Social Norms and Other Things

Hello all!
I don't have a lot to write about, but being the crazy hooligan of a college student that I am (complete sarcasm) I do have a few things up my sleeve that I can write about today.


To put it frankly, the main point of this blog is not to entertain. It's somewhat like a journal for me. It might be lengthy, or seem pointless to you, but most of the stuff I put on here is to help me keep memories and things I've learned fresh in my mind. That, and I like to write.


So here it goes...


This past week has been a pretty good one. Very easy as far as school has gone. Except for my Stats test. That was not easy. I am really loving my Sociology class though. It is so much fun! I can already see how learning about this kind of stuff is going to affect my perspective on a lot of things... and I'm not sure I like it. Well, I do-- but it's making me think weird stuff.


Everyday I find myself questioning and analyzing normal everyday things. Like the way people sit in their chair, or body language in general. I'm always asking, "Why is that person doing that? I bet it's only because that's what they are taught by those around them. That's what society has shown them to do. They are just following the crowd. Trying to keep up with the times. Why is our world like that? Why are there social norms? Why can't people just do what they want and not feel the judgment of society constantly surrounding them?..." And on and on and on. It's stupid, really. Because when it comes right down to it, people can sit in their chair however they want to. And they probably aren't thinking that hard about it.


On the other hand, we do get to talk about lots of fun stuff and hear really cool stories. I remember on the first day we learned about laws in the United States that are kind of out there. Here are some examples:
1. Idaho state law makes it illegal for a man to give his sweetheart a box of candy weighing less than fifty pounds.
2.  In Idaho, riding a merry-go-round on Sundays is considered a crime
3. According to Ohio law, it's against the law to kill a housefly within 160 feet of a church without a license. 
4. In Ohio, it is legal to throw a snake at someone but it is illegal to shake a snake at someone.
5. In Oklahoma City no one may walk backwards downtown while eating a hamburger.
6. In Tulsa, Oklahoma the limit on kisses is three minutes (by law).
7. In Texas, it is legal for a husband to beat his wife as long as he uses something no bigger than his thumb.
8. In Texas, it is illegal to urinate on the Alamo. 


And the cool thing is, learning about this stuff is actually legitimate, because today's society is what pushes laws like this to exist. I love it. Anything can relate to sociology. 

____________________________

On Friday, I was done with classes by 9:00 and I had the rest of the day to basically do whatever I wanted. So I cleaned a little bit, and got some stuff done, and then I went and played tennis with my friend Dan.


I haven't played tennis in a long time, and I have never played in the new BYU-I Center, so I felt a little bit out of my comfort zone. It was fun though, despite the fact that I played horribly. After we played, we went and got Jamba Juice and then we went home to get ready for dinner.


Me and my friends, Chelsea, Kandice, Jared, and Stefka, have been trying to have dinner together for a looong time, but it never happened until this week. And I'm so glad it did! Jared is really good at making food and this time he made delicious chicken with bacon and cheese on it :) with double stuffed potatoes and salad. Gourmet. 


After dinner, Jared got out his new X-Box Kinect game thing (the one where "you are the controller") and we played it. I (conveniently) had a headache :) so I didn't dance, but I did play ping pong against Dan and it was pretty fun. 


I lost.

Crazy Jared and a headless me. (Logan, this is the one that reminds me so much of you :)

Chelsea 

Kandice dancing like a pro

My old roommate, Kandice, worked at Craigos for two and half years. She loved it there, and was so sad when she had to leave it. Anyway, as we were eating, she told us how she had buried her high school soccer shoes centerfield at her old high school. And how she buried her missionary shoes on her last P-day at a stake center in the Netherlands. We all knew, at this point in her story where this was going... she wanted to bury her faithful Craigos work shoes in front of Craigos.


So, because you have to be sneaky about this kind of stuff, you know, keep it on the "low low," as Kandice would say, we drove to craigos at 12:30 a.m, got the shovel out of my car, and began to dig. After about ten very intense seconds, the hole was dug and we dropped the shoes in. Kandice requested that we have a quick moment of silence. So we did, and then got back in our cars and drove home. All together, the whole experience probably lasted two minutes. But I'm glad I stayed up and went. It's kind of a cool idea, isn't it? I want to bury my own shoes one day.    


I'm also glad I went because on the way home, me and Chelsea saw what looked like, possibly, the ending of a very awkward, horrible date for a girl. She was riding down the middle of the road on the back of his bike, with his bum swishing back and forth in her face. I'm assuming that that was her "ride" home from a very long and painful night. Haha I can only imagine. Her scared and uncomfortable expression as we passed said it all :) Sheesh! Talk about social norms... I'm sure she was glad when that was over :) I tried to take a picture, but I failed. Use your imagination.

Here is Jared with the shoes. He is, of course, wearing bright orange only because Kandice asked him to wear black so we wouldn't be spotted.

Kandice digging the hole.

Bye shoes.

Moment of silence.

Other than weird stuff like this, I have just been going to school and working. I work at Millhollow Frozen Yogurt. I have worked there for a very long time. Sometimes, I get sick of making food for people, but it's a good job, and lately it been pretty fun. The girls there are becoming good friends and I love to see them!

I'm very impressed if you have made it to the end of this post. It was a pretty long one.
My life is good.


Until next time,
so long