craze or routine amidst routine
I always wondered what a typical American life consists of? what do they really enjoy? what is their main break from routine? ...this question has always haunted me...and is still unresolved mystery...
I have looked at the lives of Americans from childhood to adolescence to graduates to people at work..and probably retirees too..one common theme in their lives is routine...
In their childhood...they grow up watching cartoons and other videos specially designed for them...oh...here is where the seeds of "societal divide" are laid...everything is "tabooed" ...male child is not supposed to wear/use anything that is "pink"..because it is for "girls"...and any girl you see around for much upto 4-5 years or may be even later is always ridden in pink top to bottom...not to mention the toys and accessories...coming to which....I am reminded of Branding...
Girl child grows up seeing/watching cartoons that are specially designed for girls..the predominant being "Dora the Explorer"...now why is that? couple of reasons...first "branding"...and all the issues related to it and second is to do with the features that would encourage children to learn while having fun watching cartoons and of course learn another language (mostly Spanish) than English. Branding is a big thing here...starting from Dora paste/brush in the morning...sippers, slippers, plates, clothing, you name it....you have it ..picturing DORA in everything....this is not as true for Boys (sadly)...but the deisgners of Dora have launched Diego...a male counter part to Dora and are tryingto brand him...as the companion to the "male" child...ofcourse Spiderman seems to be the "male" company as of now....
the next phase of life...4-10 years is dominated by "Barbie" for girls and baseball/football for boys...then they outgrow these...into adolescence (school life and high school etc)...where...I have not looked at to comment...and hence would leave it there...
once in college...the students are left on their own to fetch for themselves...the parents send their kids to colleges they can afford or in which the child manages to secure admission....the parents pay the fee, rent and other allied services...but all the other "entertainment" has to be borne by the kids own hard earned pocket money...for which most of the students work off and on campus to suit their expenses...if the students have hard parties every week..they have to work harder to live that kind of life....This I think is one of the best lessons that young adults learn by themselves...they realize that there are no free lunches...which is one of the founding principles of capitalism.
once out of the college (with an undergrad degree) they explore the world of "work" and get into some or the other..based on their ability and ambitions...a quick mention.... one of the greatness of the American populace is reflected here....to me...most of the Americans are not greedy...they are satisfied with what they have and what they can achieve not letting go other priorities in their life...they always plan for a mix of fun, work and life (that they define for themselves) and just follow it...if they realize after 20 years or so that they really need to "grow" and have to take significant strides in their career...they come back to college for their graduate studies...I have seldom seen people undertaking masters straight from undergrad....
people at work...have a fixed schedule and they have a time allocated for everything after their work....they workout, go on dates, watch their fav programs etc and do not miss any of these for anything else....so no one can crash into others place just to say Hi...strange for me...but a routine here....as Aishwarya Rai once remarked on Litterman's show that "we don't have to take appointments with out parents to visit them"...there is a sense of disconnect in this society...a paradox is very evident
as a child...a person gets all he wants or desires....cartoons, toys, clothes ...everything...he/she can study or otherwise...he/she can be good at maths or be good at just art....he/she is always encouraged....but once in college and later...there is this great disconnect between the family...the child calls their parents once a week or so...and just checks...they have scheduled meetings every other weekends and family gatherings once in a while...normally for Thanks giving...this kind of routine amidst routine is what american life is all about... no one is prepared to give up anything for others...no one can disturb their "schedule" for others....oh...
one of the most common themes in life after high school is the consumption of alcohol ...everyone seems to be crazy about it....every party is about getting drunk...every gathering is about drinking and every event (even if it is camping) is bound to have at least Beer as its integral part...do not know why there should be alcohol involvement in everything? yet another routine...hehe
this kind of life makes America one of the most dreaded place for me... any way...this posting is not about my apprehensions...but just something to talk about routines...speaking of which...I have to get back to my routine...and the time allocated is also past...so...cheerz to Routine life in America
God Bless America
reg
Avadhani
I have looked at the lives of Americans from childhood to adolescence to graduates to people at work..and probably retirees too..one common theme in their lives is routine...
In their childhood...they grow up watching cartoons and other videos specially designed for them...oh...here is where the seeds of "societal divide" are laid...everything is "tabooed" ...male child is not supposed to wear/use anything that is "pink"..because it is for "girls"...and any girl you see around for much upto 4-5 years or may be even later is always ridden in pink top to bottom...not to mention the toys and accessories...coming to which....I am reminded of Branding...
Girl child grows up seeing/watching cartoons that are specially designed for girls..the predominant being "Dora the Explorer"...now why is that? couple of reasons...first "branding"...and all the issues related to it and second is to do with the features that would encourage children to learn while having fun watching cartoons and of course learn another language (mostly Spanish) than English. Branding is a big thing here...starting from Dora paste/brush in the morning...sippers, slippers, plates, clothing, you name it....you have it ..picturing DORA in everything....this is not as true for Boys (sadly)...but the deisgners of Dora have launched Diego...a male counter part to Dora and are tryingto brand him...as the companion to the "male" child...ofcourse Spiderman seems to be the "male" company as of now....
the next phase of life...4-10 years is dominated by "Barbie" for girls and baseball/football for boys...then they outgrow these...into adolescence (school life and high school etc)...where...I have not looked at to comment...and hence would leave it there...
once in college...the students are left on their own to fetch for themselves...the parents send their kids to colleges they can afford or in which the child manages to secure admission....the parents pay the fee, rent and other allied services...but all the other "entertainment" has to be borne by the kids own hard earned pocket money...for which most of the students work off and on campus to suit their expenses...if the students have hard parties every week..they have to work harder to live that kind of life....This I think is one of the best lessons that young adults learn by themselves...they realize that there are no free lunches...which is one of the founding principles of capitalism.
once out of the college (with an undergrad degree) they explore the world of "work" and get into some or the other..based on their ability and ambitions...a quick mention.... one of the greatness of the American populace is reflected here....to me...most of the Americans are not greedy...they are satisfied with what they have and what they can achieve not letting go other priorities in their life...they always plan for a mix of fun, work and life (that they define for themselves) and just follow it...if they realize after 20 years or so that they really need to "grow" and have to take significant strides in their career...they come back to college for their graduate studies...I have seldom seen people undertaking masters straight from undergrad....
people at work...have a fixed schedule and they have a time allocated for everything after their work....they workout, go on dates, watch their fav programs etc and do not miss any of these for anything else....so no one can crash into others place just to say Hi...strange for me...but a routine here....as Aishwarya Rai once remarked on Litterman's show that "we don't have to take appointments with out parents to visit them"...there is a sense of disconnect in this society...a paradox is very evident
as a child...a person gets all he wants or desires....cartoons, toys, clothes ...everything...he/she can study or otherwise...he/she can be good at maths or be good at just art....he/she is always encouraged....but once in college and later...there is this great disconnect between the family...the child calls their parents once a week or so...and just checks...they have scheduled meetings every other weekends and family gatherings once in a while...normally for Thanks giving...this kind of routine amidst routine is what american life is all about... no one is prepared to give up anything for others...no one can disturb their "schedule" for others....oh...
one of the most common themes in life after high school is the consumption of alcohol ...everyone seems to be crazy about it....every party is about getting drunk...every gathering is about drinking and every event (even if it is camping) is bound to have at least Beer as its integral part...do not know why there should be alcohol involvement in everything? yet another routine...hehe
this kind of life makes America one of the most dreaded place for me... any way...this posting is not about my apprehensions...but just something to talk about routines...speaking of which...I have to get back to my routine...and the time allocated is also past...so...cheerz to Routine life in America
God Bless America
reg
Avadhani
posted by Avadhani at
1:04 AM
1 Comments:
I am well aware of this routine life in America....I could not stop myself from imagining all this in India and realised that we do not have boundaries for our time there. I guess, man, the social being is more what you see back at home. As we come out of our protectd living, we learn a lot. I, to some extent learned that this routine life for some years of life is definitely essential to achieve our goals but cannot imagine this for a life time..
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