guy. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Right after she hung up, all I could do was look over all the organizers again. Wooden closet organizers, walk in closet organizers, storage closet organizers…

My friend Jon went to school in upstate New York, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Albany is not the nicest of college towns, and he had to be careful of where he left his car. He had a top of the line stereo system in his car, and one time his car was broken into. His insurance covered the lost stereo equipment, so he had is all replaced. The car was broken into a second time, and he decided it was time to consider some security solutions. He kept joking that he was just going to hire some big guy to stand next to his car at all times when it was parked, and some people thought he was being serious. He decided to invest in a car alarm, which was allegedly top of the line. He also decided that it was not worth putting as nice of equipment back into his car while he was still living in Albany. After he invested in the car alarm and decided not to put all the nice equipment in his car, he did not have any more problems with people breaking into his car. I guess he learned from the old adage, fool me once, shame on you, and fool me twice, shame on me.

They must really have not wanted me to go anywhere near their cozy little manse in Georgetown. After I got off work, I took a cab to 37th and R Northwest. We almost got into an accident across from the Capitol. It was really close. Then I almost slipped on the ice walking up their street. A few houses down, I saw this barricade with a sign, Use Other Sidewalk, Construction. This, by the way, was right in front of THEIR place, 3741 R NW. I crossed the street, waiting patiently for a dozen SUVs and about 5 Bentleys and Mercedes. I stood there in front of 3742, staring across. There seemed to be no way I could access the entrance to their house! Never mind that by now, I was already an hour and a half late for cocktails, and they had probably already started dinner service. I know the reason they invited me. They’re trying to set me up with Marshall Adelfiscripps. Oh, the poor soul, just finished his second marriage and he’s so, so lonely. You know what I think I’ll do, just because THEY can afford it? I think I’ll call up one of these guys, like a personal injury attorney in Washington. As soon as I give him their name they’ll jump at the chance for a case. I’d better sit down and start embellishing the actual facts. For starters, I think I’ll say that one of those Beamers tried to run me over as I was crossing R. Now where did I put those gardening hedges? That’ll do the trick.

A friend, Laura, was telling me about the cost of lasik. She and a friend were working hard to get a bonus at work, and they were going to take that money and apply it towards a treatment. They had to visit a record number of their clients in all of their territories. It didn't sound so hard at the start, but with the bad weather it made getting to where they were going very difficult. I made a silent bet that they would not be able to accomplish their goals. They decided to drive together and see what they could get done, with one running in and the other driving. This worked out rather well, except that they ran into a lot of problems with their accounts moving. So naturally they had to call and find them, as even the GPS they had was not accurate. Their boss kept track of what they were doing and how the progress was going, and if any new sales were coming in. The number of actual sales figured into the bonus as well. This was going to be a real challenge, especially as they were competing against teams working in warmer climates where the weather was not so harsh.

Cindy's treatment for hair loss was not working. She had noticed she was losing her hair last fall, and she went to the doctor for tests. The tests were inconclusive. So she was left with wondering what the cause of the problems were. Nobody in her family had suffered hair loss, even her father, and none of her brothers. She tried the rub on treatments and they didn't seem to do anything, except make her scalp greasy. She went to another doctor, but again they couldn't find anything physically wrong with her. Finally, she thought that the cause might be stress. Cindy had taken a big promotion with her job, and it meant more traveling, less time at home, and working most weekends. She wanted to keep the position. Really, she had to. If she wanted to downgrade to her old position she might as well just quit. Her company didn't think much of somebody going in reverse, and Cindy had promised that she could handle the job. She then tried stress reduction techniques, and those worked to a certain extent, to relax her and make her feel calm, but it didn't seem to work with the hair loss.

If you are diabetic you may want to read this. You need to be aware of your health insurance policy regardless of if it is a private one or a public one, but do you know if it covers all of you diabetic supplies? You also should be always asking your doctor about information for discounts on supplies. But, you should also ask him about free diabetic supplies. He may have them or the manufacturers of the monitors will have them for you. There are lots of places online that have many free supplies for you. You can get free monitors and then purchase the strips. When you look online for your diabetic supplies you will realize that there are many wonderful sites, which have great deals. Many of these sites will have free shipping, and some will even have automatic shipping so you get it each month on time and do not have to worry about it. This is very important when you have to check your blood glucose so often. Those with diabetics have to always check their monitors and know their glucose ranges. Some insurance companies will also provide discounts on diabetic supplies. In case your company does not have this plan you should do a careful review of it. You are trying to save money and they will understand this by helping you with supplies they will not have to pay out in the long run when you get more complications for not being constantly monitored.

With the rapid changes in society these days, behavioral scientists have put an increasing emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of culture shock, those feeing of anxiety and disorientation that affect people who have to suddenly function within a new and different social environment. Expatriates and foreign nationals who relocate to the United States to live and work often have mixed perceptions about this young nation. If you bring a woman from overseas to America, you will see that there is a substantial adjustment period while she is getting used to all the advantages that America has to offer. She had lived with a separate dress code, different working hours, pay, and nearly everything else. It takes a long time to figure out just what customs she may want to leave behind or those she might want to adopt as her own to the way of her new country.

While most Americans rarely think of their country as foreign, the fact is that non-Americans who relocate to the United States to do business and “do lunch” are often surprised to find they experience a severe case of corporate culture shock. According to the Webster dictionary, culture shock is: "a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture or environment without adequate preparation”. It’s a culture shock for many people and sometimes we do not see it or realize it at the moment we are living it.

A good example on a small scale would be that before you move to a rural property, get to know the folks there and seek to learn the culture of the area. This means the existing culture they are living today, note the one you are accustomed to and not the one you want to make it into. If you seek to fit in and contribute to the community, according to what is really needed and wanted in that particular community, you may well enjoy a type of heaven-on-earth in your new home. While a brief, voluntary exposure to a new culture can be temporarily unsettling, with some awareness of what you are experiencing and a few techniques to deal with it, you will soon begin to enjoy your visit. This example is true of anywhere you may go to reside.

Experts have identified varying stages of culture shock. The Honeymoon Phase is usually the first phase of culture shock. You may think that culture shock is only likely to affect people going to countries with very different cultures from their own.

Culture shock is a process that affects people of different walks of life. Finally, on your return home, you could find culture shock working in reverse. The culture in your new destination will obviously be different when compared to where you're from.

Recognizing that any uncomfortable or negative feelings you’re experiencing in this new culture are normal will help alleviate your discomfort. Because the new owner made himself so unwelcome in his new environment and so terribly alienated the neighbors that they eventually made him unbearably uncomfortable. Culture shock is an interesting phenomenon that doesn't affect everyone the same way.