Getting a Job
From I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
My room had all the cheeriness of a dungeon and the appeal of a tomb. It was going to be impossible to stay there, but leaving held no attraction for me, either….
The answer came to me with the suddenness of a collision. I would go to work. Mother wouldn’t be difficult to convince; after all, in school I was a year ahead of my grade and mother was a firm believer in self-sufficiency. In fact, she’d be pleased to think that I had that much gumption, that much of her in my character. (she liked to speak of herself as the original “do-it-yourself girl.”)
Once I had settled on getting a job, all that remained was to decide which kind of job I was most fitted for. My intellectual pride had kept me from selecting typing, shorthand, or filing as subjects in school, so office work was ruled out. War plants and shipyards demanded birth certificates, and mine would reveal me to be fifteen, and ineligible for work. So the well-paying defense jobs were also out. Women had replaced men on the streetcars as conductors and motormen, and the thought of sailing up and down the hills of San Francisco in a dark-blue uniform, with a money changer at my belt, caught my fancy.
Mother was as easy as I had anticipated. The world was moving so fast, so much money was being made, so many people were dying in Guam, and Germany, that hordes of strangers became good friends overnight. Life was cheap and death entirely free. How could she have the time to think about my academic career?
To her question of what I planned to do, I replied that I would get a job on the streetcars. She rejected the proposal with: “they don’t accept colored people on streetcars.”
I would like to claim an immediate fury which was followed by the noble determination to break the restricting tradition. But the truth is, my first reaction was one of disappointment. I’d pictured myself, dressed in a neat blue serge suit, my money changer swinging jauntily at my waist, and a cheery smile for the passengers which would make their own work day brighter.
From disappointment, I gradually ascended the emotion ladder to haughty indignation, and finally to the state of stubbornness where the mind is blocked like the jaws of an enraged bulldog.
I would go to work on the streetcars and wear a blue serge suit. Mother gave me her support with one of her usual terse asid...
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...ouble when you pack double.”
She stayed awake to drive me out to the car barn at four thirty in the mornings, or to pick me up when I was relieved just before dawn. Her awareness of life’s perils convinced her that while I would be safe on the public conveyances, she “wasn’t about to trust a taxi driver with her baby.”
When the spring classes began, I resumed my commitment with formal education. I was so much wiser and older, so much more independent, with a bank account and clothes that I had bought for myself, that I was sure that I had learned and earned the magic formula which would make me a part of the gay life my contemporaries led.
Not a bit of it. Within weeks, I realized that my schoolmates and I were on paths moving diametrically away from each other. They were concerned and excited over the approaching football games, but I had in my immediate past raced a car down a dark and foreign Mexican mountain. They concentrated great interest on who was worthy of being student body president, and when the metal bands would be removed from their teeth, while I remembered sleeping for a month in a wrecked automobile and conducting a streetcar in the uneven hours of the morning.
“At the war’s end, even though a majority of women surveyed reported wanted to keep their jobs, many were forced out by men returning home and by the downturn in demand for war materials… The nation that needed their help in
Fredrick Douglas was born in Maryland; he does not know the date of his birth, as did most slaves. He never really had a chance to know his mother, only having seen her four or five times. Fredrick taught himself how to read and write despite it being against his slave-owners wishes. He could not let his knowledge be known to anyone except for other slaves. Fredrick saw his knowledge of words both as a blessing and a curse. White men were given supreme power over their black slaves and it corrupted their character.
Education made him open his eyes and realize that his value in life, was that worth of a cow, that he, as a human, is living like a dog, being put to work like a draft horse. Fredrick was mindful of the face to he too, could read and write just like any of those other slave owners. Fredrick’s ambition to continue his education makes me think of my education, why would education be so important, if I was looking to survive, just like Fredrick, trying to live, what is the importance of literacy? What’s the point of living, if I cannot live myself, if I cannot understand my own value. Fredrick understood his value, so he had a goal for everyone else to recognize his value. Without some education and literacy, it would be difficult for someone to understand their
The simple injections have potential to save thousands of lives every year and they are making the world a safer place. Vaccines can help create an environment where children are not receptive to disease which would have taken lives in previous decades, and for the general population to be healthy, and to keep children safe from illness and disease people should vaccinate themselves. Throughout my research for vaccinations, I didn’t realize the many stances parents could support. I knew previously before researching that many parents didn’t agree with the idea of giving their child a vaccination that could possible cause an issue that wasn’t present before. Although, I always supported vaccinations strictly because of scientific facts; when I read about the many reasons why parents didn’t it was a shock and ultimately overwhelmingly disappointing. Mainly, because it seems like parents are only looking at the few effects vaccinations could have on a child. Overall, I believe that everyone should be vaccinated, not only to help themselves but to help the public from outbreaks that can easily occur if the anti-vaccination movement continues and makes
Frederick Douglass was born in February 1818 in his grandmother's cabin. His mother was Harriet Bailey a slave owned by Aaron Anthony. The last time he saw his mother was when he was one year old. He never knew his father. The only thing he knew about him was that he was a white man. This report will be about the worst things about slavery in the eyes of Frederick Douglass.
America looks at disease as a war. Illness is the enemy, vaccinations are the weapons, and the unfortunate cost is that some innocent civilians may lose their lives. A vaccine is a substance used to provide immunity against a disease. In some cases, vaccines have done more harm than good. Ignoring this fact, vaccines are mandatory in every state, and some states are trying to take away the parent’s right to deny them. The disadvantages, diseases, and disabilities caused by vaccines justify the parent’s right to decide against the risk of vaccination.
Cook, Kristin. "Ethical And Legal Issues Accompanying Legislation Requiring Hpv Vaccination Of Girls." Health Matrix: Journal Of Law-Medicine 18.1 (2008): 209-228. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
All references are from Sweet Briar College's 1996 Orientation Anthology, (Women's Place, Women's Choices: The Public Careers and Personal Experiences of American Women. Ed. Cynthia M. Patterson and Martha Woodroof, 1996.)
All families should get their children vaccinated against the most common STD in America, the Human papilloma virus (HPV). As health care professionals it is essential to educate parents and adolescents about the HPV virus which can cause genital warts along with many varieties of cancers including cervical, penile and throat cancer. The vaccine will guard against four strains of the virus. Two of these strains are known to cause 70% of cervical cancer cases and the other two cause 90% of genital warts (Kara Newby, 2009). Another reason to receive the HPV vaccine is to promote sexual and reproductive health education. Two of the biggest arguments against the HPV vaccine are the high cost and that some parents feel it will make their teenagers feel invisible and may engage in more risky sexual behaviors if vaccinated.
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery sometime between 1817 or 1818. Like many slaves he was unsure of his birthday; it was one of the many things that he was deprived of. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a memoir written by former slave himself, Frederick Douglass. The book explains his hardships ranging from losing family members, being moved from owner to owner, and being whipped at least once a week. One of Frederick's many owners, Auld, considered him unmanageable. Auld rented Frederick to Mr. Covey for a year, also known as the slave breaker (pg 34). Mr. Covey was one of the most cruel slave owners Frederick had. Mr. Covey treated him with barbarity. Throughout Douglass’ stay with Mr. Covey he grew as a person.
In the 1920s, women struggled to develop a work identity that would give them professional status and preserve their femininity (Walkowitz, 1051). They wanted to be eligible for an executive position, but at the same time they also wanted to be Women finally began working outside the home, but not yet at the level, status, and rank they deserved. They deserved
During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's
I arrived at Sacred Heart Cathedral for my first day of high school. As my friend’s mom drove through the populous streets of San Francisco, I sat in the back seat of her car running through the pages of the planner I had received at orientation. As the thick, smooth pages ran through my fingers, I worried over finding my classes, being on time to my classes, and having time to out my books in my locker. I found the page dated August 24th, my first day of high school. I had all six classes that day, French, English, Honors Algebra, Physics, World History, and lastly Scripture.
To begin with, I would like to describe my mom’s ambition. She wakes up every morning with the positive attitude, and a smile on her face. She is always searching for ways to improve her persona, and live a happier life. About five years ago my mother, my sister and I moved from Ukraine here to the United States. The first year in the United States was tough for us because we did not know English, however, we all worked hard and today we speak English fairly well. Since we moved from Ukraine, my mom has worked really hard to give my sister and I the lifestyle we have. My mom’s ambition to succeed in life has allowed her to grow into a wonderful person full of kindness and knowledge. Ambition is a great virtue to have, and that is one reason why my mother is my role model. My mother is a hard worker, she never...
While in school, Mom didn’t have it to easy. Not only did she raise a daughter and take care of a husband, she had to deal with numerous setbacks. These included such things as my father suffering a heart attack and going on to have a triple by-pass, she herself went through an emergency surgery, which sat her a semester behind, and her father also suffered a heart attack. Mom not only dealt with these setbacks but she had the everyday task of things like cooking dinner, cleaning the house and raising a family. I don’t know how she managed it all, but somehow she did.