Reflection 9

If I was told that I had to construct a costume to wear on my nightly adventures to help the streets of Carol Stream, I would make sure not to wear any spandex or tights. I feel that the average superhero costume almost puts off a negative image to the public that “this guy is crazy for wearing a speedo over some red tights.” I think a more practical outfit would be a uniform that is similar to a police officer, but make it more "civilianized." What I am imagining right now is like an outfit for the neighbor watch, but with body armor, civilian grade utilities to both defend and scare off predators. Under the uniform would be a bullet proof vest, just for safety precautions, and the back of the uniform would have a neighborhood watch symbol, but obviously it would be more “badass” looking. The uniform would be all black, with protective vest reflectors on the front and back so when I was walking the streets, people could see where I was and not run me off. This could be a disadvantage, but it would be smarter than wearing all black. The material used for the uniform should be Kevlar, so I would not have to worry about knifes tearing into my skin if I was attack and I would  be double protected from a gunshot with both the bullet proof vest and the Kevlar uniform. And lastly, I would make sure to have a walkie-talkie that would go directly to the police station in case I needed back up or to call in a civilian arrest. Most importantly, my name would be "Nightwatch."

My general work would consist of paroling the streets, checking on houses where the owners had left for vacation, helping drunk people get home from the bars, and prevent sexual predators from kidnapping kids. I would drive around on a nice Yamaha motor cycle, jet black, so I could chase after robbers fleeing the scene of a crime and to also drive people to safety. There has been recent development in the older parts of Carol Stream where younger children are attempting to establish “gangs.” I use the term “gang” loosely, but I would make sure to prevent conflict between other gangs and crimes associated with gangs from increasing. There is also a problem with families not getting enough food on the table for their families, so I would also make sure to develop food drives for the less privileged, but I would make sure to keep it year round and not just on special occasions.

In the documentary, I identify most with Zetaman and the New York Initiative, because they have more legitimate forms of combating problems on the streets. For the New York Initiative, they bait criminals on their rounds around the city, which I think is a great idea because it pulls out the creeps and prevents them from attacking a bystander walking home from work or to a friend’s house. But they also helped people out, like we saw in the movie, when the man had his foot ran over and they made sure to help him out and ultimately get him home safely. As for Zetaman, he went around and gave out care packages to the people living on the streets, out of his own money, and regularly.

Reflection 8

I wish I could not answer this question, but there have been times where I have let my emotions get the best of me and pushed me to the edge of breaking my moral code. For me, I am passionate about my work and my friends, and as many may already know, blending friendship with work can lead to problems. When I was in High School, I worked with my father in the family business as a home remodeler. I loved working with my father and I was able to do something that came natural to me while learning new skills as the years went on. It was like the phrase “it is not work if you enjoy doing it.” But once the financial crisis hit the United States, my job became problematic. We started losing clients because they ran out of money or they did not have money to afford a remodel of their kitchen or bathroom. The pay checks decreased and the tension between my dad and I did as well. I was used to getting paid on a normal schedule every two weeks. At first it was the size of the check that began to shrink, even as I put in more hours than normal. I approached my dad and let him know he could lower my checks so that we could pull more money in for the family than myself. This worked temporarily, but then I started getting nothing. I was not concerned at the time because it was my father and I knew the stress he went through every day as he tried getting more clients. But it was causing tension between my father and I, and when it hit 2 months without a pay check, I lost my “cool.” I fought with my dad and said things that I wish I could take back. I had lost my moral boundaries and I almost ruined my relationship with my father. I refused to talk to him and I practically shunned him for awhile. Eventually, I realized I had clearly over reacted, and my mother wanted to make sure our relationship was mended before I started college. Of course I was mad at my dad, but what I should have done was just stopped working for him and help him out instead of lashing out on him, adding more stress on him. My emotions clearly got the best of me, but it was an event in which I will always remember that I let myself go too far.

Having abilities that are hiding, unless activated, would allow living a normal life much easier than having visible abilities that pick out of a crowd. Being someone like Night crawler would prove to be a very difficult task. No amount of “makeup” or clothes can hide the blue skin and the tail; his abilities are for the world to see. Trying to live a normal life would almost be unbearable. You couldn’t walk into a room without anyone not staring at you and hearing people whisper the word “freak” as you walk by. What is sad is that this actually happens in real life. People who are different than the ideal individual are criticized for being different. For example, those who have physical disabilities or handicaps are permanently left with their condition. Someone who comes back from a war without legs will never get those legs back. When that individual rides into a coffee shop in his wheel chair, people turn and look at the areas where he used to have legs. Now, if someone had powers similar to storm and Jean Grey, living a normal lifestyle would be much easier. Their abilities are hidden unless activated, so they can walk into a coffee shop and order their latte without being stared at. Someone from the LGBT community can live a lifestyle of “normality” because their “difference” is not necessarily a physical attribute. You cannot point out someone out of a crowd and confidently say “oh, that girl is a lesbian.” However, someone may dress to the social expectation of someone that is homosexual, in which then the physical attribute will point them out of crowd, but that is because they chose to dress that way. Nightcrawler was born blue, he did not get to choose what he looked like when he woke up in the morning as he got ready for the day.

By showing the struggles the mutants like Nightcrawler face, can be a source of reflection for those who want to find a place in society. People can identify with this struggle and understand that they are not alone. Nightcrawler and Beast find themselves a place in society with the X-men, even with their “disabilities.” This could be the sign for those looking for a place to fit in to help them on their quest to find it.

When it comes to relating to a specific mutant, I would have to say I connect more with Magneto surprisingly. The reason why I say this is because I agree, to a certain extent, that those who mistreat the underprivileged or those who are considered different in society need to be brought to justice. Hate crimes leave me speechless and, unfortunately happen too often. I see Magneto as a symbol of “Justice” for the minorities in this world. Magneto is a minority himself, or was one, during a time of intense hatred towards the Jewish population in Germany in the 1940s. And he is a mutant! I know this seems really corny, but I want to see better treatment of those who are less privileged and those who are thrown out of society because they are different; basically, I want to see a just world.

Reflection #7: Meditation and Friendships

Part 1: I may have mentioned earlier in the class that my NaNa (my grandmother) is a very free spirited individual who loved to meditate daily to clear her mind. Lucky for me, I was able to do this activity with her over break when I went to visit. Upon doing the activity, I have to confess that I am a disbeliever in a lot of things and I do not find myself religious what so ever. However, I do find myself a very spiritual person mainly because of my grandmother who helped me put aside my lack of religion to and find something else that I can believe in. So I already have done the meditating exercise before, so it was not something new to me. After the exercise, I felt more relaxed and calm which is something I generally feel after I have vented to someone about something that has been bothering me. For me, meditation is more a time where I can vent to myself in my head and clear my thoughts. I hope to do this more often because as I begin to transfer into the “real” world, I will need something to help me out and is something I can do on my own without having to depend on someone. For me, both activities mended together into one meditations session, in which I was able to do both the silent hum meditation and experiencing smells through my mind. The second part was rather hard to do because my grandmother’s dog kept coming over and breathing in my face, but I pretty much go the point. Usually people, including myself at one point, push these activities aside because they may seem dumb. But, really they are not, especially when people do other things do get the exact same results that meditation brings. You do not need to just meditate to find yourself or to bring yourself down to earth, you can do whatever you find fun that takes things off your mind and lets your relax. I have several things I do to relax and calm down, but meditation is just one of them. I strongly recommended these activities to people just to give it a shot.

Part 2:

I would say for a majority of my friendships I have would fall under the category of Utility relationships. If you have known me well, you can tell that I like to do business and get things done accordingly. I live a life where I run by schedules and independently living my life with the help of only a very select few. Through my life, most of my friends remain in the utility category, where we worked together in academic clubs, summer jobs, and set building for theatre. We were in the job together to accomplish the goal and we would only really connect in the environment. Outside of that space, we would just acknowledge each other, but we really never would hang out. My best friends from home and school are the friends I hang out with and have fun doing random things. These friendships clearly fall under the category of pleasure, because we genuinely enjoy the time we spend together. This area includes my parents as well as my girlfriend, where despite the times we want to pull our hair out, we still enjoy being around one another. When I think of seeing one of my current relationships become to the level of virtue, I can pick out 2 that I know could get there. The relationships would both be coming from the level of pleasure, where we would already know one another inside and out, how we think, how we act, and etc. The conditions really would be the same as they are now, because I feel both friendships already mean a great deal to me, we help each other without the thought of a reward, and we genuinely care for the well-being of each other. The only condition I can think of would be that we would have to be out of college and into the real world to actually move into the level of virtue.