Driving down Rt. 18 the other day I noticed a man in orange on the side of the road. This worker was doing something among the bushes, I didn't obviously stop to ask. But it got my attention to the side... and I started to notice the random assortment of trash that was floating about. Bottles and Plastic Bags; Cans and McDonalds Wrappers; Tiny assortments of trash that people had thrown from their cars to land amongst the winter trees and shrubs. It made me stop and realize just how stupid we, as a species, really are. To have all this cognitive ability, yet we still don't ever stop to take thought of our actions. We are so incredibly selfish: What's a little bag out the window, until it begins piling up and just makes the entire road look likes shit. To hell with the environment, to hell with anyone else, I'm done with this bottle, out the window. I know that our trash dumps are not entirely environmentally clean, but fuck man, it's a start. I don't see why you can't hold unto your crap until you come to a trash can somewhere!
I kind of feel like I might be a bad person for not watching the President's speech last night. Admittedly, I was getting home when it was on and hopping into the shower. But, to be honest, I was so turned off to political speeches during the last eight years, I think I may have developed an aversion to the process. Which is sad, because Obama can talk rings around Bush. I have incredible respect for the way Obama can argue points and justify his words; he is an orator of incredible skill. I should perhaps give myself the opportunity to listen more often...
For my Adolescent Psychology class, we were surprised to find an additional component added on towards the end of this semester. Suddenly, we were going to be expected to participate in research studies (or write an additional paper). Considering that I know my workload this semester is going to include THREE thesis papers, I am trying to forgo the additional writing. Yet, thus far the studies appear to be the more difficult of the options. I have to participate in only two, which would appear to not be so bad. However, five weeks into the semester, I have only been eligible for one study. The others actually go out of their way to exclude me and I am wondering if I am being a little sensitive here.
One is for students with a singular sibling. I bring this up not because I am upset, but because I am going to use it as a comparison later on. The other two studies deal with relationships or attractions; however, in fine print the reviewer goes out of their way with an exclaimer: Heterosexual couples only. So this is where my anxiety begins; how am I to participate and get credit for this study, if I am going to be excluded based on my sexual identity?
Maybe I wouldn’t care if this wasn’t a requirement or if I was being given a true option. But at the moment, it’s almost as if I am being forced to write the paper simply because I am not straight. Somehow, that just feels wrong. The whole idea that we would be forced to participate in research studies (and for it to not have been prelisted on the syllabus at the beginning of the semester) sits badly with me to begin with. But me being unable to participate in studies because I am gay… and the only studies being ones that each week are posted to exclude me? Well that annoys me and bothers me and begins to strum up a “What the fuck?!” within me.
See, if you are a person with more than one sibling, you still have the option of doing the study I participated in (stress) and what attracted you to someone else; barring off course that you’re straight. But the GLT’s out there are left with only one finished requirement and a paper staring them in the face. If someone is going to exclude me, should I then be forced to write a paper? Or should I be credited for the one study, because the others will never and cannot pertain to me?