Dangers of Driving Home

When I was driving home for Thanksgiving Break all I could think, or worry, about was how many bad drivers I was going to encounter on the way home. I feel nearly half the driving population has absolutely no idea what they are doing behind the wheel of a very dangerous automobile. Every time I have driven from Dallas to Houston or Houston to Dallas I have come really close to getting into a serious accident because other drivers either have road rage or are paying absolutely no attention to what they are doing while they are going at speeds of 65+. One time a man was chatting away on his phone and did not realize he was coming into my lane until I was forced to swerve into the shoulder. Another time a man realized he was in the wrong lane so he swerved into my lane forcing me to slam on my brakes to avoid him hitting me. (We were also on an overpass that was probably at least 100 feet above the ground so had I not been paying attention that could have been a very scary accident.) I encounter so many negligent drivers; women fixing their make up, a mother literally turned around yelling at her kids, and a man rocking out to music with his eyes closed half the time. I one time saw a website called Top 10 Worst Women Drivers, and although it is really funny, it is really scary to think people managed to get themselves in such a situation while behind the wheel:

http://www.boredstop.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=80&Itemid=1

I think that the government should be more strict on giving out licenses because the risk of driving is so high currently because people just do not think about the consequences of their idiotic acts behind the wheel. Another way dangerous driving situations could be prevented was if the police were willing to stop paying so much attention to people who do not fully stop at stop signs and be more active on highways where they major accidents occur. As much as I hate cops while I am driving home because they force me to drive slower and arrive later, people need to be penalized for driving like maniacs or blatantly ignoring the road ahead of them. 

Email Scams: PLEEEAASSEE REEAADD!

I checked my email yesterday afternoon and saw that my mom sent me another chain mail message. Most of the time I do not even bother to open the emails but the title of this message seemed more desperate than normal. The title PLLLLEEEAAASSSSEEE REEEAAADDD! IT WAS ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA WEDNESDAY naturally sparked my attention so I decided I would actually read this one. I was not surprised to read another idiotic scam that people actually believe. This particular email said that Bill Gates was conducting a survey and he wanted this email to reach as many recipients as possible. According to the email, sending the email to one person would make you $245, the second person would make you another $243, the third person would make you $241 and so on. And it was no surprise to read the typical story saying that “I did not think this would work either but I gave it a shot and two weeks later I received a check for $24,800.”

Emails like this always make me laugh because I find it hard to believe that so many people are gullible enough to believe they will actually receive money for forwarding an email. I will admit that in middle school I received an email with a similar message so I decided to test my luck. As you can imagine, I was throughly disappointed when I never received my sum of money for doing the company a favor of sending out a mass email. Seriously, for all the work I put into finding email recipients I honestly thought I deserved something! But thinking realistically, will Bill gates actually be willing to spend millions upon millions to have people send around a message in which the context of the message only says “please forward this to as many people as you can.” I think not! Yes he is wealthy, but even the most wealthy men are not willing to spend millions to conduct a survey that could easily be advertised for a lot less money. 

I decided to google email scams online and it took me to a link on the FBI website. I was completely unaware of the mass numbers and variety of emails that people receive and actually believe are legitimate. Some of the emails download viruses to your computer, while others make you computer more susceptible to hacking. I even read about an email scam going around that claims a family member will be kidnapped if a desired ransom is not paid.  The scams often use names and telephone numbers of governmental officials to make the letters seem more believable. The emails usually contain a link that will cause a virus so the authors can find personal information that is stored on your computer. Next time you receive a  seemingly friendly or even threatening email be very cautions to open it because it could lead to many negative effects. To read more about different viruses go to http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/escams.htm 

Joe the Plumber

I can honestly admit that I am not the most educated person when it comes to the presidential election and by no means do I know everything each candidate is fighting for. I have not watched all the presidential debates but I decided to watch the final debate between McCain and Obama so I could learn more about each of their ideas for the future of America. I began watching about 30 minutes into the debate but the moment I tuned in they were talking about Joe the Plumber. When I first heard both McCain and Obama mention his name I thought he was a hypothetical character they were referencing relating to their fundamental beliefs about taxes. But I soon found out that he was an actual man that Obama had met during one of his campaigns in Ohio. Apparently Joe the Plumber had raised a lot of questions about Obama’s tax plan and the negative effect it would have on all of America, even though only the upper tax bracket would face an increase in taxes. But the day following the debate I saw a video on Yahoo where Diane Sawyer was interviewing Joe after his named was mentioned 23 times in the presidential debate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeX3zfvIwAA. 

During the interview, it immediately became apparent that Joe was not in the tax bracket that would be affected by higher taxes when Diane Sawyer asked if he was making $250,000+ a year and he laughed at the notion. So she continued to question him about why this was such a troubling issue for him if it would not affect his personal income. Joe responded by saying that “why should they [people who make more than $250,000] be penalized for being successful.” He also stated that one day he hoped he could start a business that would earn that much money but higher taxes threaten all upcoming small businesses. When taxes are increased, businesses usually decrease the number of jobs because they have to give up a large portion of their earnings to the government. So even though those who do not make $250,000 are affected by higher taxes because there is potential many small and large companies will reduce their number of employees. During the interview Joe also said, “What if he [Obama] decides well $150,000 you’re pretty rich too, lets go ahead and lower it again, you know it’s a slippery slope. When is it gonna stop?” The basic point Joe is trying to make is that taxes will always be necessary but the government does not need to make taxes increasingly higher on those who have high incomes.

I completely agree with Joe because if people are willing to work hard for their income they should not have to see their salary stripped away. I know taxes are necessary for all people because the government needs funding to operate. I also understand that those who make make more money can afford to pay more taxes than those who do not have as high of salaries, but only to an extent. The idea of taking a large sum of the upper classes money away to “distribute the wealth” to the lower classes is bordering socialist beliefs even though we live in a democracy. Obama’s tax plan has varied over the campaign because earlier this year I heard that he wanted the upper tax bracket to pay as high as 45% of their income to the government through taxes. Whether it be a 3% increase or a 9% increase, raising taxes ultimately threatens the entire economy. Our economy depends on the people spending money in markets, but when more of the money is taken out of a workers salary the less they will be willing to spend in American markets. Raising taxes would also affect the American economy because, as I said before, fewer job opportunities will be available because those individuals and companies will have to take more money out of their salary and they will not be able to afford as many workers as they had when taxes were lower.

A Common Trend

I was only nine years old when I witnessed my parents first fight. I was outside with one of my closest friends enjoying the beautiful summer day. It was one of those images that I can never seem to escape even though it happened so long ago. My friend asked whether I heard someone yelling so, assuming my mom wanted me, I went inside to see what she needed. When I got into my kitchen I saw my parents in a huge struggle over a stupid set of car keys. The fight ended with my dad shoving my mother on the unforgiving tile floor and storming out of the house with no explanation or apology. I was in a complete state of shock watching my mother crying profusely and having no idea what even sparked the argument. I teared up but I was very shy so I went to the bathroom and made sure I looked composed before going back outside to continue to hang out with my friend. 

After that dispute, I rarely saw my dad for the next few years, and when I did see him a fight between him and my mom always occurred. About a year after that event my mom told me that she and my dad were getting a divorce. When she told me this I was so confused because I did not even know what a divorce truly was. She painfully explained it to me but I was convinced this was all an act my parents were playing on my brother and me that was supposed to teach us a lesson about the importance of family. I made this ridiculous scheme up because I did not want to believe that my family would never be a family again. But I quickly learned that that was not the case so I accepted it and acted like I was not affected by this traumatic event. 

I had honestly never heard of divorce when my parents went through that terrible process but now it seems like such a common trend. Divorce has almost become an accepted ritual today and so many marriages end in divorce. The statistics vary quite a bit from source to source but on one website I read that as high as 49% of marriages ultimately end in divorce (Divorce Magazine). This is very upsetting to me because I personally know the tribulations both the children and the spouse, who may or may not want the divorce, are forced to endure. I remember my mother thought it was imperative that I go to see a psychiatrist following the divorce. Being that I was very shy, I was too embarrassed to tell people that I was leaving school early to see a psychiatrist, so I told everyone who asked that I was going to the dentist. (Which at the age of ten seemed like a good excuse, but the probability that I went to the dentist twice a month is quite unlikely.) Although my embarrassment over a “shrink” was not the worst thing in the world, I became an extremely introverted person who closed myself off from the world because, for lack of better word, I was ashamed of the situation I was experiencing. I always heard people talk and sometimes even complain about activities they did with their families and I just longed for a civil encounter between my whole family. My family stories consisted of my parents getting in arguments over the most unimportant things that would always turn into vicious fights, ultimately leafing to my mother in tears and my dad storming off and not hearing from him for weeks. 

My point is simple: marriage is a beautiful sacrament and it should be respected and treated as a sacred blessing that lasts forever. Sometimes divorce is inevitable, such as in my parent’s situation, but in some cases I think it could truly be avoided. Lately people either rush into marriage without truly knowing their spouse and a few years into the marriage they may find it hard to tolerate each other. But I think sometimes, since divorce is so common nowadays, people are willing to give up when times get tough in a marriage and opt for a divorce because it is easier to follow the trend than fight to make a relationship work. I do not mean to offend those who get a divorce because, as I stated earlier, that sometimes relationships just do not work and a divorce cannot be avoided. But it is my sincere hope that one day divorce will not be viewed so lightly and that more people will have lasting and successful marriages. Since I was a young girl I have always wanted a happy family but since the chance of a successful marriage is only 50%, I have doubts I will ever attain the utmost desired “happy ending.”

Here without my Horse

When I left for college I thought I the hardest part would be leaving my family and friends behind. The absence from my family has been hard on me but I grew comfortable with my surroundings very quickly making the transition relatively easy. The one aspect of my life that I miss the most is horseback riding. I have been riding horses for nearly eleven years now so the absence of riding is so unfamiliar and strange that I do not know how to handle it. I am not saying that I miss my horse more than my family and friends, but I can talk to them whenever I like on the phone but I obviously cannot ride my horse from 250 miles away. I feel like I have had to go cold turkey from riding which has been extremely hard on me. Horseback riding has always been an activity that I can turn to when I am bored, upset, stressed, and even sick to make me feel better for that hour while I am on my horse. Not only is it hard not to ride because riding is my favorite thing to do, but I also miss my horse more every week. My horse, Ortiz, is my baby and my protege. Most kids grow attached to a small dog or stuffed animal, but I grew attached to a 900 pound horse who was deemed crazy by most people. He was literally scared of shadows and definitely afraid of jumps, but after many years he is now a confident jumper. The reason I love my horse so much is we were both able to improve together. I was able to become a more confident rider and also a more determined person and he became a talented horse that people now actually admire. Hopefully in time I will get to bring my baby up to Dallas so I will get to ride him more than a few time a year. Now more than ever, as the assignments and stress are piling up, I just want be able to escape for an hour and have a completely enjoyable and carefree ride on my horse. 

Why Can't There Be Locks?

Entering college signals a huge transformation period for new students that can be quite dramatic for them. The new students have to acquaint themselves with new people, school work, schedules, and living conditions. One of my biggest fears was moving into a dorm with people I do not know and who I potentially might not like. Luckily for me I have become really close with my room mate and I feel blessed because she has become one of my closest friends but I cannot say the same for one of my suite mates.

From the beginning of the year my room mate and have been having problems because we have a thief in the room. And when I say thief I do not mean valuables have gone missing but we always have snacks in the room that would randomly disappear. At first it was not a huge deal to us because if our suite mate (I will refer to her as sticky fingers) would have asked to take our food we most likely would have given it to her but it did bother us a little that they would come into our room and take it without permission. But the more snacks that would randomly go missing the more it bothered me. But what really upset me was my room mate told me that one time sticky fingers came in our room while she was there and told my room mate that she was going to take one of my mints. This does not seem like a big deal but my mints were in a closed box that I have never left open so therefore my only conclusion is that she has been going through my things while I am gone. I still did not want to say anything to sticky fingers because I did not want to get in an uncomfortable situation with the person I have to live very closely with for the entire year. Unfortunately for my room mate and I the situation escalated...

One day our suite mates got in a huge fight causing a huge tension between them, but my room mate and I were dragged into it. At first I was not on either side because their issues were none of my business but I slowly became more perturbed with sticky fingers. One time I was leaving my last class so I checked my phone and saw that I had a text from my other suite mate (I will refer to her as X) telling me that the sticky fingers was using my computer. I was so angry because she has no right to come into my room and use my things without my permission. But I had no proof so I just decided I would not start another confrontation. But then the next day after I got home from my morning classes I got onto my webmail and oddly enough I was logged into sticky fingers’ account. And as mad as I was, I was a little excited I had the proof I needed to confront her about entering our room. Ironically the moment I realized she had been on my computer Sticky fingers knocked on the door and came in to ask me a question. Before she asked her question I asked her whether she had been on my computer this morning. She immediately said that she never used it which infuriated me because now she was lying to my face. Then she explained that she logged on to webmail yesterday because my room mate told her it was alright. (Later I asked my room mate if she gave Sticky fingers permission to use my computer and my room mate told me that she never asked.) But I knew this was false because I had logged onto my webmail that morning so there is no possible way she still could have been logged into her account. By the next day I had had enough so confronted her about everything that had been bugging me and told her I knew she had been lying to me. She was very apologetic and promised me she would stop coming into our room which was nice to hear but still did not make me any more comfortable with the fact that we can not lock our door to keep Sticky Fingers out.

As I had mentioned earlier, the main problem in the room was not between Sticky Fingers and me but rather between our two suite mates. The more time that went on the more problems they had which made it hard for me not to take sides. Sticky Fingers had early classes while X had late classes so Sticky Fingers would be ridiculously loud in the morning while X was trying to sleep. Sticky Fingers began slamming the door as hard as she could, blow drying her hair with the door open, turning all the lights on in the morning just to make X angry. I thought this was really childish on Sticky Fingers’ part which made me side with X more. The moment Sticky Fingers realized I was still friends with X is the moment she began to annoy me too. Recently she bought a radio that she decided had to go into our bathroom. From there she decided she would turn the volume all the way up which made it impossible for me to study. At first I was angry but I did not say anything so I left the room to study. Later that day the music was still blaring so my room mate told her she needed to study so she turned the volume down but five seconds later Sticky Fingers had turned it back up. Then X asked her to turn the volume down but once again she refused. That same night Sticky Fingers turned on the radio again but this time I decided I would ask her to lower the volume. When I asked she told me I could lower it but that she needed it so she could study. Then I lowered the volume a substantial amount which she did not approve of because she said she could not hear it. So I asked her why she could not put the speakers in her room but her exact response was “Because I like them there.” I could feel my face turning bright red but I continued to speak calmly and I asked her how am I supposed to study and once again she said “That is not my problem.” 

This was the most recent negative encounter I have had with Sticky Fingers but we still have to get ready at the same time in the morning and pretend like everything is fine. I am so upset that I have to live in a room filled with awkward tension that continues to escalate. My dorm is my new home and now I have to deal with this stressful living situation along with the stress that comes from school. What do you do when you are forced to live in a room with a girl that you obviously dislike and have issues with but she pretends that nothing is wrong?