Another group of interesting narratives -- many thanks to our readers. We had some insights on teaching from hearing about swimming lessons; learned about the fallout from changing teachers during the school year, especially in kindergarten; what it's like as a newcomer to feel invisible/ fainting on the Skytrain and no one stopping to help; became more aware of the differences between an immigrant worker's attitude to a low-paying job and a more priviledged teen's view; and with hindsight, looking at the ethics of letting a friend drive while impaired.
There is always good discussion when there are many views, such as after reading our story today, espeically around the homeless, First Nations people and responsibility. The image is from the cover of the collection of short stories where you can find "What You Pawn I Will Redeem".
For next week, please think about an academic topic on which you would like to write your paper. This 5-7 double-spaced paper will be due Mar. 11. Ideally you could find something in your field that interests you, and examine it in light of the ideas in our three units. Please bring a rough outline to class next week.
Our story for next week is "Winky" by George Saunders. Time for a little comic relief after the last couple of stories! Enjoy your weekend.
21 comments:
I’m sure most of us have stories about how our parents came to Canada. My dad was lucky when he came to Canada over 30 years ago from Scotland when Canada was crying out for skilled mechanics to work in the forest industry and bringing my mom along was no problem. Now I don’t see this same response to immigrants who come here. It may be because we are all immigrants in a way that everyone has a story. In my school we had many foreign exchange students from everywhere including Brazil, Germany, Korea, China, and Japan. I remember our school had an assembly at the beginning of the year and the principle said something I will never forget. He reminded us that these exchange students are adventurous, brave and fascinating people, and although they may appear shy, it only takes a little bit to reach out and learn something new from them.
I have never been an exchange student but I have been in countries for a shorter period of time and not known the language or any people. The onus has to come from both the exchange students and the residents. It must be very comforting to come to a new country and find people who are from the same country as you; it would only be natural to want to spend time with them. But to fully gain the whole experience I think attempts have to be made to meet new friends also. This being said, Canadians – though accepting- are not necessarily always welcoming and we need to be aware of it. There is nothing that helps you develop personal growth and relationships with others than branching out of your comfort zone and meeting new people.
Sherman Alexi’s short story, “What you pawn, I will redeem” covers many different issues in our society. The story describes the main stereotypes of First Nations people, for example. homelessness, alcohol addiction, laziness, unsuccessful. Our society has certain expectations of specific groups. This expectation can, for some people in these groups, destroy their lives. I am sure not all First Nations people want to represent themselves according to the stereotypes society has of them. They can be successful, highly educated and healthy both mentally and physically. Non-Indians are more dominant in our society therefore it is essential for their success that First Nations people be educated in western education systems. However, this education system does not take into account or recognize the First Nation peoples way of thinking, their values or their world views. It is very difficult for these students to find their identity. They lost a large part of their customs, culture and roots due to colonization. Without understanding where they are coming from, we cannot judge them through our narrow perspectives. It is difficult to be judged by others through biased stereotypes. The character in this story became homeless and remained homeless for a long time. I think the problem began with society judging him as an Indian without any potential to become better. Once someone is in that track and perceives themselves that way it is very difficult to maintain a normal life but very easy to slide downwards. Instead of helping the homeless with free food and money, we should provide them with education and skills that will help them attain a better life. We should respect them as human beings and they can be independent with control over their own lives.
I found the story “What you pawn I will redeem”, creates many strong feelings for me. I thought the story invoked some very interesting class discussions. Clearly people have strong feelings about street people and the social issues that surround them. I found that my opinions surrounding this social issue and of the Classmate’s treatment on the skytrain have challenged and altered opinions within myself. When I looked at my children that evening after class, it became very clear to me how I feel about some of the issues brought up in class. I don’t want my children to think that it is okay to ignore someone who has fainted on the train or that they have no social responsibility for those they share the world with. I don’t want them to be so far removed from these issues that they think that they cannot contribute or that their efforts will be fruitless. This doesn’t mean that I think that they have to be direct in the impact they make, perhaps it is simply being the person who asks another if they are okay or phones 911 for the girl on the skytrain or perhaps as someone said in our groups, the paying our share of taxes and supporting social programs. I agree with the person in class who was speaking about doing what you can to contribute, based on your experience and particular ‘gifts’. The way that my children are going to learn this is by me showing them. I have to live what I believe and value. Children learn most by example; I can’t expect them to change the world if I am not willing to. This doesn’t mean that I don’t make mistakes and handle each situation perfectly; it means that I am willing to make mistakes or be embarrassed etc. in front of my kids and discuss with them how to make it better next time. It means I keep trying to do my best to live what I believe. My children are not the only ones watching my example. As a teacher my students will too. I don’t think that I should be teaching my values but can make them aware of their strengths, beliefs and values and that they can use that awareness to contribute to their world. I guess there will always be debate of what is effective?, what should be done for street people?, what shouldn’t people do? etc., but what I am sure about is that if I expect people to pay attention to a fainting girl on the skytrain or myself for that matter, I had better be living the example that I want others to do.
So here is my take on homeless… I always give them money, that is, when I have spare change to give. I know what most people say, “your only giving them drug money!”. My official stance on the matter; who cares! I have no disillusions of where my money goes. I realize that although everyone says that they just want to eat, the most of them will use it for drugs. But you have to realize that, at that point, they need the drug like we need food! Not only that, take a look at how they’re living, if the drugs are the only thing pulling them through the night, then fine, let em be! Until I’m ready, or anyone is ready for that matter, to physically take a homeless man off the streets, nurse them through re-hab, then give it a rest. Get off your high horse, and help a guy out. If not, don’t preach to me about tossing em a buck or two.
I feel that there is no reason that anyone should be homeless or living on the street in our society. There are so many opportunities for street people to clean up their act and help with finding a job that I have no sympathy for any of them. I realize that many homeless people have serious addictions and I agree that habits like that are hard to break. But there is so much help and tons of government funding that goes into these programs that if anyone really wanted to break there habit they would have enough support to do so. We have all heard the success stories like the people in the film Through a Blue Lens, so it can obviously be done with a little support. There are many homeless shelters and church groups that offer free showers and ways for the homeless to clean up their appearance. The $30 in recycled cans they find in a day will be more than enough to buy a clean shirt and pants at Value Village to wear to LabourReady to find a job for the day. Every fast food place in downtown Vancouver is hiring and you don’t need a very impressive resume to get started at lots of these places. Even if it does pay minimum wage, this will be enough to pay for subsidized housing and the soup kitchen is always willing to feed people for free. But instead of taking advantage of all these opportunities, lots of homeless people choose to continue living their lives on the street. Being a white, middle class male, I have obviously never had any hardships in my life and have no idea what is like to be down on my luck. But I don’t think it is fair that the majority of the world works for a living while a few take advantage of the system and do nothing to contribute to society. Maybe I’m just too sheltered to see what is really going on, but as far as I’m concerned, if homeless people took advantage of the opportunities in front of them, like all of us are, homelessness would be a much smaller problem in our society.
My great-grandparents were the first in my family to move to Canada many, many years ago and I'm lucky enough to still have two of my great-grandma's still alive to share with me their stories of coming to Canada - what a HUGE change. You are leaving almost everyhting that is you, behind! That is a very difficult thing to expereince and I can only imagine them, and the people that move their lives to Canada today, and how much of an adjustment they would've had to make.
I took an opportunity last fall to travel all over southeast Asia to see a different part of the world. Seeing as how that was the first time I'd been that far and that long away from home, I was instantly homesick. Thankfully, I eventually adjusted and had the time of my life but I always knew I would be going home. I can only imagine actually having to move to a brand new place that I'd never been to before and the struggles, adventures and just overall new-ness our ancestors and classmates have endured.
After our class discussion about homelessness and after having read “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”, I had several thoughts going on through my head. Recently I started volunteering at the Life Skills center in downtown where we serve Indian food for the homeless. When I volunteered to help out I did not really not know what to expect but when I got there and started serving and helping out, it was a very rewarding to know that you are helping out someone who is in need.
I remember some of us talked about how can we actually eliminate homelessness and not any of us could come up with an idea of how we can help them in the long run. Rather a lot of people had many other opinions. Some people were thinking how hard our parents had to work to make a living as many of our parents have come from India with nothing and made a living by doing a lot of hard work. Some people thought how it is not fair since it was their decision to choose this path and it is almost impossible to help them. In addition after they ate, they simply went back to the streets anyways (serving them was basically temporary help).
I certainly agree with this but then at the same time, I feel that once you do go down that path and get that low, it is so difficult to get yourself back up. I mean you are emotionally scarred and it is so difficult to put yourself in the shoes of a homeless person since none of us have actually been there. I almost keep debating with myself and cannot see a solution of how we can really help them out in the long run. I mean of course many of us have made mistakes and they have too. Giving them a hot lunch is just temporary. Opening up more social programs or rehabilitation centers so they can actually see that there is a way out and putting in effort as a community is the only way I see that we can really decrease if not eliminate poverty. We cannot just rely on the government and simply give them money through welfare programs and expect to get rid of homelessness since they will end up spending it on drugs anyways. I mean I know this plan does have some flaws but I feel that this is best solution to this issue. If any of you guys would like to come out and volunteer for the free kitchen, there is more information on this site http://www.gurunanaksfreekitchen.com/.
Here is my thoughts on homeless people, what do they always ask for? Money for food, but we all know they want to buy drugs. I am like most people who think they will spend that money on drugs and I do not feel comfortable supporting their bad habits. In return I will aks homeless people what they would like to eat, and buy them the food and bring it back to them. This way I am sure that the money is going to a good cause instead of supporting their drug habits. My parents on the other hand are the total opposite of me. They would rather give the homeless people money and allow them to choice what they do with the money. They say that, they are grown up and they can make their own choices in life; if they choose to use drugs, then that's their decision.
Being in the Vancouver area, most of us have been exposed to many homeless individuals in the course of our daily activities. However, we may have been so overexposed that we are not impacted by the substantial problem that homelessness presents to our city. With homelessness being such a huge issue, I found the topic of who should help to be very important and interesting.
As I expressed in class, I believe that the Canadian government and citizens of Vancouver share equal responsibility to do whatever they can to elevate the problem. While the government may have financial resources to build homeless shelters or to fund programs, the citizens of Vancouver can provide social and emotional support by donating themselves, along with the expertise and own social experiences, to help and relate to the homeless on a more personal level. For example, the church that I used to be employed at houses the homeless in their gymnasium during certain seasons. For this time, people who love to cook donate food, and people who love to socialize spend an evening talking to the people housed in the gym. After the church completed their first duration of housing the homeless, there were several stories about how many homeless people found resources to get themselves off the street, as well as motivation to change their lives through the personal connections they made with the volunteers, as they felt for the first time in a long time that other people cared about them. Creating personal connections through investing time in the homeless is not something that Canadian government can provide through funding housing projects. In short, I personally believe that both the Canadian government and the citizens of Vancouver have a responsibility in solving the homeless problem because if both work together, they can compensate for the areas that one group may not have the resources to fill. The danger comes when both groups put the onus of responsibility on each other, because then no one will accept their role in fighting homelessness.
When it comes to homeless I am like Mike. I come from a low-income family and it was tough to always have food on the table. But when it came to pay day and if my mother saw someone begging for money she would always go and buy them some food. I learned from my mother and I always try to help out those how reach out to me and ask for money. I will try not to give them money but something nice and warm for them to eat and something to drink. They are usually happy with the food. I remember one time when there was a man asking me for food and that he was starving and could not find a job at the Metrotown bus stop when I was waiting to catch the bus for my graveyard shift. The food I had was to last me the next 10 hours, but I offered it to him. I was a vegetarian at the time and it was a large salad with a V8. He looked at me and was like ewww no way. I was shocked was not really sure what to think, I still see him at Metrotown bus stop today and its been about 2 years, he avoids me. My friends tell me see even when you help them out they don’t change they will keep begging and not even try to better them selves. Well I tell them I was brought up to help others it does not matter what they do with it and I do not need anything in return. I always try to help others any way I can that is why I learned first aid and join St. John’s. I try to share my view with any one I can.
The discussion on homelessness and the willingness of large groups of people (as in that classic Psych 100/101 example) to not act in a crisis situation, because of diffusion of responsibility, were both very interesting and entwined in neat ways. In a city full of people who are “used” to the homeless, where people walk by them every day and newspapers frequently run articles about the homeless “problem,” its easy to dismiss these people from your consciousness and just assume that someone else will solve the problem. I might have been guilty of this up to our last class (aside from the odd handful of change), especially since I’ve always thought that transitory help to the homeless (food, change, coffee, etc) was an excercise in futility. Government should fix things, as only government has the resources (not to mention the moral high-ground, as the caretaker of the city) to tell people how to live their lives.
Many of the comments here, and a few things that were said in class, have partially changed my mind. It is a good point that personal relationships show people that they are human and deserve better than the street. And certainly, it is our responsibility as citizens/tax payers to lobby the government on the behalf of those who have no standing to do so.
The story itself I enjoyed, especially since I liked the main character a lot but still found myself frustrated about the way he buys into stereotypes. He’s a good, generous man though, who cares for his fellow homeless. It left me thinking something along the lines of, “Stereotypes, though maybe based on truth in a lot of ways, are totally unfair.” Though we look at this person and think “SPEND THE MONEY SOME OTHER WAY!!”, it is obvious that this is not a man who deserves the sort of scorn most of us are probably guilty of directing at people like him. He is simply a person without the means, will, or support systems to see past his way of life to a better one.
And who are we to tell him that ours is “better,” anyway? (This last comment is sort of what I mean when I say that the government has the “moral high-ground” required to help)
I have to say that I couldn’t agree more with what Shawn has said. After reading the story, and discussed about homeless people within our small groups, I pretty much feel the same way. Come to think of it, there are many Chinese immigrants who come here with little to no English. Many of them want to find jobs but the language barrier always gets in the way. They come here with lots knowledge on different backgrounds, yet many of them end up washing dishes at restaurants. Under such environment not only will their English not improve, it makes it even harder when they need to speak up in public, as most of them would feel embarrassed with their poor English. Then we see all these homeless on the streets, they maybe unfortunate from losing their homes, families, or whatever reasons that made them end up on the streets. They still have a lot of advantage as to what others may long for. They could speak much better English and it would be much easier for them to find jobs in that aspect compared to new immigrants from other countries.
The topic of homeless is a very touching one for me considering I never seen any thing like this until I moved here about two years ago. I do not completely understand how someone could live on the streets especially this time of the year; the coldness for one would just kill me. I wish there were an answer to fix all of this but it seems like it has been a problem for a while and no matter what we do there is still going to be something wrong. I am basing all of this on my own opinion it isn’t like I had my parents around telling me what to do when I see a homeless person. To be honest I don’t know what they would do if they seen one either.
Before I give a homeless person money I like to talk to them and sometimes ask them what happened to them to end up like this and what they are going to spend their money on rather then just tossing a dollar at them while I walk by. They still are human beings despite the fact that they have nothing; yes some are crazy but not all. They must have some kind of brain to be able to survive on the streets of Vancouver. But I can only imagine the type of life they must have had to end up where they are.
In Sherman Alexie's short story, Jackson's generosity really struck me, since he had so little of his own yet was constantly willing to share his fortune with his friends and new acquaintances. It is very easy to negatively judge other people based solely on their appearance, and I know I'm sometimes guilty of doing so. The subject of homelessness and generosity, however, reminded me of a recent experience I had...
One evening in December, I missed the last train that was heading out to the Fraser Valley, where my family lives. Fortunately, there was a coach bus that would be arriving in about an hour to take late passengers to their destinations. Unfortunately, it was an extremely cold evening, and I had underdressed, not realizing how drastically the temperature would drop. I was sitting alone at the bus stop, wishing I'd at least worn gloves, and occasionally getting up to walk around so my toes wouldn't freeze. A man walked toward me, and I averted my gaze after a quick smile, since I didn't want to encourage conversation. I don't typically feel especially uncomfortable talking with strangers, but this was a scruffy-looking older man who had approached a girl sitting alone in the dark. I admit to feeling somewhat relieved when he walked away again.
About ten minutes later, though, he returned, this time carrying two cups of coffee. I was the only other person around, so immediately I felt a little suspicious of his intentions: was he bringing me the other coffee? Yikes. Should I accept it? What if he put something in it? How could I not talk with him after he was nice enough to buy a stranger some coffee? I took the coffee and sipped from it, after deciding that surely it was safe and I was just being paranoid. Then he insisted that I wear his jacket around my shoulders until the bus came -- so, along with the hot coffee, I warmed up enough to stop shivering. He and I talked for at least half an hour, until the bus arrived, and I learned a lot about his life. This was a man who had gone through unfortunate events, had just gotten out of jail, was putting his life back in order after a divorce, and had still been aware enough to recognize the temporary suffering of a stranger (it must've been obvious that I was freezing) and generous enough to help out someone who hadn't even asked for anything.
It was like our roles had been reversed. In any other situation, I would have felt like he would need my help more than I would need his, based on physical appearance alone. In reality, being a responsible and caring citizen is simply about people helping people, regardless of their situation in life.
After hearing the story from Jyoti where she let her friend drive while impaired, I felt pretty much almost the same as her. I felt related to what she was going through at the time because this had also happen to me before. It was a Friday night where our designated driver had some drinks as well. What has been done can’t be undone so the driver still insisted to drive everyone home even though he was intoxicated with alcohol. In the back of our heads, we were cautious about our driver driving but no one said anything since no one wanted to cab home separately and the night would end. As we got into the car, our driver wasn’t up to his normal driving standards, then we began to worry about his driving; he still insisted that he was ok. I was glad that we did no get involved in any accident or get stopped by police. After that incident, we made sure our designated driver stay sober and not to have any drinks and if they did, we would be calling the cab home. We made sure that no one would do any foolish acts and know the consequences of drinking and driving.
As for the story, “What You Pawn I will Redeem,” I was frustrated as to why our protagonist did not save up the money that he earned to earn back his grandmothers regalia. He spent the money quickly as soon as someone gave him the money that helped him a step toward buying back the regalia. I did not feel sorry for the protagonist because he had a future ahead of him, but he was the one who chose to become homeless. After some thought, I had another view on the protagonist; he was caring person and put others ahead of him. He wanted everyone to be happy at the bar, helped the Aleuts fill their hunger and anyone else that he can help out.
The story today really hit home for me. I work downtown so I see a lot of homeless people all the time. I think what all of us have to remember is that the homeless are human! They’re just like us and we need to treat them as such. Perhaps if we spoke to them instead of dehumanizing them, we could place ourselves in their shoes and connect with them.
I’m always split between giving them money or buying them food. I feel that my money goes further when I buy them food or give them “McDonalds Dollars” (and yes, I know that McDonalds isn’t healthy, but at least its food). Like Mike, I believe that its their life and I shouldn’t tell them how to live. If they need alcohol or drugs to survive then who I am to say no? I go downtown to drink and party so who am I to say that they can’t do that as well?
I thought last week’s story was a very interesting read, which also produced an interesting class discussion afterwards. I think I’m in the middle on the subject. I do think that we as a society should be helping the homeless out in one way or another (not necessarily by giving cash, but in other ways as mentioned in class), but I also think they should be making a considerable effort in helping themselves (i.e. using the free services available such as showers and meals in order to acquire a job, leading to eventually getting on their own two feet).
After class, I went home and was browsing on the internet when I found a news article about how the police have begun to “ticket” the homeless who are living on Vancouver’s streets in an effort to make the streets look “cleaner” for the 2010 Olympics. Supposedly this has been going on since sometime last year, but this is the first I have heard of it. How can they ticket people who have been living on the streets for multiple years, and some people who have been there all their lives? Where are they supposed to go? How are they supposed to pay for being ticketed? Even though living on the streets is “illegal” and they technically have many opportunities to get a job and whatnot, I don’t consider this to be the best option. I think that through the combined efforts of the government, the police, and society as a whole, a much more productive and beneficial alternative can be created.
I found the many different views on the story "What You Pawn, I Will Redeem" to be very interesting because these views were based upon our backgrounds and how we grew up learning. I was quite judgmental towards the homeless because through my parents when I was young I was told that they're homeless because they were addicted to drugs and any money that you gave them would contribute to their drug use. The money you give them is actually harming them and not helping them. I have never really gotten to know a First Nations person before, and the only knowledge I had of their history was from textbooks. So reading the story, I didn't feel the same level of compassion as others towards Jackson because to me, he was just another homeless person who wanted money to get his fix.
My view towards the homeless has somewhat changed due to stories I've heard from my friends about their experiences and also the experiences of my own. It isn't as black and white as I had thought it was, many people are forced into homelessness and not due to their drug use, some people just have extremely bad luck and if everyone has this judgmental view about them then they'll never get that jump start that they need because they'll always be looked down upon by society.
The discussion about being invisible as a newcomer was very interesting because I feel that I can relate in some ways. Although I came to Canada when I was really young and it does get harder as you grow older, I still experienced the feeling of being an outcast. I think that all newcomers to a country will feel somewhat intimidated by the surrounding and the way people act. Not knowing the language of the particular country makes everything all the harder. When I first came to Canada I was 6 years old. I entered first grade knowing very limited English. While all the kids knew each other and played together I was always left out. I didn’t know how to communicate with them and therefore couldn’t even express my wish to play with them. I felt invisible as well. It was the hardest time in my life. However, I slowly began understand how to act and as my English language became more rich in vocabulary, I began to make some friends.
More recently, a few years ago I was an exchange student to Quebec. Although it’s still in the same country, the feeling of being a stranger was still very strong. In the town that I stayed at, no one spoke English. It was hard to get around and talk to people. The only time that I felt comfortable for the first few weeks was when I was with the other English speaking exchange students. However, this experience is much different from being a new immigrant to a country. This is because people were much more welcoming and made an attempt to make contact with me and make me feel at home. I agree with Kerri on the note that people need to be more welcoming to newcomers and this would not only help them in gaining more confidence, it would also allow us to make new friends of different ethnic backgrounds. At the same time, new immigrants should make an effort to make new friends as well.
As a Canadian who has never immigrated anywhere, nor have I been to a country that didn't speak English I find it fascinating when I hear of people who have immigrated. I think it would be extremely scary to go somewhere that I didn’t understand the language in a strange country. To put myself in their situation I would be terrified.
One way I could think of being lost without knowing the language is I have a friend who is Deaf. She lip reads a little and is very patient with people who just know a little bit of sign language. When I first met her, I was very intimidated by my poor skills at sign language. I was so nervous to even try to sign that for the longest time I didn’t try and therefore didn’t communicate with my friend(we had just met then) After a while probably half a year I started to try harder and sign a little bit. We have become pretty good friends because I put myself in her place and got over my fear of trying to communicate. So I can see how challenging it would be to live in a place where the language was foreign and I didn’t feel very comfortable with learning it. I did learn that it is better to try to communicate than to not because I would have missed out on a very good friendship!
Our discussion of Jackson and his plight has repeated on me for several days now. Native American’s face very tough conditions in their own homeland right now as they struggle to rebuild their communities after hundreds of years of outsiders trying to obliterate them. I wonder if we would fare any better if the structures connecting us to our community leaders, families and friends were torn apart the way that Jacksons were. I am sure many of us would have turned to alcohol and substance abuse to escape the pain of having our collective identity destroyed. How can anyone succeed in such a foundering environment and what right of it is ours to criticize Jackson as he desperately tries to eke out some form of survival, one that we know nothing about. It is naive to compare our homework procrastination to the loss of ones cultural identity.
I can imagine, somewhere in my overactive imagination, how Jackson got to the state he is in this story. I can never imagine going there but I am not so inexperienced that I think that I couldn’t ever end up there. I am lucky to have community. A community intact, one I can go to if things were beginning to slide to a point I could no long control. I, because of this community, will most likely never be able to say that I can put myself in Jackson’s shoes. Janets story about being left on the skytrain when she was obviously ill, highlights our need to be a more compassionate and responsible society, one where we take care of the most needy of our members. There is an adage that says it takes a community to raise a child. I wonder what it will take to rebuild a community so that it can begin to raise its lost children.
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