The Chicken Incident :: Personal Narrative, Autobiographical Essay

The Chicken Incident Everyone has an extremely embarrassing experience, that seems horrifically terrible at the time, but upon reflection becomes a completely hilarious occurrence in their life. This episode can be anything from falling down the grand staircase in high school, to splattering a pan of chicken in the walk-in cooler at work. This is mine. I had been working for the Culver’s Franchise Association for virtually three years, in which my primary job was drive-thru and other â€Å"front house† positions. I occasionally worked in the kitchen, but not enough to know the entire swing of things that well. This particular night was a pretty ordinary night at the restaurant. I was situated on drive-thru, and was also scheduled to close that same position. As closing time rolled around I found myself bombarded with a plethora of tasks, and to accomplish them I needed to be able t! o access the sink. I walked over to the sink to find an enormous bucket filled to the brim with water and chicken. This bucket needed to be carried to the cooler for the night, but whoever left it there had forgotten about it and it remained in my sink. Well, instead of calling for my co-worker to carry the chicken to the cooler, I decided to take it upon myself and help them out. Looking back in hindsight, I now ask myself, â€Å"What wa s I thinking?† I hoisted the pail of chicken and water out of the sink and headed towards the cooler. As I approached the cooler I rested the bucket on a nearby shelf, and proceeded to pry open the heavy metal door. As the door opened I was greeted with a cool, clammy breeze. I entered the cooler and found that the floor had recently been mopped and was still quite damp. On approximately my third step into the cooler I felt my feet slide out from under me. In an effort to brace myself I dropped the bucket of chicken and began flailing my arms in an effort to grab on to anything in sight! I was now lying on the frozen floor saturated in chicken water, while there was an massive puddle of water around me with various pieces of chicken scattered throughout. I managed to peel myself up off the floor and prepared myself to face the management. As I crept to the front of the store, I found Frank, Bruce, Becki, and Jim standing in a huddle discussing the inventory they had been working on that night.

Forgetting About Something Essay

Have you ever experienced forgetting about something? Like where did you put your pair of socks, where did you leave your car keys, or where did you put your pen? Did you ever wonder why or how this happens? For a period of three (3) days, I tried to observe myself. I used to forget where I put my door key. I realized that I have forgotten where my key in three different situations: – When I need to get out of the room – When something reminded me about keys like doors and door knobs, and – When I saw the usual spot for my room key and the key is not there. As I have researched, forgetting, also called as cue-dependent forgetting, is the failure to recall a memory due to missing stimuli or cues that were present at the time the memory is encoded. There are factors why retrieval of the memory fails. Usually, the information no longer exist in the mind that why a material cannot be found or cannot be recalled. Emotions also play a crucial role. The reason why I forget where I leave my key is that I am always in a hurry. And as I have observed, there are also reasons why I manage to remember where my key is. First, whenever I forgot where my key is, I am in a hurry to get out of the room and I cannot think properly where I last put my key. Then, I remember to recall where I put my key because I saw an object that reminds me of my key such as doors and knobs. Lastly, when I manage to relax for a while and see if I have got everything in order, I tend to look at the spot where I place my key. Being an important object or simply because it is a personal belonging, I have a list on my mind where my important things are. Concluding the activity, when someone is in hurry or feeling excited, the tendency to forget is very possible because there is so much going on with our minds. But once we take time to relax, recall, or back track our activities earlier, we can avoid retrieval failure on our memories. Reference Baddeley, A. D. (1997). Human Memory: Theory and Practice. Taylor and Francis Group.

Brechtian Techniques

Bertold Brecht (1898 – 1956) founded the so-called new, or â€Å"epic theatre† that creatively reworked the principles of traditional â€Å"Aristotelian† drama, in order for the plays to correspond to modern demands. Brecht characterised his position in dramatic art as social-critical. He was an active antifascist and thus centered his works on major historical events and gave them a social-political meaning. From the formal point of view, Brechtian techniques were based on defamilirisation of the event. First and foremost, he transposed the event into third person.He uses new concept of author’s time, i. e. time as it is perceived by the narrator of the play. The latter usually tells about the events that happened in the past and comments them. In doing so, he freely operates various layers of time, so that the whimsical structure of the story reminds that of a recollection or a dream. Finally, an important element of Brechtian drama is its increased conv ention, for instance the action can be interrupted by speaking stage directions aloud and or via usage of placards and signs.The drama â€Å"Zoot Suit† (1978) by Luis Valdez’ efficiently uses the Brechtian principles and techniques. Like many of Brecht’s dramas, this work is a passionate social protest that shows the injustice of the society with purely Brechtian didacticism. Valdez wrote this play at the end of â€Å"turbulent seventies†, which in the US were characterised by increased social activity of minorities fighting for their rights, and Mexican Americans were among these.Thus, the playwright addresses the times, when the Mexican American identity was only forming, and yet it was oppressed and discriminated by the police. Valdez implies that the same thing may happen or even happens in his times and protests against it. In this respect his play may be linked with activities of Guerilla theatre, which considered itself to be a cultural revolt agai nst war and a mouthpiece of social protest movements. Valdez’ play also has explicit antiwar and protest connotations, and in accordance with Brecht’s conception, his art serves political purposes.Furthermore, action is presented and commented by the narrator, the fictional El Pachuco, which is the condensed embodiment of Mexican spirit (pachucos were Mexican American youth who emphasized their Mexican identity and wore zoot suits). He converses with the protagonist of the story, Henry Reyna, and in some episodes interferes into action (for instance, he takes the place of Rudy Reyna in an uneven fight with sailors). Moreover, from the very first words Valdez emphasizes Brechtian convention. For instance, the drop curtain is â€Å"giant facsimile of a newspaper front page† (1, 1992).Besides in his first monologue EL Pachuco says that he is an actor who plays El Pachuco and recollects this myth. This indicates another Brechtian technique. The narrated action takes place in the past. The setting, as described by the author, emphasizes that the age of zoot suits is in the past: â€Å"The somber shapes and outlines of pachuco images hang subtly, black on black, against a back-ground of heavy fabric evoking memories and feelings like an old suit hanging forgotten in the depths of a closet somewhere, sometime† (1, 1992).At the same time, in the end El Pachuco says that this legend still lives and is topical, for at least he is interested in telling it. However, this is not the objective past time of Aristotelian drama, but rather narrator’s individual perception. El Pachuco can retard action by making the judge repeat for the second time that â€Å"zoot haircuts will be retained throughout the trial for purposes of identification† (ibid). He also uses sudden retrospections, for example when Henry mentions Saturday night dance, El Pachuco snaps fingers and makes this event repeat.In another instant, he skips witness’ st atement, saying â€Å"You know what. We've already heard from that bato. Let's get on with the defense† (1, 1992). Besides the conventionality is emphasized by various other interruptions of action. An interesting example of this is when the arrested pachucos stand in a line, the Press starts and they continue the headline. In another episode the Pressâ€Å"moves the bundles of newspapers on the floor to outline the four corners of a jail cell†, i. e.makes the decorations for the next scene in jail (1, 1992). To sum up, the play â€Å"Zoot Suit† by Luis Valdez exemplified Brechtian understanding of social-political role of art and demonstrates a number of Brechtian techniques of the â€Å"new theatre†, among them accentuated conventionality of action, transposition into third person (use of narrator) and into the past, connected with the present, and forcible handling of time. References 1. Valdes, L. (1992). Zoot Suit. Zoot Suit and Other Plays. Houston, TX: Arte Publico Press. Pg 22-94.

Teaching Survival Skills

Should students be taught survival skills in schools? Have you ever thought about how you would survive if you were to be stranded alone? No food, no water, no shelter, nothing to make a fire with except sticks and a rock. If you were in a dangerous situation, would you be able to make it out alive? Schools nowadays are teaching many different classes. Some are very useful, but some may not be. Most kids today wouldn't know the first thing to do if they were alone and needed to find food or create a shelter. There are no survival skills taught to us as children, we are simply taught to do paperwork our entire lives. If schools taught survival in one class in each school around the globe, human intelligence would double and we would evolve. Teaching survival skills helps the mind. It helps make us think faster, smarter and can even teach us more responsibility and independence. Indianoutskirts.com says that â€Å"humans live in many habitats and need survival skills to evolve and change according to our environment†. Some skills students should be taught include: how to cook on an open fire, how to be able to identify if water is safe enough to drink, and how to climb a tree to get away from dangers or predators. Most parents do not teach their children or even think to see if they are equipped with survival skills. Some parents may not agree with teaching these skills in schools, they might not even want them to learn at all. They may say that they do not want to scare them or say that they do not think their child is interested in the topic. Even though they may not be interested, parents should try to explain to them the dangers, how to avoid them and how to survive if they are ever in that situation. The biggest reason that parents should teach their kids these things is because we live in uncertain times. Children who do not learn these skill sets could face many challenges. The world changes everyday and humans learn to adapt and to evolve with their environments. We should be teaching our kids self-defense and many other skills to benefit them in their lives. In the future, if we learn more skills as children, the human species may continue on for billions of years to come.

Educational Theory and Sustainable Education Essay

Educational Theory and Sustainable Education - Essay Example Sustainability problem was first highlighted by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 (the Brundtland Commission). In 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janiero popularised this term. The emphasis was placed on the integration of thinking and action around ecological, social, political and economic systems. (Educating for a Sustainable Future, 2005) There are two currents which explain the interest in sustainability in the developed world. The first is the economisation of society or ‘finding economic values or indicators for economic and social phenomena.’ The second concerns a revaluation of nature, its transformation into a thing to be managed and controlled. These two currents are represented in ‘sustainable development’ term which exhibits a human desire to dominate over nature and a contradicting, ultimate dependence on its resources. There are many interpretations of sustainability which r equire critical assessment as they serve different social and economic interests. One group focuses on â€Å"sustainable economic growth†, the other – on â€Å"sustainable human development†. The first group does not support the idea of transformation of current social or economic systems while the second calls for a departure from current systems. Education was viewed as the â€Å"greatest resource† to achieve ecological society. Many major international reports see education as a source for sustainable living.

Entrepreneur interview and PersonalAnalysis Essay

Entrepreneur interview and PersonalAnalysis - Essay Example These questions also reflect on the different factors that led the person to for a business venture. It would also reflect that whether the person in question has taken any creative or innovative pursuits in helping to gain business productivity. Further the questions also endeavour to understand the vision with which the person had sought to open up the business venture and the process through which he has achieved success in motivating his staff to adapt to the changing needs. The questions would thus help one to understand that whether the entrepreneur performs his actions with an outside eye and the manner in which changes are incorporated in the enterprise context. The questions also tend to evaluate whether the entrepreneur in question conducts activities in regards to the protection of the social and natural environment in and around the business firm. Further through the use of the questions an understanding can be made of the several entrepreneurial traits in regards to the individual in questions. It seeks to understand whether the person is quite self confident in managing changes in the external business environment and also share the same confidence while decentralising the whole gamut of business tasks among separate units. The pattern of questions designed would also reflect on the several influences social, economical and technological which made the entrepreneurs form such an enterprise in carrying out new sets of business activities. In total the questions prepared would help the interviewer in getting a personal insight in the understanding of how Mr. Thomas Mathews aged somewhere in thirties has been able to design a productive entrepreneurial venture though somewhat small in nature. The interview questions are prepared keeping in mind theoretical guidelines which would help in effectively evaluating the entrepreneurial capacity of the interviewee. Open ended questions are rendered so as to get an elucidated understanding of the entrepreneur ial mind of Mr. Thomas Mathews. The specific attributes of Mr. Thomas Mathews which had helped him in becoming a successful businessman is thereby successfully explored through the questions outlined. Evaluation of the Entrepreneur The evaluation of Mr. Thomas Mathews would be conducted from point to point based along the separate questions which can be rendered as follows. A.1 The entrepreneur in order to bring about enhanced productivity in his venture is required to incorporate large amount of changes both in the business process. This change in the business process is made to help the concern address the needs of the external environment. Such change in the business process is made through modification of the business resources both technical and human resources (Ricketts, 2003, p.72). Mr. Thomas Mathews is also found to incorporate changes in its business process through dividing a single project in the hands of double or multiple individuals and assigning a person as responsib le for the monitoring of such. This process would help the company in getting a large number of projects within the same time period. A.2 The entrepreneurs are required to motivate their staffs in a large manner to rightly adapt to the changes incorporated in the process and philosophy of the business organisation. The staffs of the firm need to be adequately trained which in turn would enhance their competence and skills to enhance the business

Cybercrime Prevention Guide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cybercrime Prevention Guide - Essay Example Thus, any unlawful activity where a computer is used as a tool or a target or both comes under the definition of the cyber crime. Cyber Crimes can be categorized in the followings, according to Potts (2002): A crime where a computer or different computers are targeted over the network, for example, spreading of viruses etc. The computer may also be used to commit the traditional crimes, as widely used and easy access; for example, illegal gambling, money frauds etc. The computer may also be used as a file cabinet to store illegal information. For instance, drug trafficker using the computer to store the data of his sources, inventory etc. There seems to be not much between conventional crimes and the cyber crimes, but still if we dig deep then as per the above mentioned definitions a cyber crime is any crime where the computer is used. Laws are introduced and enforced in most of the countries to counter the cyber crime because there used to be a time when this was not unlawful as per the laws of most the countries and provisions are being made in order to cater this. With the growth in computer technology, new ways are being devised by the criminals in order to perform the illegal activities; the same is being done in order to cater against these (Brenner, 2010). ... code induced into the software of an application or the operating system of an organization that is triggered on a specific time period or by some triggering action of it. The nature of Logic Bombs is basically malicious, and they act same as a virus or a Trojan horse when activated by the triggering action. All those viruses that are to be released at some triggering action also fall into the category of a logic bomb (Parsons, Oja and Low, 1999). An organization applications and database are always vulnerable to such attacks. As the data represent the most critical factor for any organization, most of the applications that are being used are there to perform the operations and keep the data in an organized manner (Venkatraman, 2003). When such an attack is planted on data, nobody knows to what extent it may damage the organization because such an attack may not only destroy the data on the hard disks of the individual user, but may be planted to destroy the data kept in the servers. It may be planted to cover some financial frauds by some individual or a group of individuals, because when records are destroyed, they cannot be held responsible for anything. It may be planted on the application program by some cranky that runs the production unit. That may change the recipe, and the mixing of the raw materials to generate the final project; that is also financially not suitable for the organization. It will clearly mean that the end product made by this is a waste and it will hit the company badly because it will increase the wasted products amount (Brenner, 2010). Signs of Logic Bomb Attack Parsons, Oja and Low (1999) mentioned in their book that sometimes it is very easy to detect a logic bomb attack, especially if it is a virus attack on the network of an