Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Stranger

The title itself sounds somewhat mysterious and exotic. I was originally going to blog about something else but I didn't think of blogging about this till we discussed it in class.
I think right now I would take on the role of the stranger because I just got a new job not too long ago. I belong in the sense that myself and everyone I work with are all working towards the same goal and for the same thing but I feel distanced from everyone there because I am the youngest. I'm there but not really there at the same time. In Appelrouth and Edles the example of Native Americans and Chicanos as being strangers in their own land is given. They are strangers because they are allowed to join the military and fight, they are allowed to work, yet they are still somewhat ostracized in society. I would say this is more true for Native Americans, they belong to society as Americans and that they work, yet they are not quite with us at the same time. My question is, what other types of strangers are out there? Are there any examples of strangers in your everyday life?

3 comments:

  1. Strangers that I see here in El Paso are all the military people that are being stationed on Fort Bliss. Many of them are working with all of us, are students like us, are consumers like us, and many are living within our communities. Yet, we are so distant because so many of the soldiers are coming from all over the country into this primarily Hispanic community. Many are different ethnicities, have different cultures, and many come from different environments yet we have welcomed them into our city and they are shaping our society.

    I work at a restaurant and I encounter the stranger every time I work. I work as a bartender and I have several regulars who tell me all about their day and sometimes their personal life. We are all within the same environment yet once they leave the front door I know nothing. I have just done my job. Although I know them and they tell me about themselves, I have no further interaction with them outside of my work.

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  2. I work at an office where for some reason or another I do not interact with the people working there outside the office. It seems for some unexplained reason to me, it is not proper to interact with these people, or I cannot imagine them or care for the activities they partake in outside of the office. I interact with them in the office and talk in form of acquaintanceship mostly, a lot of the office does this. Although sometimes we all do engage in deep conversation and discussion about current events and even relate some to life outside the office with our families.
    It is strange, it is as for some reason, I feel as though I already have enough friends outside the office and do not wish to see the people I work with outside of work, outside of the office. That is their place and time, and I choose to keep it that way. It is as if I make myself the stranger in a way, because I do know that many of them do in fact interact and hang out socially together outside the office.

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  3. In my job i interact with many customers. I work in a pizza place. Every weekend i see customrs buying pizza for dinner. I do interact with them, if there is time i would ask them how are they doing and some of them even tell me a little extra about their life. Where they work, where they are headding to, etc. I remember some of their names and sometimes i kind of know what they are going to order. I can say they are strangers because eventhoug i see them every week, i cant really say i know everything about them.

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