Prohibiting Night Clubs - 1025 Words

2/25/2013 Essay 1 Under aged Clubbing Prohibiting nightclubs from admitting people under age twenty-one will take some weight off of parents, club owners, drivers and innocent bystanders. With the economy sinking, many owners are making what they believe a wise financial decision by allowing eighteen to twenty year olds in their clubs. They are mixing eighteen to twenty in with the twenty-one and up crowd, as failing clubs’ owners only see more people and more money. Every night thousands of young adults eighteen to twenty years old are let into nightclubs and everyone is at a great risk. Fewer and fewer clubs are now allowing those under the drinking age into their establishment. To eliminate a cause leading to more underage drinking,†¦show more content†¦Having an â€Å"X† marked on the hand does little to nothing when attempting to prevent drinking because, if scrubbed well, it will come off. Those who want to make a change but do not want to make the club drop in revenue have come up with alter natives implied. The city and police department in Boca Raton are attempting to curve the restrictions for underage drinking at their nightclubs, by banning anyone younger than twenty-one from bars and nightclubs between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., they are also putting cameras inside and out of nightclubs. After experiencing two nightclub shootings in 2008 and an increase in violence cameras, no longer seemed like a bad idea. Giving those under the legal drinking age separate nights can also be a good thing with fewer potential problems. Many clubs have now incorporated â€Å"teen night†. Teen night is designed for ages thirteen to eighteen with a soda bar option only and it has been known to receive a very good turnout. There are not many clubs that have a night that focuses on age groups eighteen to twenty, which is another option for separate nights. Club owners now have options other than banning those under the legal drinking age from the establishment. Owners will not have to worry about losing money, liquor license, or part of the twenty-one and up crowd. Allowing people under the drinking age limit into a club serving alcohol can result in death, rape,Show MoreRelated Club Owners Must Not Allow Underage Drinking969 Words   |  4 PagesProhibiting nightclubs from admitting people under age twenty-one will take some weight off of parents, club owners, drivers and innocent bystanders. With the economy sinking, many owners are making what they believe a wise financial decision by allowing eighteen to twenty year olds in their clubs. They are mixing eighteen to twenty in with the twenty-one and up crowd, as failing clubs owners only see more people more money. Every night thousands of young adults eighteen to twenty years old are letRead MoreLowering The Drinking Age From 21 Essay1214 Words   |  5 PagesEvery year over 5,000 kids under the age of 21 die from alcohol abuse, 1 in 5 10th graders will resort to binge drinking, and alcohol continues to damage developing teen brains (Let’s Stop Teen Drinking Tragedies). While they m ay not be seen in night clubs in bars, people between the ages of 18 and 21 are subjecting themselves to unsafe usage of alcohol in private or at high school parties simply because it’s â€Å"fun† and â€Å"reckless†. So how do we as a country end this monumental epidemic? Some believeRead MoreThe Statewide Legalization Of Marijuana1592 Words   |  7 Pagesevery eight people above the age of twelve had used the drug at least once. Following the legalization of marijuana, teen use with the substance has dropped by thirty nine percent within just one year because of all the new dispensaries and laws prohibiting the drug to people under the age of twenty-one. Prior to the illegalization of alcohol in the 1920’s people loved to drink. It was a big part of the life style this caused many women to start a prohibition movement that would ban the saleRead MoreSmoking In Public Places - The Smoking Ban Backlash Essay1723 Words   |  7 Pagestaking their last hauls before entering the bars for a night of drinking. Due to the smoking ban in all public work areas that has been in effect since May of 2003, restaurant and bar patrons of Boston bear the cold winter season approaching, and reminisce about the old days where it was legal to enjoy a smoke with a cocktail at a bar. In May of 2003, Boston joined 90 other communities that banned smoking in Massachusetts, prohibiting smoking in all public establishments. There are certainRead MoreGlobal Issues : Targeting Tattoos757 Words   |  4 Pageswith Officer Newton on his calls for service. As a result of these complaints, Officer Newton has been summoned to the police chief’s office for a meeting. During their meeting, Officer Newton stated he has every right to display his tattoos and prohibiting him from displaying it would violate the Fourteenth and First Amendment of the United Constitution. Officer Newton stated if the chief forbids him from displaying his body art, then the following action would be considered as a hostile work environmentRead MoreArgumentative Essay On Cell Phones1182 Words   |  5 Pagesare matured and responsible enough to take care of it. When they start growing up and becoming young adults, I think they deserve to be trusted with their own cell phone. Not only are the y maturing, but they are now starting to drive and join school clubs and activities. Kids start driving and getting up to middle and high school around the age of fifteen. I think this is the perfect age to earn their first cell phone and prove they can handle the responsibility it requires. Do kids feel safer withRead MoreRedbox Environmental Analysis Essay1396 Words   |  6 Pagesmaintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by prohibiting agreements or practices that restrict free trade and competition between business. The Economy Redbox is in the movie rental business. The present state of economy may actually increase Redbox’s business as more people would rent a movie instead of going to the theaters or owning the movie. Redbox’s rentals are reasonably priced at one dollar a night making it very affordable to rent it even in this bad economy. Read MoreEssay about Equal Rights for the Gay Community1413 Words   |  6 Pages2001, the  Netherlands  became the first nation in the world to grant  same-sex marriages. Proponents argue that same-sex couples should have access to the same marriage benefits and public acknowledgment enjoyed by heterosexual couples and that prohibiting gay marriage is unconstitutional discrimination. Opponents argue that altering the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and a woman will further weaken a threatened institution and that legalizing gay marriage is a slippery slopeRead MoreFreedom Of Speech Should be Limited Essay1334 Words   |  6 Pagesrights. The first amendment applies to every single citizen in the country, but most of them do not even know what it is about or what it means. The first amendment states Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. In other words, the first amendment defends humans rightsRead MoreThe Modern Debate Concerning Gun Control1490 Words   |  6 Pagescould be very dangerous and risky, seeing there is no telling what these people have in mind as to what to do with that gun. In 1999, congress made an act called the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act. This act was prohibiting illegal immigrants, or in other words non-US citizens, from obtaining firearms. The Gun Control Act of 1968 made the group of people that could not obtain a firearm larg er; causing individuals that have a misdemeanor not be able to own or purchase

Social Constructionism And Biological Determinism

The ideology that gender is socially constructed is a view that has been present in a number of philosophical, sociological and psychological theories. This view shares an understanding that gender is a product of enculturation through a prescribed ideal, as well as determines what is considered socially appropriate behaviour for a person of a specific gender. Society is shaped globally through social order. Each culture and society share a social order that is defined as a particular set of customs, relationships, values and practices that are maintained and enforced in society. These customs are engrained within society as individuals share a common understanding and hold shared meanings for these practices. There are multiple variables that comprise social ordering, one of them being gender. Gender is defined as a socially constructed way of being that orients individuals to masculinity and femininity. This paper will examine the differences between social constructionism and biol ogical determinism as well as provide an understanding of key sociologists preferred methods in conceptualizing gender. Throughout history, the conceptualization of gender has caused an array of discourse and controversy. Some theorists argue for the social constructionism approach, that gender is socially learned, while others share an essentialist perspective, that gender is biologically determined. The debate on the conceptualization of gender ranges over broad topics including nature vs.Show MoreRelatedThe Persuasive Account Of Race Through A Social Constructionist Lens1195 Words   |  5 PagesRace Through a Social Constructionist Lens During the late twenty-first century the academic focus recognised as the ‘critical philosophy of race’ was developed with the purpose of analysing the metaphysics of race. Scholars began to conceptualise ‘race’ with frameworks other than biological determinism due to scientific findings that proposed that race, as conceptualised as a biological fact, does not exist. To ground the social reality of race, theories of social constructionism attempt to explainRead MoreSexual Orientation : Sex And Gender1783 Words   |  8 Pagesalso consider sexual orientation to be fluid and consider a two-dimensional version of the Kinsey scale which rates a person attraction to women and their attraction men. The Debate: Constructionism Argument from cultural variation Some constructionists think that all they need to do to establish constructionism is to demonstrate that other cultures conceptualize human sexual desires in ways different from ours. They might point out that homosexuality takes many different forms in different culturesRead MoreSociology1220 Words   |  5 Pagesgender is tied together with the family Gender is biological, how you act, expectations, social construct, and identity Social constructionism is a shared understanding, history, language discourse, fluid (changeable), reproduction, common sense (invisible) The idea is to gain social change, social constructionism is everchanging It is how you perform your gender, adhere to norms, reproduce through ritual, and day to day life Biological determinism is fixed and unchangeable and biology is destinyRead More To what extent can I determine my own destiny Essays2623 Words   |  11 Pagesconsequently giving rise to the Autonomy versus Determinism debate. By definition, autonomy is the belief that we are free to make decisions and thus control all of our actions, however determinism contradicts this view by suggesting that all of our actions are entirely determined by the external and internal forces operating on them. Nowadays It is now commonly documented by most psychologists that it is a combination of both autonomy and determinism that determines our behaviour however this leadsRead MoreEssay about sociology quiz answers1053 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Question 1 1. Following C. Wright Mills, sociologists refer to breaking free from the immediacy of personal circumstances and putting things in a wider social context as the: a. sociological imagination b. psychologization process c. emergence theory d. recognition of self e. accumulation of capital 1 points   Ã‚   Question 2 1. According to the text, __________  involve constructing abstract interpretations that can be used to explain a wide variety of situations. aRead MoreFeminist Social Theory Essay1965 Words   |  8 PagesFeminist social theory ought to challenge the ideals of Classical social theory embodied by the work of authors, such Marx, Durkheim, Weber and Simmel. Such traditional values tend to exclude women from their social analysis of the modern world, as women were considered non social agents. In support of this, Durkheim claim that men were product of society, whereas women belonged to nature, (Harrington: 2005, p.236). Thus, feminist social theory embrace post-enlightenment principles, focusing on valuesRead MoreDefinitions Of The Self Essay : Aggressive Criminal Behavior2237 Words   |  9 Pagesopposing approaches to self; the biological view of ‘the embodied self’ with the social constructionist theory. In doing this it will discuss how each approach relates to various aspects of the predisposition between nature and nurture as a binary. It also aims to outline and evaluate how each approach attributes eti ologies to aggressive criminal behavior using examples from theorists such as DiLalla and Gottesman (1991) with criminal biology and Kurbin and Weitzer (2003) social disorganization theory. InRead MoreThe Between Female And Female Roles3586 Words   |  15 PagesPsychologically defined, the term androgyny is used to describe and individual that presents both male and female traits equally and simultaneously. Whilst this individual is assigned one biological gender at birth, their own personal gender identity does not fit neatly into either the male or the female gender role of their society. In many mainstream religions, God’s and Goddesses, posses one gender and a male and female distinct and separate beings, yet there is a long standing history of androgynyRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesis it, and why does it matter? Introduction What is organization theory? Defining theory What are organizations? The relationship between organization theory and human activities The relationship between organization theory and management practice Social engineering and organization theory Critical alternatives to managerialism in organization theory Philosophical disputes and debates: explaining and understanding the diverse nature of organization theory Mapping some aspects of organization theory’s

Race and Identity in Richard Wrights Black Boy free essay sample

Donato Professor Schmitz HSF 20 September 2012 Race and Identity in Richard Wright’s Black Boy Each and every person on this Earth today has an identity. Over the years, each individual creates their identity through past experiences, family, race, and many other factors. Race, which continues to cause problems in today’s world, places individuals into certain categories. Based on their race, people are designated to be part of a larger, or group identity instead of being viewed as a person with a unique identity. Throughout Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Richard is on a search for his true identity. Throughout Black Boy, one can see that Richard’s racial background assigns him with a certain identity or a certain way in which some people believe he should live his life. Growing up in the Jim Crow South, many young blacks, have their identities essentially already created for them based solely on the backgrounds and race. During this time period, whites expect blacks to behave a certain way, have certain traits, and treat them with absolute respect. Whites during Richard’s time still feel they are much superior to the blacks they interact with, and have many expectations that would be considered racist today. However, in his work, Richard Wright shows how one can break from this predetermined mold. In many instances during the work, Richard breaks from this identity to which he is assigned in order to create his unique identity and grow into the person he wants to become. Richard refuses to sit back and to be absorbed into the Jim Crow lifestyle of southern blacks. In Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Richard’s past experiences with both white and black individuals, family, and race issues shape his true identity and develop him into the man of his dreams living the life which he chooses instead of the one assigned to him. Richard Wright, a young black boy growing up in his family home in Mississippi, searches for his identity through many different experiences. A constant in his life which continues to shape his identity time and time again is his family. Throughout the work, Richard searches for a loving and caring family. Although his family may not fit the description at all times, they help him to form his independence, a big part of his true identity. As a young black male growing up in a house with his extended family, Richard did not have many freedoms. Throughout Black Boy, Richard’s family constantly shelters him from the outside world. The story begins in his grandmother’s home in Mississippi where his family constantly reprimands him. For example, in the beginning of this work, Richard Wright’s grandmother has fallen sick in the house. Therefore, Richard is expected to be quiet and not play with his brother. Richard, a young boy, just wants to have some fun, and proceeds to play with matches. He becomes more and more curious, and sets the curtains on fire, almost burning down the house. Because he was so sheltered, he became this curious little boy, causing trouble in his family home. Consequently, Richard is beaten for his actions, which becomes a common theme through the work. Richard explains: I was lashed so hard and long that I lost consciousness. I was beaten out of my senses and later I found myself in bed, screaming, determined to run away, tussling with my mother and father who were trying to keep me still (Wright 7) Time and time again, family members or outsiders attempt to beat Richard. He learns his first real lesson shaping his identity while trying to buy groceries for the house. After his father leaves, Richard’s mother tells Richard he is now in charge of buying groceries. Richard feels like the man of the house, and acts very confidently, until he needs to go buy the food. The first two times he attempts to buy food, a crowd of boys beats him and steals his money. However, his mother sends him out a third time equipped with a stick. Richard easily defeats the boys and claims that night he â€Å"won the right to the streets of Memphis† (Wright 21). In this situation, it seems that Richard’s mom is not being fair by sending him out to get beat up time and time again. However, she is only doing this in order to help Richard survive in the future. By winning the right to the streets of Memphis, Richard is growing more independent. He no longer relies on his father to bring home food because he is not coming back, and he is able to stand up for himself when the time comes. Richard becomes more independent throughout different experiences in Black Boy. Richard’s grandmother, a devoutly religious person, has an underlying grievance with Richard because he is not religious. Richard’s grandmother begins to shelter him by not buying him books which he needs for school. Richard explains, â€Å"I needed textbooks and had to wait for months to obtain them. Granny said that she would not buy worldly books for me† (Wright 143). In addition, Richard claims that his Granny always burned the books he had brought into the house, â€Å"branding them as worldly† (Wright 151). Richard needed money to buy his books, some new clothes, and lunch during the week at school. However, his grandmother continues to shelter him by not allowing him to work. When Richard asked to work on the weekends, Richard explains that â€Å"she laid down the injunction that I could not work on Saturdays while I slept under her roof† (Wright 147). These two instances with his grandmother show Richard’s ambition. Richard wants to make something of himself, and does not want to sit back and live the usual life of a black individual. He wants to begin working in order to make money to buy his books so that he can study and live out his dream of becoming a writer. He begins to read articles in magazines from newspapers he sells, and learns of the vast world. He loves it, and he â€Å"hungered for a different life, for something new† (Wright 151). Richard wants to get out and experience the world, and break the mold of the assumed black identity. To begin this task, Richard begins writing his own stories. After Richard completes his first story, he brings it to his neighbor to read. Her reaction to his story was the common reaction: â€Å"What’s that for? † (Wright 141). Later, Richard shows his grandmother his second piece, The Voodoo of Hell’s Half-Acre. She has the same reaction as the neighbor, and begins to question him on what the story is about and why he is writing a story for the newspaper. According to her, he will not be able to get a job because people are going to think that he is weak minded (Wright 198). Richard exceeds expectations and completes tasks that black people aren’t supposed to do. Richard changes his identity from a subservient black boy into a sort of rebellious young man by beginning his writing career. Throughout the work, Richard introduces a countless number of jobs from working in homes of whites, to attempting to learn the trade of optometry. For one of his many jobs, Richard is working for a white family. While interviewing for this job, the mother of the family asks if he will steal from them, a common trait associated with black people. While working for this family, Richard is having a conversation with the mother. She asks him, â€Å"What grade are you in school? † (Wright 173). Richard responds, â€Å"Seventh, ma’am† (Wright 173). She then asks him, â€Å"Then why are you going to school? † (Wright 173). This conversation shows that whites think it is unnecessary for blacks to go to school past the sixth grade because they should be working. Whites think that they will never amount to anything, and therefore should not be wasting their time in school. However, Richard wants to break this predetermined mold of who he is supposed to be. He replies to his employer, â€Å"Well, I want to be a writer† (Wright 173). While working for this white family, Richard’s predetermined identity and his plans to break from this mold are both shown. Eventually, Richard hopes to be able to write for a living, and continues to attend school to study to become the best he can be. Both his employer and his family tell him that he has no chance of becoming a writer, but he continues to prove everyone wrong by not worrying about his race. He dismisses the fact that there are no famous black writers, and continues to achieve his goals and continues to form his true identity. Richard continues to press on and works hard each and every day in order to break the mold of his assigned identity due to his race. Richard eventually becomes the valedictorian of his ninth grade class, and has a huge disagreement with his principal. The principal summons Richard to his office and says to him, â€Å"Well, Richard Wright, here is your speech† (Wright 206). After Richard claims that he has already written his own speech, the principal tells him â€Å"Listen, boy, you’re going to speak to both white and colored people that night. What can you alone think of saying to them? You have no experience. . . † (Wright 206). Richard continues to fight this assumption made by his principal that he cannot deliver a speech which will be acceptable for white people to listen to. Even when his Uncle Tom claims, â€Å"the principals speech is the better speech (Wright 209) Richard agrees. However, Richard wants to give the speech he wrote because it says what he wants to say (Wright 209-10). Richard did not care if the principal’s speech was better than his; he wanted to deliver his speech the way he wanted to deliver it. Here, Richard continues to develop his true dentity as a fighter who will not stand for this assigned identity. He wants to make a difference in the world, and he is fed up with everyone just taking the abuse they receive. He begins to build up a dream in himself which the educational system in the Jim Crow South had been rigged and designed to stifle (Wright 199). He was only fifteen years old, and already began realizing how the Jim Crow South worked. However, he did not like the system, and constantly fought against it. Growing up in Marlboro, New Jersey, race was not much of an issue for me. Throughout my K-8 public education, over ninety-five percent of the students in my school were white, just like me. I had no problem fitting in, and was able to have many of the privileges spoken about in Peggy McIntoshs White Privilege. † I got along with almost all of my classmates growing up, and was even friends with the few black kids in my school. Ben, a black classmate of mine became a close friend when we played on the basketball team together. As I moved on from Middle School to a private, catholic high school, there were even less minorities. In my senior graduating class I had three black classmates. These few individuals were sometimes segregated from the group, and might have felt uncomfortable during some circumstances. However, I did not realize at the time how sheltered I was from the world. I did not have many friends of different cultures and was not truly aware of the world outside of my high school and my hometown. I never truly viewed the other perspective; I took for granted my opportunity to go to school and get a good, public school education through middle school. I then again took for granted my ability to go to private high school to receive an even more personalized education in a smaller school. I did not think about the poor ethnic groups living in the slums of places such as Haiti, or even in places such as Newark, NJ. I had this sort of mindset going through school that if it didn’t involve me, it wasn’t my problem to fix. Students in these poor, urban areas such as Newark and Camden in NJ tend to have a different lifestyle than students from Marlboro. In these poor communities, school is almost looked at as it is in black boy. Most kids from these areas will begin working when they graduate high school, and do not go onto college. Again, I took for granted my opportunity to go to a small, unique, private college. Most kids in these areas I described don’t even dream of going college because they believe it is just not a possibility for them. In my short time at Babson, I have met people from countries that I have never heard of before. I have acquainted myself with many different people of many different races, and I am beginning to learn a few facts about many different cultures. In this short period of time, my cultural horizon has broadened greatly. I cannot wait to see how much I will learn about so many different cultures and ethnic groups in my four years at Babson. In conclusion, Richard Wright searches for his identity throughout his life in the Jim Crow South. Richard does not want to just be another drop in the bucket in this Jim Crow lifestyle, and does not want to fit the mold of a typical black male. He has dreams, aspirations, and goals which no other black youth has been able to accomplish. He continues to fight against the assumed black identity until he forms his own self-identity. Richard’s race definitely lead to assumptions being made by different individuals, but he was able to break free of these assumptions and create a life in which he was in control. Richard Wright broke free of the Jim Crow South and lived the life which he wanted to live while developing his own identity. Just as Wright did, every one of us struggles to define who we are, when in reality we are only who we are supposed to be. I pledge my honor that I have neither received nor provided unauthorized assistance during the completion of this work. Works Cited Wright, Richard. Black Boy (american Hunger): A Record of Childhood and Youth. New York, NY: HarperPerennial, 1993. Print.

She has also help me discover a newfound excitement and interest in Cutural Anthropology Essay Example

She has also help me discover a newfound excitement and interest in Cutural Anthropology Essay My informant for this project is Amanda Q. Amanda is a bright, articulate and bubbly seventeen year old senior at Albertus Magna High School, in New York. She is an honor-roll student who enjoys participating in all kinds of sports and also belongs to the Spanish Club. She recently received a scholarship from Hofstra University where she eagerly plans to pursue a career in journalism, beginning this fallor maybe Dramaor maybe Film But above all, like most teens, she is looking forward to flying the nest, to live on campus in Long Island, and explore her freedom for the first time. Amanda also has a part-time job, working three times a week, at a Starbucks coffee shop, in Suffern, NY. The short hours of her shifts give her enough time to engage in some other kind of activities that she enjoys. During her leisure time, also akin to many teenagers, Amanda takes pleasure in dancing and listening to music. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are her idols. She also enjoys shopping for funky clothes and shoes, attending concerts and, particularly, hanging out with her many friends. Hanging out-spending time can involve any activities from window shopping at the mall, to talking, or just watching television in the basement. Every weekend she also makes time to regularly attend youth group (Christian Youth Organization or CYO). Here she has the opportunity to hang out for hours and share in different activities with her peers. Amanda has been taking part in We will write a custom essay sample on She has also help me discover a newfound excitement and interest in Cutural Anthropology specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on She has also help me discover a newfound excitement and interest in Cutural Anthropology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on She has also help me discover a newfound excitement and interest in Cutural Anthropology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer youth group for over three years. Her participation began out of curiosity and somewhat influenced by her parents will to keep her in a structured and safe environment during off-school hours. However, her continued involvement throughout the years has been of her own decision. Amanda Q. lives in a lovely house, in a white middle-class suburban neighborhood with her mother, father and brother. Her parents who are both originally from Puerto Rico always pull out all the stops to instill good old Roman Catholic values in both their children. So, along with getting good grades and obeying curfews, attending Sunday mass service has always been mandatory at the Q. household. Initially the entire Q. family attended early morning mass services on Sundays. This became a nuisance to Amanda, who as a typical teen, barely awake struggled to make sense out of the same old ancient sermons and a two-faced middle-aged crowd (whom she considered ancient). A crowd that on one hand, during mass, would piously stretch out their hand to you and say, may the peace of God be with you; but on the other, avoid a simple hello if they saw you at the mall. Although her belief in God was strong, the lack of moral consistency puzzled her and her inability to relate to an organized spirituality that allowed no margin for human error kept her unsatisfied with this setting. In search of an alternate choice acceptable to herself and her parents, at fourteen, she began participating in the young mass. The young mass is tailored to adolescents only and takes place on Sundays between seven and eight oclock in the evening. In this kind of service the young people enthusiastically partake in the service, rather than just observing. This consists of singing in the choir (a successfully popular one within the county), rewriting and adapting biblical readings, decorating the church, greeting the parishioners, etc. This is their mass and trying to make it as cool as possible is a license that Peter, the youth minister of the church, happily and freely offers the kids in exchange for their participation. Amandas parents did not mind driving her back and forth from these services late Sunday evenings, as long as she stuck to the old rule of going to mass. Conversely, her brother Dan was not into it. Thus, to this day, he reluctantly continues his mandatory attendan ce, with the family early in the morning, every Sunday mornings It would be here, at the young mass of the Church of Presentation in Upper Saddle River, NJ that Amanda felt engaged by the mass service, her peers and her faith, for the first time. She made new friends with similar tastes and ideas to whom she could relate and it was at the suggestion of one of them that she took part in her first youth group meeting. The Interviews Amanda had been referred to me by one of my co-workers. When I initially contacted her by phone to explain what the assignment entailed she excitedly committed herself to meeting regularly with me, preferably on Saturdays and/or Sundays, when neither of our busy schedules conflicted with one another. In all we met, six times. Our meetings initially took place at my home or her parents and they lasted between an hour and an hour and a half. However, once I found out she also shared in my weakness for caramel machiattos, she quickly took me up on my offer to arrange our future meetings at my local Starbucks coffee shop, in Nyack. Of course, these interviews would now extend themselves way beyond two hoursor until the store manager politely advised us it was time to close down Amanda talked endlessly and from time to time her off-on-a-tangent conversations would supply me with more information than I needed for the purpose of this project, but it was still useful nevertheless. Like, for example, how to spike up (enhance) the flavor of a vanilla frap (another popular designer coffee) by adding confectionery sugar and chocolate syrup, to where I could find the new J. Lo clothing line, at a discount prices, for my eleven year old daughter. Without doubt, Amanda loved to talk. She had a sunny personality and a good sense of humor. I was certain that we were a good match, as long as she would remain committed to the schedule, which she did without exception. Since she does not yet drive, I always made myself available to pick her up and bring her back home as needed.