Blog Assignment 4

Ghadir Abdulaziz

Professor Gager

FCST200

2 October, 2012

Blog Assignment 4

1.      According to the slides:

a.       Power: Ability to force another person to do something even against their will.

                                                               i.      Ex: When the big boss tells you to do something when it may be illegal may give you something great in exchange.

b.      Prestige: Respect and status in society.

                                                               i.      Ex: Neighbors, coworkers, friends.

c.       Privilege: Special advantage or benefit enjoyed by individuals, but not all.

                                                               i.      Ex: People going to fundraisers.

2.      The three variables that sociologists use to define social class are income, occupation, and education. How I would define my social class is middle class because I’m not a rich person neither am I poor person. My family has comfortable income, we own a house and everybody in the house has a professional job with a Bachelor’s degree or higher. We all have cars and we live a happy life.

3.      My race and ethnicity has been an issue several times.

4.      I am a nineteen year old Muslim American female that wears the hijab. Last year, I applied at a daycare center in Woodland Park and I got the job. I was to work with little kids and take care of them while their parents were busy at work. The kids loved me and they didn’t want to leave the daycare. When the children would leave, I would have parents come up to and tell me how great they think I am and I am a big influence on their lives. I hit it off with the children the very first day which made them really like me. The first month was absolutely great and I loved every bit of my job, until one day my “boss” came up to me and told me she needed to speak to me about an important situation. I was worried I did something wrong. So we went into her room and she specifically said to me, “You need to take off that thing that’s wrapped around your head or whatever the hell it’s called”. All I said was “excuse me”. She went on and on and said, “Yes, I’m sorry but the children in your class are afraid of that!” I was in complete shock. I explained to her that what the children do and say to me out of love and hope. It was hard of her to believe me. So she gave me an ultimatum, it was either I take it off in class or just leave and never come back. She gave me a week to giver and answer. To show her how much the children loved me and cherished me, I told each and every of the kids parents and they totally disagreed with it. But it obviously went through one ear an out the other for this lady. The last day of the week came which was Friday and she told me there was no need for you to go and tell everybody everything. She told me there was a lady who wears it also but takes it off when she gets to work. All I did was look at her and told her “well that’s not me. I love these children so much but I won’t be able to work here anymore if you’re making me take it off.” She didn’t even tell me am sorry or anything, she just said ok and said hope to see you soon!

Things like that tick me off to the point where I feel like I am not welcomed anywhere or I won’t get any job. I believe she did that because she probably did not like me. I was the sweetest to those children. I treated them kindly and I had a lot of patience to deal with them but it was totally fine for me because I love working with little kids. I believe I can make a difference in children’s lives.

Edit:

I did not take this case any further becasue I wanted to save myself from trouble. Im not the kind of person that would make a big scene unless I stand up for myself, which is what I did. I would have not called the cops or filed a complaint. It'll just show how bad of a person I am. I wanted to be the bigger person and let it go. I realized theres people out there that will love you and hate you. Im the kind of person that will like you no matter who are, or where you come from. I was raised to be that kind of person. I also loved the chidlren and their parents, so I didnt want to make myself look bad in front of those little angels. No matter what her reaction towards me was, I still lift my head up high and I will still chase my dreams even though I will not be accepted.