Monday, March 29, 2010

Something "Socially Unacceptable": Your Wishes

Write about something that you wish would become “socially unacceptable” for people in society in a short paragraph of about 125 to 150 words. Describe the behaviour you dislike and explain why you would like it to stop.

Here are some sample topics:

cosmetic surgery; overusing limited resources; shopping for "recreation"; use of cell phones in public; paying too much attention to celebrities; loud Ipods on SkyTrain etc.
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10 comments:

Brad said...

It happens on the sidewalks every day: people approach each other from opposite directions and, for reasons that escape me, do not move to allow safe passage for both parties. Once, while walking along Cambie Street during the construction of the Canada Line and when the sidewalks were barely wide enough for one person to walk, I was very nearly forced into busy traffic by two young people approaching. I did what I often do now—I stopped and let them decide whether to physically push me off. It is like others have decided that a game of “chicken” is appropriate on sidewalks sometimes. Whoever flinches first gets to move out of the way. What has happened to common courtesy I wonder? Being aware of others is a cornerstone of living in a busy city and, in my opinion, how we have begun treat each other on the sidewalks demonstrates a slide in courtesy that makes me upset on a daily basis.

—162 words

April 3, 2010 at 12:53 AM
Anonymous said...

Last weekend, I went metrotown for the shopping. My friend was with me. We were enjoying our shopping. In the store, people buying things which they like. Everything looks very smooth and clam. Suddenly, we heard a loud cellphone ringtone. A long tall man picked his cell phone, and starts talking. First, when he said, “hello” in loud voice everybody scared. He starts laughing very loudly, without knowing that there are some other people around him. People are disturbing by his behaviour, but it looks that he does’nt care about anybody. Store manager was looks very upsets with his attitude. Manager asks him to please keep his voice little low, because it disturbs evreybody. Maybe then he realized that why people looking at him. I think in our societies, it is unacceptable that you don’t care about other person’s comfort, while you are intracting with other people.It looks very disrespectful, people should think about others too.


-----159 words

April 6, 2010 at 6:32 PM
Lisa said...

I get so frustrated when I get ready to get off the elevator and someone just stands there. Sometimes they don’t move out of the way, or they shove their way in before I can get off. What happened to common courtesy? One time I was at the mall and the elevator stopped on the floor where I was to get off. I proceeded to get off and there were two women standing right in front of the door. I said “excuse me” but they didn’t move. They just pushed their way into the elevator brushing against me. That made me so mad. I just stood there in the middle of the elevator and looked at them with disappointment. They didn’t even care; they just kept talking to each other. What has happened to respect? I wish people would wait until the elevator is clear before they enter.

April 6, 2010 at 7:52 PM
Melanie said...

I often go shopping near Lougheed mall in Coquitlam. I have seen some young people on the intersection of Lougheed hwy and North road. They have been providing unwanted services to the drivers while they are waiting the traffic signal to turn into the green light: they wipe the windshield of the cars with unidentified soppy water in a small water bottle. In the beginning, I had donated naively to them to value their physical effort. Soon after, I had realized the most of them are related to drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately, I had been the target a couple of times when I had passed by the area. I had to gesticulate through the closed window to refuse them not to touch my car. I think some drivers who have had a bad experience wouldn`t be pleasant being served by street people unintentionally. 144words

April 6, 2010 at 9:15 PM
Tatyana said...

Vision to Analyze and Analyze to Have a Vision
 
Driving to attend an April-scheduled seminar, provided by Consulting Engineers of British Columbia, I could not even assume how much more I open for myself only two hours later.
 
The sign “Effective people don’t just do things differently; they do different things” by Stephen Covey hooked me at ones. I realized that it might be the key for the door I was trying to open for a long time.
 
Communicating with different styles at work is even harder than when you do shopping or just walking. I totally agree with the previous writers regarding importance of social behavior in common places. But how to communicate, and how to improve the ability to influence and collaborate with others? How to avoid conflicts? How to appreciate the value of each other? How to gain and develop the proper language, and how to design you behavior through observing and listening?
How you pace yourself and handle problems and challenges? How to handle rules and procedures set by others?
Why do we behave differently?
It is a science and a huge field to discuss.

190 words

April 6, 2010 at 10:06 PM
Min Zhang said...

Whatever you are driving or walking on the road, some dangerous behavior always happens around you. Last two weeks, when I went to library with my son, I saw a couple with their two young daughters to stay the sidewalk between intersections, and they scanned the traffic on the road. When the traffic was almost clear, the daring couple with their daughters dashed into the “safe gap” across another side. The children didn’t feel scared. Their calm countenance told me this was a normal thing. My back was cold after I saw this scene. I left quickly because I was unwilling my son to see. The irresponsible behavior will mislead children and let them decrease their hazard perception. The children usually follow what their parents do. In the other hand, jaywalking will disturb the drives of the oncoming cars. The drivers don’t prepare to stop before the crosswalk. If this behavior happens, the drivers will be nervous so that they have to adjust their speed or stop the car. Therefore, I think if you are a good driver, you will nerve jaywalking.

April 7, 2010 at 2:37 AM
Jane Huang said...

When I see the movie in the theatre, someone forget to turn off his/her cell phone. Last week, my friend and I went to the theatre and saw the horrible movie. Seeing a thrilling plot of movie, my breath was stop and I was excited to wait next plot of movie. Suddenly, one man’s cell phone was ringing; he picked up his cell phone, and then answered it loudly. All people looked at him, but he did not care about it and then he continued talking. It is so rude to interrupt other people seeing the movie. Also, I felt that I was not able to continue seeing the rest of part of movie because my feeling was affected. I wish that people should respect each other and remember to turn off cell phone during the theatre. (135 words)

April 7, 2010 at 11:21 AM
wendy said...

On my first fly to Canada, I was happy that I would say goodby forever to the plastic bags. I imagined that Canadians must use the brown paper bags instead of the plastic ones in their shopping. The reality is disappointing. There are two aspects of contribution to the situation. Although there are few pioneer stores to charge the plastic bags in a neglectable cost, most of stores still generously give free. Walmart is never mean to provide the plastic bags. The cashiers almost put the every item in each bag. Sometime even I, a customer, feel that too much bags for the items. Besides the stores’ improper contributions, as customers, we should be blamed too. Most of us drive to go shopping, and Stores have shopping carts or baskets. The whole shopping process rarely needs additional plastic bags to fill the items. If bags are necessary, we can bring some used plastic or reusable bags with us. Now the situation is better than the time I just arrived. More stores sell the reusable bags and more people shop with reusable bags. I have already seen the hope that someday people will feel shame to use the plastic bags.

April 7, 2010 at 11:45 AM
Tiffany said...

The most enjoyment in Canada is the amazing sceneries, however, it's not so nice to take a walk on the grass beside the Dear Lake. Last summer, my family went to Shadbolt Centre for my daughter's Ballet Concert. It was a wonderful sunny afternoon. Children were chasing their dogs, and dogs were chasing balls or frisbees; parents are chatting under the trees. On the low hill, we could see the far sailboats floated on the sparkling surface of the lake. So attractive that we desired to stay here for long. After the performance, we excitedly looked for a place to sit down and enjoy immersing in this peace and beautiful nature. Somehow, a disgusting feeling had been raising in our minds. Oh shit! I don't mean to say a bad word. Really! There were dog poops all over on the grass. It was impossible to neither sit nor lie down! How terrible that had killed the lovely scene. We finally disappointedly went home. "Where is the social morality?" I wonder.

April 10, 2010 at 9:21 PM
Tiffany said...

I write another paragraph which related to the issue of my first paragraph.

* * * * * * *

My family has been in Canada for almost three years, and we have seen several parades, one of the most popular celebrations in Canada. Often we're not only enjoy the exciting and cheerful atmosphere but also catch or get some small gifts- candies, key rings, coupons for examples. I as well can see the thoughtful host (organizations) dispatch small garbage carts pushed around the two sides of audiences, so that people can throw out they wastes without trouble or inconvenience. But, when the activities end and people leave, I always see a lot of rubbish spread everywhere. And then, huge street sweepers come to clean the terrible streets. I wonder, what happen to people's social morality? We talk about recycling and concerning our earth every day. People know it, but how much people can do it. It's so easy to take each person's things away or throw into the garbage cans to keep our environment clean. But, why so many people can't? Finally, we waste the social time and cost just for private convenient. Is it worth?

--177 words

April 11, 2010 at 12:05 PM

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