My Dad and Old Cars
Some people bring home stray dogs. My father brings home stray cars. He gets emotionally attached and eventually puts them on life support. This keeps them viable long beyond the time other family members vote to pull the plug. He drives a 1968 VW van that chugs along on its third rebuilt engine. My big brother vows to bury dad in it. The 1971 VW Bug that he used for fifteen years is still operable, but since a teenager's foot went through the rusted floorboards to the street below, it's been relegated to the retirement home: his driveway. He continues paying on the life insurance policy but he has signed a "Do Not Resuscitate" waiver.
My father went off to college in a 1931 Model A Ford. In the back seat of that car, on an old country road, I made love for the first time. Now it sits under a blue parachute in the driveway. Mice breed in the upholstery and the ceiling fabric hangs in shreds, but my father is convinced the car will awaken from its coma and live to cruise again.
A 1960 Plymouth Valiant that drove like a tank and sounded like a B-52 suffered sudden paralysis one car-pooling morning when both front wheels turned at right angles to the frame of the car, bringing it to a sudden and permanent halt. Unwilling to assign the car to a nameless grave in Potter's Field, my father paid to have it hauled to a vocational school. Prince Valiant became a vehicular cadaver; the old thing may even have become an organ donor.
We don't buy new cars. According to my dad, "You never know what might go wrong with a new car, and you could get a lemon."
I say, "But we know even less about a used car. People don't sell their cars when everything's fine. They sell them when things start going wrong."
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...car key. My dad, the guy with the soft spot for homeless old cars in need of a square meal and a soft bed, had made good on a long-standing promise of "a decent car."
It took him six months of scouring the ads, but he'd bought me a car that's only five years old. It's an Acura Legend and appears to be in excellent health. The leather seats are as comfortable as the Peugeot's, no gremlins live in the CD player, and the AC and heating systems have no viruses. The sunroof is dry as a bone, and the car starts whenever I turn the key. Overall, I'd say the car has a superb attitude.
That first morning of new ownership, I stood staring in awe at this white beauty. Then the rest of my life spread before me as my father said, "And we can give it to Bria when she starts driving. It should have all the bugs worked out of it by then."
Bria is my five-year-old niece.
Woolum, Janet. Chapter 1 Women in American Sports. The Oryx Press, 1992. eLibrary. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
Gender discrimination is prominent in every industry, but it is as though the sport industry is one of the worst. Women in the work force currently receive only 80 cents to every man’s dollar (Holmes, 2016). However, female athletes both in America and internationally receive a far lesser compensation for their attributes. The only difference of the sports being played is who plays them. There should be no reason why a male athlete receives better pay simply because he had a 50% chance of being born a man. At birth, no one controls the gender, but as they grow and mature, they control their personality and development. Payment should be on personal skills and not gender. As a female STHM student focusing on sport management and a former athlete,
“Seasonal Flu Shot.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA.gov, 21 Sept. 2011. Web. 19 Jan. 2012
It has taken many years for women to gain a semblance of equality in sports. Throughout history, women have been both excluded from playing sports and discriminated against in sports. Men’s sports have always dominated the college athletic field, but women were finally given a fighting chance after Title IX was passed. Title IX, among other things, requires scholarships to be equally proportioned between men and women’s sports. Although this was a huge gain for women, gender inequality still exists in sports today. An example of this persisting inequality can be seen when looking at men’s baseball and women’s softball. In college, baseball and softball are both major NCAA sports. It is widely accepted throughout today’s society that baseball is a man’s sport, and softball is a woman’s sport. Very few people question why the two sexes are separated into two different sports, or wonder why women play softball instead of baseball. Fewer people know that women have been essentially excluded from playing baseball for a long time. This paper will focus on why softball has not changed the way women’s basketball has, why women continue to play softball, the possibilities and dynamics of women playing baseball with and without men, and the most discriminating aspect of women being banned from playing professional baseball.
Frantz, Chris. "Timeline: Women in Sports." Infoplease/Pearson Education,, 2007. Web. Lombardo, John. "New President Aims to Widen WNBA’s Fan Base." SportsBusiness Daily, 30 May 2011..
really neat car that not many other people had. Than the next thing I would do
Women in sports demand quality assurance for their hard work. Sad to say this is not implemented in the sports “world” of women. “One of the theories behind this is that society doesn’t like to see women in roles that go against the norm of what a woman “should be” (Rodriguez).” Fortunately this stems from ignorance and prejudice beliefs. Especially through the media, both of which can be learned. The media can alter sports viewer’s opinions by relaying positive messages toward women’s sports. As well as sports authoritators distributing equal pay for equal work. The abundant amount of support that the media and viewers allocate will allow a higher amount of equality for women in the sports industry. This kind of support will lead women in sports salaries rise and eventually match the hardship of achievements as a minority in today’s sports
“A woman is human. She is not better, wiser, stronger, more intelligent, more creative, or more responsible than a man. Likewise, she is never less. Equality is a given. A woman is human,” Vera Nazarian. Unfortunately now in the United States, women are being treated less than their male counterparts, especially when it comes to professional athletics. In an article entitled, Taking a Closer Look at the Gender Pay Gap in Sports, written by John Walters on newsweek.com, he exclaims, “Each player on the USWNT earns $99,000 per year provided the team wins 20 “friendlies” (exhibition matches), the minimum number of matches they would play. By contrast, each men’s player would earn $263,320 for the same feat and would still earn $100,000 if the team lost all 20 games.” Not only does this topic relate to the difference in pay for women and men in soccer but it also relates to all of the other sports like, basketball, tennis and the many other were males participate too in separate organizations. The topic on whether female athletes should be paid the same as their male counterparts, is a massive debate with two opposing sides. On one side of the debate, people believe male driven associations produce more revenue than female driven associations, the competition in male sports is more intense, and more fans want to see thunderous dunks and the athletic ability of males over the lesser abilities of what females can do. On the contrary, female athletics aren 't given the same recognition or praise, females go through the same types of workouts males go through and they participate in the same types of events, and females don 't have the same abilities as males due to the way they ar...
Female athlete coverage in the media is a complication due to far less coverage than male athletes receive. Statistics show that females already receive less than ten percent of coverage, although this is much more than they received just a short time ago. Shauna Kavanagh said in an article that when she was younger, female sports were never on TV. “All of my sporting heroes were males,” she said. Although strides have been made for female athlete’s, there is still a long ways to go. Kavanagh secondly went on to express that she feels the press does not cover woman athletics imperfectly; they simply don’t publicize them enough. People are still much more interested in ma...
Whether its baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, or tennis, sports is seen all over the world as a representation of one’s pride for their city, country, and even continent. Sports is something that is valued world-wide which has the ability to bring communities together and create different meanings, beliefs and practices between individuals. Although many people may perceive sports to have a significant meaning within our lives, it can also have the ability to separate people through gender inequalities which can also be represented negatively throughout the media. This essay will attempt to prove how gender is constructed in the sports culture while focusing on female athletes and their acceptance in today’s society.
The purpose of this essay is to look at the possibility and advantages of applying vertical planting on buildings in Hong Kong within the next fifty years. The concept of vertical planting was created by the French botanist Patrick Blanc (Hohenadel 2007). This method has been applied to plenty of buildings in worldwide scale for reducing pollution, saving energy and decorative purpose (BBC 2011), whereas it is new to Hong Kong. This article will focus on discussing the potential impacts of the technology like improving air quality and reducing heat island effect in Hong Kong. This essay will briefly describe the mechanism of growing plants without using soil and examine the niche for applying vertical planting domestically. It will then analyze the impact of the technique. And finally conclude by discussing whether vertical planting could improve Hong Kong resident’s life quality.
Gestalt and TA concept have been widely recognized for their role in psychotherapy. In this context, they provide the therapist with a framework which can be used to help their patients overcome mental problems and issues. As result, personal growth and development is likely to be attained. Their significance is illuminated by the fact that both of them encourage the patient’s ‘here and now’ awareness, which is fundamental in personal development (Brenner 2000).
Miami County Helping Hands. Here Is Page Two of the Brochure. Miami County Helping Hands. Miami County Helping Hands. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. .
Claims in the advertisements are used to try and get people of all types to notice, admire, and eventually go out and buy this car. There are three different types of claims: policy, fact, and value. The claims of policy in this advertisement are similar to most claims of policy in ads, which are, "buy this product." The claims of policy are created by the pretty picture on the opposite side of the page, and the writing on the ad. In the picture, the pretty mountains and bright sun look very inviting to someone who needs sometime to relax. By the desire to have free time, the busy worker will think that the car will get them some free time. Then, they will want to buy the car. The writing includes lines such as, "Finally. After working for what seems like forever, you have some time to yourself." Although this quote really does not have much to do with the car, it attracts the reader who may want some free time. The claims of fact include the statements about how many miles the car can go before needing a tune up and how it fits a low budget. These kinds of claims can attract people of all kinds, mainly people looking to spend little on a car for themselves or for their children. The claims of value state that this car can take you wherever you want, and that "even though going out during your free time may cost a lot, getting there won't." From these examples of claims of policy, fact, and value, the car looks very attractive to a reader.
A few months ago I bought my first new car. The number of choices to be made seemed a little ridiculous. I walked into the dealer knowing I wanted a green Ford Focus sedan, only to find out there were half a dozen models that fit into that category – Focus LX, LX Premium, SE, SE Comfort, ZTS, blah blah blah, and a couple shades of green.