Crying babies, sobbing mothers, cold, sterile exam tables, cold feet, needles a mile long, waiting in line too long, feeling crummy, and a scared feeling that aches where no doctor or medicine can reach—this is what most people anticipate as they approach their local doctor’s office or hospital. Up until about a year ago, I thought along these same lines. It was only after I examined the examining rooms, ambled along the corridors, and experienced the sights, sounds and main characters of a hospital that I changed my mind.
2008 Fall
Sibling Tears
The three of us were sitting on a brick wall. It was a low wall, short enough for my 9-year old brother to hop onto, yet tall enough that all of our feet dangled as we sat. The park that surrounded us was nondescript – a large grassy area, the street adjacent, homes on three sides. The evening was quiet, dark. There was a dampness in the air that seemed to muffle sights and sounds. My older sister''s comforting voice penetrated the quiet air and rested soothingly on my brother and me.
Remote and Removed: Punch Drunk Love's Inherently Isolated Protagonist
Little do men perceive what solitude is, and how far it extendeth. For a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love." - Francis Bacon
The solitude Bacon speaks of is an emotion collectively shared by all who''ve yearned for a relationship; a common bond of affection or respect, or an audience perhaps, and have yet been denied their desires by chance, or outside obstruction, or even by personal choice. Humans are social beings, requiring social interaction to develop inwardly.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or Waste, Waste Waste?
The mantra repeats in my mind as it did back in fourth-grade: "Reduce-reuse-recycle, reduce-reuse-recycle, Reduce-Reuse-Recycle!" The slogan is ingrained into all of us like initials carved into an oak tree, always there but only noticed or remembered when up close or when the tree is cut down.
Tilt-a-Whirl
The majestic red curtain is closed. The buzz of the audience begins to die down as the last minute stragglers climb over people to reach their seats. The booming voice of the stage manager announces the show and kindly reminds everyone to please silence their cell phones, locate the nearest emergency exit, and refrain from using flash photography. Then, the lights fade to black. The audience erupts into cheers.
Works Cited:
n/a
