Thursday, October 30, 2008

Ya'll went to Zuma's?? (A post by James)

This is my first post on Jen's blog (yay :). So Jen and I lead Bible Study groups for kids at our church on Wednesday nights. I lead early high school boys and she leads junior high girls. Both groups tend to be pretty rambunctious to say the least. This past Wednesday something hit me though that although was somewhat evident before really hit home here.

I have one kid in my group whose name let's say is J. J was active in the youth group all summer and at times showed promise to even be a leader. He's funny at times and can be quick witted, but oftentimes is annoyingly loud. Playing ball with him over the summer he repeated the phrase, "Mr. Sir Sir!" at the top of his lungs for two straight hours that drove me nuts. About a month ago I found out his story: both parents in jail, constantly on the move living with relatives and oftentimes at friends' houses before being kicked out, sometimes coming to youth group not knowing where he will be staying that night. One Wednesday he was acting up so much and being so disruptive I had to sit him aside for about 30 minutes to teach the lesson to him individually. It did not seem to register. Our pastor who has a good relationship with him decided to ask him to take a break from the fellowship for a couple of weeks as a punishment for being so disruptive to the lessons. So for a couple of weeks I did not see him and then found out that he was in jail for carjacking. Then last week I found out that he has had numerous run ins with the law having accidentally shot and killed a family member a few years back.

Just yesterday he came back to fellowship a little more sedated with kids asking where he'd been. He brushed it off and made some quick deflective remarks. So I taught the lesson asking him questions along the way to which he did not have any answers. And by the end of the lesson, which I'm not sure if he took anything away from, he comes up to the leaders who are discussing next week's activity outing and listens. He hears someone say, "Zuma's." And a light bulb went off in his head in a way that "Jesus", "salvation" , "sacrifice", and pretty much any other heftier word in the lesson did not have a standing chance. So he asked, "Ya'll went to Zuma's?" and asked it about 5 times quickly in succession. To which I responded, "No, we're deciding that right now for next week." He looks at me for maybe a second turns back to the leaders and asks, "Ya'll went to Zuma?" At this point I give him a confused look and then confoundedly turn to Jen who is just laughing at me.

All this being said. There are a couple things and questions I'd like to pose and highlight:
1) Not all these kids have such troubled pasts but many do, and my question is, is this a vicious cycle doomed to repeat itself? Many of these kids are 16/17 barely out of middle school. Is it the failure of parents, bad teachers, the system, the students themselves, us as a society, or simply us as the "privileged"? I realize that progress and revitalization takes much time, and we try to do our small part in the larger more complex puzzle, but it is nevertheless frustrating, so where do you think the problem lies? And I suppose the follow-up question would be, what are we each and all doing to alleviate the systemic effects of poverty either in our close proximity or around the world?
2) I see how intelligent these kids are and for some how much they have failed and come to be satisfied with their failures that it makes me lose heart. It's funny cause Jen would hear the kids often rapping freestyle and if that's not an indication of their intrinsic abilities and intelligence I'm not sure what is. So, maybe it is a product of expectations. ie) the only way to "make it" is to be a rapper or an athlete, so that's where they invest their time. I recently told the kids that I'm unemployed right now looking for a job, to which they responded: "YOU UNEMPLOYED, but didn't you graduate high school?!" One this is probably a product of them thinking I'm 18 as opposed to 25, but also it's a product of them seeing high school graduation as the necessary hurdle for employment as opposed to college. Now I realize and sympathize that that might just be the reality for some who can't afford or have to work urgently, but isn't there a systematic problem with an expectation that your dream in life is to simply get by if that athletic scholarship doesn't come through?
3) Going back to my friend J, what will it take to get through to this guy? I have no clue; what he has gone through in the past year I most likely will not experience in a lifetime and to extrapolate that comparison for his entire life, I would in turn not experience in 10 or 20 lifetimes. So I cannot empathize, but I still will try to point him to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith and one who can truly empathize with his suffering. Other than that I'm at a loss. Personally in the midst of all my uncertainty with regards to job or school or future residence, I cannot make promises on being able to be there or mentor him long term or anything like that, so that makes it difficult. But I have him for a short while. Maybe I can reach him for a second. That second where he looks at me and he gets it and it all makes sense; that's what I'm waiting and hoping and praying for. But as for now, he looks at me again and says, "Ya'll went to Zuma's?"

Thursday, October 23, 2008

H-Town Traffic

Every bustling metropolitan city deals with traffic. It's a part of life and character development. I'm actually pretty blessed, because the route that I take to work is opposite of the flow of traffic. So most days I speed at 70-72 mph (though lately it's been around 60 as I hear you can save gas by doing so..), and I watch the stationary cars "driving" down 45 south thinking to myself, "That realllly sucks. How do people do that day in and day out and THEN go to work?? I'd shoot myself".

Well here's my beef with traffic, outside of the normal congestion due to the fact that we live in a large city with a large population of commuting suburbanites and no great public transportation system (my apologies to those who Park N Ride and LOVE it):

1. Drivers who cut in the merge lane last minute because they refuse to wait in the long line that they obviously know exists half a mile back. One, they are stopping the flow of traffic in the lane they are currently in because they are having to slow down last minute to get in front of a car who has waited patiently for the past 20 minutes and is now very unhappy and will most likely edge into the car in front so that they absolutely can't get in. Two, this can cause backups in the lane they already occupy or even an accident, because there is no reason for them to be stopping or slowing down heading in that direction. There are some people who argue that it's okay that they do so because they transition smoothly and don't cause the car behind them to brake and ripple effect. But this is just simply not true. The cars behind you will most likely panic and brake anyway even if the aggressive merger has "transitioned smoothly".

2. Traffic that is stop and go until you get to the horizon of freedom and realize that there is NOTHING there. There is absolutely no reason as to why you have just driven in 0-20 mph peaks and valleys for the past 7 miles. Some days I'll hear news of a wreck that was previously there and has been cleared for 30 minutes, but most of the time I attribute this phenomenom to people who just don't know how to drive. Why is traffic stop and go when there's clearly free lanes? Because people don't know how to drive. I realize that that is a pretty general statement, but plainly put it is what it is. And this traffic hiccup usually sucks most when I leave for work early only to sit an extra hour or so of unexplained stoppage.

3. Wrecks. There I said it. Call me insensitive. My disclaimer: I know that accidents happen, and sometimes that's just it. So knowing that accidents are likely to occur - pay attention my friends! I have seen a truck drive 60 through sheets of rain only to hydroplane and slam into the divider. Or a '98 Corolla who pulls out in front of a car in swift motion who obviously is going too fast for said Corolla to gain speed and compensate for cutting them off. Make wise decisions Houstonites. Sometimes it gets to the point when I'm annoyed that there are wrecks. I feel like I am going to get run over by someone who's experienced or knows of someone who's experienced any type of automobile accident - and I apologize for that happening to you, but I don't apologize for how I feel. Pay attention people!

Please pray for my safety in driving home today...

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Coffee Talk

What? Elections are happening this year?? Well thanks to Comedy Central's Indecision 2008 I've been on top of things! I was devastated when Stephen Colbert withdrew from the race, but life must go on. So! Obviously, being the young, idealistic invididual that I am I suppose I am slated to vote for Obama. Well over the course of the past few months, on my way to the coffee pot, I've had several long conversations with an older colleague of mine. He's staunchly Republican, but was not always that way back in the 70's when he dabbled in things...

So he chides me, usually just teasing me, for the views I hold and my opinions on what the government is doing or should be doing in the future. He says I'm idealistic, and that's not a bad thing.* We've talked about everything from abortion to Afghanistan to Cambodia to Africa to education to healthcare to the Middle East to the Iraq War to bailouts to Vietnam to the economy. I guess we've touched on a bit of everything. He's brought up very interesting points and opened my mind to different views that I probably would not have thought of before. It's almost made me a tad more cynical as well. Should I vote third party just to protest? Do I really think either of the candidates will follow through with what they've promised, or will they just be controlled by their campaign contributors? Will Obama really spend dollar for dollar, and how will he decrease taxes with all of the new programs he's wanting to implement? What will the world come to think of America if, heaven forbid, Sarah Palin ever became President???
(ohh, I don't know...pew pew pew)

Well the point of this blog is really just to express how much I've enjoyed my coffee talk with him. Not only did it tell me more about him and what he's done and where he's been in the past (which I probably wouldn't have known cause he keeps to himself quite a bit), but it has kept me in check and made me think of the whole picture, what and how might circumstances change my views in the future. And that I'm just not as bright and well-read as I thought I was. Which isn't really breaking news to me, but it always feels good to have it handed to you every now and then. It's made me think mostly of how much I want government to be involved and where it should be involved, and lots of other things too, of course. And I haven't really come to a conclusion. Which can only lead me to my first and only tried and true - I am not leading toward one party or another. I hope to and should always vote on the issues.

*Of course when the whole bailout happened he casually said that I was a socialist because of the thoughts and views I shared on what should/could happen (and this is coming from an NPR/BBC junkie who majored in Biology and is married to a finance major - what do I know??).

Living for the Weekend

So I've always heard that it's really sad and almost pathetic to live for the weekend. And let me explain my perception of "living for the weekend". When I get in the office on Monday morning my countdown for Friday has already begun. And I get into work early. I have never been more thankful for Wednesday, my midweek intermission before there is only 2 more days until the weekend. Thursday happy hours are tempting, but I will forgo it to enjoy Friday's that much more. Friday happy hours no longer entice me with their food specials. Sometimes I just want that cold drink to hit my lips and thus beginning my weekend.
But the thing is I don't want to live for the weekend. It's really sad to me, and I don't want to be at a job that will give me that mindset. However I AM now at such a job, so I'm guessing I need a change of attitude towards my job. Easier said than done.

Things currently distracting me from work: Twitter (my newfound friend), Facebook, bank accounts (yes, bank accounts which I will check daily) and Flickr.
I'm sure there are more to come.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Eurotrip 2008

In efforts to increase my blog's visits, and to increase James and I's ratings in life we've decided to combine forces to form one gigantic blog - for the 3 readers that do wander to this blogspot. With this blog I feel like I did back in elementary school. I was that girl who would start every hobby because I wanted to buy all the cool stuff at Hobby Lobby, and then 3 weeks later be bored of it. Well I refuse to let this little thought vomit space become the next ill-fated hobby!!! So I continue by reminiscing and throwing out thoughts of our Eurotrip 2008 from August 21st to September 16th of this year.

We started out in Paris, France.

Top 3
1. We saw all of the big sights - The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Palace of Versailles, Musee d'Orsay, Notre Dame, etc.
2. The cheese is AMAZING there. I could eat it every day, every meal.
3. Subway system is convenient and will get you anywhere. PLUS people are very chic.

Bottom 3
1. People are snotty and rude. *Disclaimer: not everyone, but a good number.
2. Everyone smokes - and I hate smoke.
3. Places we went were really touristy = long lines = I have no patience. I know it's our fault, cause we went to touristy places, but that doesn't change the fact!

Next stop - Barcelona, Spain

Top 3 - I really could go on about this place...
1. Gaudi architecture was amazing.
2. Everything was cheaper than Paris.
3. People were a lot friendlier and good eye candy wherever we went (before you judge me, James thought so too)

Bottom 3
1. ya know, I don't know if there are any....except maybe people take too many siestas! but that's just part of the culture

ADD has already set in as well as the lunch hour portion of my work day. This is to be continued..