Tuesday, April 6, 2010

I Pledge to Be a Good Driver

I pledge to be a good driver. I swear to honor the rules of the road and to be respectful of the rights of other motorists. I swear to give way to pedestrians and to refrain from racing with other drivers. So help me God.

It's already been 8 months since I got my license, and I have to admit that I'm starting to be a little cocky when I am on the road. I love speeding and having a red, V6-powered beast isn't helping at all with my affliction. I won't deny the fact that driving gives me a sense of power, a feeling of great freedom, as I am able to go wherever I want, whenever I want.

It just occurred to me that I am starting to go over-board. I love my car, I really do, and I want to keep it for a longer period of time; but with the way I am driving my car, I'll be lucky to still keep it within 5 years. I am easily tempted to race with other cars whenever they try to speed up beside me because I know that my baby can take them on. I just realized that my actions are very immature and it only says that I am compensating for something in some way.

My car is my source of pride and joy but it also is the source of my agony. Paying for my car is expensive enough and I surely don't want to get speeding tickets or have my insurance premium increased. I swear from this day forward I will drive according to the speed limit and I won't even speed up whenever someone is tailgating me. They can drive pass me if they want but I am surely not speeding up.

I must always remember that I share the road with other drivers.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Working in Retail Sucks Rant


Working in retail doesn't really suck that much (working at fast food sucks more). My job isn't my dream job but I love working at my store since I work with great people (co-workers and SOME customers) and it helps pay for my car bills and other expenses for school.

The only thing that sucks in retail (most people who works in retail will agree with me on this one) are some weird, stupid, arrogant, obnoxious, bitchy customers. There are so many things that happen in retail that you'll never ever imagine could happen in real life. I'm pretty sure that my experiences aren't as bad as other retail associates had experienced before but I'll share some of them anyway:

> I hate it when you ask someone if they need any help and then they say "NO". Seconds later when you're already helping another customer they demand that they be helped or they complain because no one is helping them. You're not the queen of the world bitch, wait your turn. You had your chance to be helped when I asked you if you needed help. 

> I hate it when someone asks me, "Do you work here?" or "Do you know anything about this?". I'd love to just say, "Are you retarded?". Like I'm wearing the uniform and duh, I know what I'm selling. 

> I hate it when people complain why the prices are too high. Well I don't know, I just sell them I'm not the one who controls the trend in the market and I'm definitely not the one who decides on the prices. Besides, not a single business will sell their goods and services below cost. No one runs a business to lose money.

> I hate it when people demand for a discount (especially brown people). I don't work for commission so even if you don't buy anything from me, I still get paid. And this isn't the market place, this is a retail store so no. Demanding to ask the manager for a price drop won't work either. Just pick up your cheap ass and leave. Go to the dollar store or something. 

> I hate it when people act all high and mighty (especially male and old white people, and some Filipinos). I don't care if you're rich or if you have a fucking business or whatsoever. I never asked, and your card just got declined bitch. Where's your million dollars now? 

> I hate cheap people. PERIOD. If you did see that cheaper in another store then go shop there instead, no one is stopping you. Stop complaining why our prices are higher than the ones the other store is selling. Well are they even the same model. They may look the same but they're not.

> I hate it when people start opening products. No one will fucking buy them now since they're opened. Oh yeah this reminds me of those two Asians who wanted me to bring each and every box down because they "think" that the boxes are opened. Each and every single box up there is identical to this one. If you're looking for a box that's perfect and free of dents and scratches then good luck finding one.

> I hate people who asks for your opinion but then become defensive when it goes against theirs. If you don't want my suggestion then don't ask for it.

> I hate it when people ask really stupid questions; questions that they don't really care if you know the right answer but they just want to piss you off for some unknown reason.

> I hate it when people demand that they should be given a gift card or something because the product that they're looking for is out of stock. Well sorry your highness but did it ever occur to you that you're not the only person who has money and wants that? The flyer absolutely said "no rainchecks" so try being a princess at another store.
    I have several other experiences but those bad experiences are counterbalanced by meeting real nice people who really appreciate the help and great service that I give to them. Follow the golden rule people. If you want good service then be respectful. Being a bitch won't get you first class service.

    Friday, March 26, 2010

    The Right to Die

    For some mystical reason, I have been hearing a lot of things lately about the right to die. I have always been pro-life and I have been strongly against suicide and euthanasia; I see people who wants to kill their selves as weak. My whole opinion about this mater had made a 180 degrees turn when I looked at this with the patient's perspective.

    Imagine your self as someone diagnosed with a terminal illness, cancer for instance. There is no cure and your condition has gone for the worst. Your organs have started failing and you are always in pain. Don't you just want to have the option to end it all? You want to die with dignity and you don't want your last days writhing in pain or unconscious.

    Euthanasia and Suicide is a moral dilemma indeed. We may discourage suicide but having the right to die (when all else fails) is a fundamental right by people. I have actually written a paper regarding the moral distress and posted it here but removed it for fear of having someone else steal my intellectual property.

    The gist of my paper is actually this: moral euthanasia is when you just allow the disease run its natural course and allow the patient to die without having to endure futile treatments that will prolong life but will also force the patient to endure the pain and suffering that accompanies the disease.

    We should not be afraid of death. There are times when death is more comforting than living.

    ****
    Picture credits goes to Daily Mail

    Thursday, March 25, 2010

    Living in Poverty

    At Foundations of Health today, we actually watched a documentary called "No Place Called Home". I really didn't feel like going to class today because I was just so stressed out, but I was glad I came as this documentary is very touching and it kind of makes you reflect upon certain things.

    So the movie is about the Rice family and how they struggle to keep a roof over their heads. The Rice family are just one of the growing working poor in Canada. Kay Rice comes from a long generations of poor Canadians but she did a fantastic job raising 6 children who are healthy, smart, and morally upright. Society is ruthless to people like Kay and her children. She can't help it if she can't make enough money to support all of them. She does get jobs but she gets paid minimum wage she isn't educated. Society looks down on them and bully them for not wearing the clothes currently in fashion or for just being poor. Kay herself was beaten up and had to be sent to the hospital for she was wearing cheap, used clothes from the thrift store. The Rice family had been called disgusting and they weren't treated like human beings at all.

    Some people would call the Canadian poor or the homeless bums; Bums who suck all of the taxpayers money, but on the contrary, Kay had never filed for welfare and she doesn't intend to file for welfare ever. The reason for this is that she'll lose the child benefits she gets and she doesn't want her children taken away from her.

    One of the reasons why she can't escape poverty is that she has a hard time finding a roof over their head. Imagine, she pays $1000 plus for a home that is roach infested and unfit for residence. She is taken advantaged of because no one is willing to take her and her 6 children in as landlords fear that the Rice family will destroy the house that they will rent out to them. As Kay said, "No one wants to be poor and be looked down upon". I almost cried as I heard this because I share the same pain as her. She never did choose to be poor and she tries to get out of poverty but she just can't. Her children have great dreams and I wish that they achieve them.

    Like Kay I really feel so bad and I get so angry whenever someone looks down at me. And as I have posted before, the only people who looked down at me were Filipinos.Anyway I won't go into the details of that anymore.I can on the other hand explain that in my desire to prove people wrong when they say that I'm a poor, cheap, contract worker, I actually made myself poor.

    In Canada everyone is considered equal as everyone has the same opportunities and the same purchasing power. You can be just a mere taxi driver but you can afford to buy a big house. In my case, even when I'm still a university student and that I only work part-time, I was able to buy myself a 2010 Mitsubishi Outlander.Although I can afford to pay for my car, I'm considered poor because I'm using up more than 60% of my income.This is why I hate the Filipino mentality of social classes because in the end, trying to maintain a status quo will only bring unhappiness.

    If people only minded their own business then people won't have to bother dressing up and buying expensive things to prove their worth because seriously: the amount of things you have don't define you as a person.

    A Tribute to Male Nurses

    If you are currently in the nursing profession, and you happen to be male, you’ve more than likely encountered some form of ridicule, whether it is the more innocuous, “Why would you decide to be a nurse?” to more troubling suggestions about your sexuality. In the movie, “Meet the Parents,” one of the main characters is a male nurse, and he is made of fun of throughout the film on account of his chosen career. While of course, nursing is a predominantly female-saturated profession—in fact, a national registry claims that women nurses outnumber their male counterparts 16 to 1—there are a growing number of males in an occupation that is rewarding on a personal as well as financial and professional level.
     
    A nursing blog, AllNurses.com, recently talked about the history of nursing and included a list of famous male nurses. The first nursing school was founded in India around 250 B.C. The blog post quotes a primary source from the first nursing school, which was all-male, that reports men aspiring to be nurses should be “of good behavior, distinguished for purity, possessed of cleverness and skill, imbued with kindness, skilled in every service a patient may require, competent to cook food, skilled in bathing and washing the patient, rubbing and massaging the limbs, lifting and assisting him to walk about, well skilled in making and cleansing of beds, readying the patient and skillful in waiting upon one that is ailing and never unwilling to do anything that may be ordered."

    The list of famous male nurses includes Walt Whitman, the eminent 19th century American poet, Friar Juan de Mena, the first nurse to ever administer service in the present-day United States, and James Derham, a slave who worked as a nurse in New Orleans in the 1700s. Derhem eventually earned enough money to buy his freedom, and he later became the first African-American physician in history.

    For males choosing to pursue a career in nursing today, there are many resources that will enhance your growth in a female-dominated field. The American Assembly for Men in Nursing (AAMN) is one such organization which seeks to “provide a framework for nurses, as a group, to meet, to discuss and influence factors, which affect men as nurses.” The organization works toward promoting increased male representation in nursing as well. 

    For more personal insight into the trials and tribulations of male nurses, read the article, “Male Nurses Need Respect, Too” featured recently on Travel Nursing Blogs .

    By-line:
    This guest post is contributed by Kitty Holman, who writes on the topics of Nursing Schools. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: kitty.holman20@gmail.com.