The Impasse of Others

For my final analysis paper for my ENG 112 class, I am going to most likely refer to two of my “go-to” community blogs. 

The first being renrexx.blogspot.com.  The moment I stumbled across this blog, I knew it was exactly where my blogs home belonged.  The blog talks about being a “survival guide to young adulthood” and offers personal accounts of the blogger on topics that affect the young adult community.  Problems from sex to relationships to simple pleasures such as phones are discussed.  The blog is very fun and engaging, and has plenty of posts to never appear dull or leave its readers with “Okay, and?”  Although the last post was posted about five months ago, I find pleasure in going back through the posts and finding real-time relations with what the author discusses.

The second blog is hipstercrite.com. As soon as I read the title, I knew it was for me.  With hipsters being closely related to funky, young, and lively; it was exactly where I wanted to be with my blog.  Based out of Austin, Texas, the author attracts its readers with problems that are experienced by all persons, and especially those in young adulthood.  The blog discusses health-stress/anxiety, fashion, pop culture, and many other problems/ topics of discussion concerning daily living. 

The set-up of either blog is quite intriguing and I think attributes to their growing members/followers. 

In my paper, I want to discuss how both blogs approach the topic of problems of being a young adult.  Where renrexx offers a survival guide and hipstercrite offers advice but in a way to let readers know there is nothing wrong with them.  In both cases the bloggers respond to their commenters and offer a sense of reality/ brings themselves to life.  I will discuss more in depth of the subject matters when the paper comes, but for now check out the blogs and get a better understanding of what and why I mean what I say.

Do I Smell an Attitude?

Before I get started, I just want to point out that I am not going to rant and rave about respect like an overly hormonal teenager who feels as if the world doesn’t understand him; simply I want to turn the focus on interacting jobs.  I am sure that everyone has worked in a customer service job, and if by the slight chance one of you readers have not then I’m 99 percent sure you know someone that did or still does.

As I mentioned in the opening post, I work in a pizzeria as counter help, or in layman's terms a “phone person.”  I work thirty hours a week, and what do you know? I’m answering phones almost the entire length of that time.  To be absolutely honest, towards the end of nine hour shift, I’m worn out and do not wish to speak with any of the customers.  Considering that I am getting paid to do that very thing, I must put aside my needs to focus on assuring “good customer service.”

With that said, would any rational person think that I would take being yelled at or berated kindly?  Well the answer is NO.  However because the “customer is always right” I either have to take it or in the rare circumstance that the customer is too difficult to handle then I hand them over to one of my managers. 

To give you a better visual of what I must deal with on occasion, let me tell you a story.  First we will change the names of those involved for personal assurance.  The customer’s name is Beth, and my manager will be Strange.

It was a Wednesday night, and business on week nights is good but not busy.  I’m going to step back.  To assure that everything is right I always repeat back every bit of information, and especially since the night wasn’t too busy I had time to spend on this customer in particular.  Anyways, the customer calls and I answer the phone as I always do “Thank you for calling…This is…How may I help you?”  Instantly the customer caught an attitude with me, for reasons nobody knows.  “Hi.  My name is Beth.”  Trying to be the best at my job, I ignored the moody tone of voice.  “Hi! Can I have your address please ma’am?”  You would have thought I asked her for a favor, with the tone she replied back with.  Normally I can easily ignore it, however because the street name was unfamiliar and the tone she had adopted was causing feedback into the receiver it was hard to understand her.  After repeating the address and order several times to make sure everything was 100 percent correct, I was released of my bondage to this unmannerly woman.

My shackles were quickly chained around my ankle once again, by another phone call from Beth.  Instantly, she began to scold me.  Apparently the driver had gotten lost, and called Beth; when in actuality the address was wrong.  Beth began using very derisive language with me.  Amongst the berating, she had informed me that the food arrived on time and was just fine, but the problem is that I am “incompetent” and the driver showed up soaking wet.  I thought to myself, as she was going on about my inadequateness, the reason the driver was wet was because it is pouring down rain.  At the moment that I realized she was not going to stop, I simply asked her “well what do you want me to do, would you like to speak to my manager?”  “Please,” she said in the snarkiest way.  Of course, my manager Strange would take her side and let her know that he was on her side.  She was given a ten dollar credit and I was reprimanded.  In essence, Beth was rewarded for her ability to whine.  Later, I was informed by the driver that she gave him the same [wrong] address she had given me.

The point of that story was to prove my point, that had I at least sounded older rather than younger than I really am, I probably would not have had any problems out of Beth.  I sometimes feel that because of my youthful appearance, and possibly my actual age, I do not receive the respect that I must give others.  But maybe that is my answer.  Because I MUST give the customers respect, some of them feel that they do not have to return the gesture in any shape or form.  How could they give me respect?  On what level do I deserve?  I’m not an adult, but I am not a child either.  Although, I can truthfully say that I have a newfound respect for waiters and waitresses; because of my personal experience with customers in the restaurant business.  The respect level is not there, and sometimes it seems to be enough to push me to quit.  Why are so many people rude, or feel as if they are entitled?  I am technically an adult too, and a very respectable one at that.  With the amount of young adults in the customer service industry, especially the restaurant business, I would think respect would just be present.  Maybe it isn’t an age thing in whole, but it definitely has a major influence.

Being at their Mercy

As a continuation from my latest post:

All my life I have reared my parents as the most superior beings, and I the most inferior to them.  I was raised to always give respect to adults and other superior beings, teachers and such.  Growing up, my single-parent mother used the common phrases “I have to be the mom and the dad” and “I am not your friend, I am your parent.”  Although she stuck by her word, she still wanted and achieved the relationship we have always had- I can tell her anything, talk to her about whatever and still keep the level of mother and son in check.  As I got older, however, our relationship has changed to that of an older sister and younger brother in ways that we can relate and discuss more adult-oriented topics.  The relationship is strong and healthy, as any child-parent relation should; but I still find myself not being completely comfortable.

Being at the mercy of my parents makes me feel as if I am not progressing in my life, but rather doing the opposite.  I do not want to dominate or over-step my boundaries as the “adult-child,” but the power-struggle between my parents and I is evident.  In my point of view I see myself as being a responsible young-adult.  I am a full-time student, part-time worker sustaining 30 hours a week, and saving up for a car.  However, it seems that it is not good enough for my parents.  Am I the one that is blinded by my own “perfections?”  Or are my parents too afraid to let me grow up? 

“In our Western culture, economic independence leads people to feel self-empowered and capable. It feels good to be able to rely on yourself, to take care of yourself, and to feel capable of pursuing your own goals.”(Dependent...)  The struggle of mine is well reflected by the quote above.  I want to branch out and “sow my own oats,” however I have to depend on my parents.  Dependence can be a blessing and a curse.  I am not too bothered by the common struggles of the “adult world,” and yet I wish to be apart of the new-world only independent. 

“By making most of the decisions for our children, we weaken them. By allowing them to make decisions and requiring them to take responsibility for their actions, we strengthen them.”(Dependent...)  Possibly this is a topic I need to discuss with my parents, but how do I go about doing so without offending.  Arguments on such topics that end with threats like: “Find your own ride to work/school,” only push me further into an internal confusion.  I don’t ever like coming across as ungrateful, or suppressed.  However, I am only getting older and I need my freedoms as anyone else does. 

Dependent Young Adults: "We've given you every advantage! Don't you want to do something with your life?" (2012, February 6). Retrieved February 6,2012, from http://www.sowhatireallymeanttosay.com/

Insight into My Chaotic Imbroglio

The minds of young adults are one big mystery.  The transition between childhood and adulthood is a mental burden in itself.  I am one, and even I find it hard at times to fully understand why I do things the way I do, or even what makes me do them or think that way.  Through psychology we can all learn that one single brain is not identical to another.  With that being said my blog posts will be mostly based on my own personal experiences and others [young adults] that too find themselves in similar predicaments.  Not to say that any or all of my topics will be topics that only adolescents can face, there could be a forty year old that experiences similar dilemmas and that is unfortunately perfect!  I will discuss various topics such as: anxiety and its relation to school, work and other stress-related issues; sexuality; relationships-friend and family; and various other topics as such and all having the focal theme of young-adult impasses.  *Hence the title.  A little introduction of myself, would be I am an eighteen year old male, currently living at home, studying at a local community college, and sustaining a part-time job.  Don’t get me wrong there is not anything wrong with a community college, but graduating high school with over a 4.0 GPA and staying home mainly for the family’s sake, can cause a little bit of imbroglio in my head.  I am very much overweight and have family member(s) of who are sick- I will address more in detail, the topics I just mentioned in the very near future.  I am extraverted and musically oriented in a sense that I love music-but what person of the new generation doesn’t?  From a first glance, I am quite normal, lost in the crowd.  After a few moments however, it can easily be identified that I am far from that.  What is normal anymore, anyways?  Is anyone truly normal?  These things complicate my life even further, especially when I see that I do not fit the criteria of a normal eighteen year old male.