Social Status

In class we learned that just because you have a respectable job doesn't mean you are the most financially stable. We set up a real life example by dividing the room into sections and creating social classes. I was in the second highest class, but I couldnt help thinking why wasn't I placed at the top? Certain people who I thought were better than me in a lot of ways were placed lower than I was. Sometimes there are things in life that are out of your control. For example the single mother who works 3 jobs and struggles to put food on the table for her children and attend classes at the same time works a heck of a lot harder than my father who owns his own company and gets to stroll into work at 9am. Certain things determine the prestige of your job. Education, how much you are required to think, and sometimes even how dangerous of a job it is. My dad was a fireman for twelve years and now he is a doctor and makes a good living to support his family. Both of these jobs are looked at as superior than most others. This article discusses how the poor do our "dirty work" and that they aren't getting credit for it. Sometimes poverty is unavoidable like the video we watched on Appalachia. The one boy worked so hard to not associate himself with his "hick" family that he even moved out and lived in his car. Once he got a football scholarship he didn't last long before he dropped out because he couldn't keep up with the academics. This is an example of how sometimes things are out of your control and you can only strive to be the best that you can be.