I slid down off of my barstool and picked my way across the room. Luckily, the women’s restroom wasn’t too far because it was a crowded night at the bar. I opened the large wooden door and was surprised to see that even though there appeared to be another girl waiting, one of the two stalls empty.
Before I even had a chance to let my eyes adjust to the lighting change, the other girl said, in that just-a-little-too-loud drunken voice, “There’s no toilet paper in that one!” I hadn’t yet made any attempt to enter the stall and she was making sure I didn’t. She then took it upon her self to make sure that we acquired some of the precious paper as soon as humanly possible. She did this by leaning in towards the door of the other stall (which was occupied) and demanding, in the same slightly-too-loud voice, “Help us out and give us some toilet paper, will ya?”
There was no answer from the other side of the stall door so she continued to make her demands. The girl on the outside of the stall gave more warnings to others that stumbled into this semi-chaotic restroom.
Still no response from inside the stall. I was half tempted to launch into the Seinfeld “Spare a Square” tirade (in which Elaine gets into a fight with a woman in a neighboring stall who refuses to pass her some toilet paper), since it seemed fitting in such a situation. But I held off, doubting that either girl would understand the joke.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to ponder what to do for too much longer because, just then, the door to the occupied stall swung open and a strikingly tall, slim girl stepped out, still zipping her pants. “There, have as much as you like!” she said, as a form of greeting, in the same intoxicated voice. She was...
... middle of paper ...
...ng co-eds in the bathrooms of fraternity houses (technically not “ladies rooms,” they are usually populated with a female majority during large parties) and discussed everything from hairstyles to events on the nightly news with women while waiting in line use a bar bathroom. One would think that somewhere where such a “private” act takes place would not be considered so freeing. However, Good Housekeeping was right on the mark in its comment on the importance of the ladies room. The ladies room is a place where traditional social norms loose their importance and, as strange as it may seem, new honesty emerges.
Now, I don’t have first hand knowledge of the typical men’s room experience, but I have been told it is far from similar to its female counterpart. It’s too bad really, imagine what sort of peace agreements could be made if they were held in the loo.
In the years of 1940-1945, at least 1,100,000 Jewish people were sent to Auschwitz; Elie Wiesel was one of them. In the memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel, Wiesel details the horrors of Auschwitz, and his short stay at Buchenwald. Wiesel shares memories of trying to keep his father alive as well as himself, while slowly losing his faith in God. Throughout Night by Elie Wiesel, many conflicts are present such as man vs man, man vs self, and man vs nature, all of which I believe drastically bring out the horrors of Auschwitz.
Faith is tough to keep strong, especially because it is difficult to trust something you cannot see. In the nonfiction historical account “Night,” Elie Wiesel discusses what he went through in the tragic tale of the German concentration camps, including Auschwitz, Buna, and Gleiwitz. Throughout this novel, one defining theme shown through the rest. No matter how devout one is, most will doubt their god in the face of such atrocities.
“There was no God in Auschwitz. There were such horrible conditions that God decided not to go there.” Linda Breder-Holocaust survivor.
Although quite common today, the scene John Updike describes in “A & P’ causes distractions in the normally uneventfully grocery store nestled in town. As Sammy goes about his usual business of assisting customers with their groceries purchases, three young ladies enter that cause quite a distraction. The A & P’s typically customers consist of matronly women and these beautiful young ladies cause Sammy’s attention to drift from his duties at the checkout as he sees the barefoot visitors enter the quaint store. The girls, sporting swim wear and barely covered sun kissed bodies, confidently move about and seem to be unaware of the obvious attention from spectators. Stokesie, a fellow cashier, finds his attention drawn to the girls as he exclaims, “I feel so faint”, (Updike 20) demonstrating the intoxicating effect of the unusual visitors.
...u decently dressed when you come in here.” this man was entirely strict and conservative, as much was to be expected of a man around these part, he was most likely an avid church goer, Sunday school teacher, Boy Scout troop leader name your cliché. I started again “We are decent,” and before I could continue Lengel interrupted me, “Girls, I don’t want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It’s our policy.” and then he walked toward the clerk with a disappointed look and asks “Sammy, have you rung up this purchase?” with an astonished expression caused by the event that just occurred before his eyes, Sammy simply replies “No” and rings me up with a great deal of haste, as to get my friends and I out of this self-righteous store before we disgrace it any further. He hands me the change then we hurry out of the store rushing to the car.
...as eating my lunch, I heard one of the girls ask me “Why are you sitting here?”
One example of Elie Wiesel showing faith is when Elie and his family were getting evacuated from their home and from the ghetto that they were living in for a few days. "Yet another last night. The last night at home, the last night in the ghetto, the last night in the train, and, now, the last night in Sighet.” Since
In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech , Wiesel explains that,”Yes, I have faith. Faith in God and even in his creation. Without it no action would be possible. And action is the only remedy to indifference: the most insidious danger at all” (120). Wiesel meant no matter how tough things were he did not lose his faith. He did not give up after or during all the terrible consequences. In chapter 8 he said, “But i had no more tears. And, in the depths of my being. In the recesses of my weakened conscience, could I have searched it, I might perhaps have found something like-free at last!”.In the beginning Wiesel had to deal with all the terrible acts right away, he had to leave his home, had to give up everything he had basically. Wiesel only was left with his father. After he has gone on with living with these tough conditions he finally realized he couldn't control what happens and he couldn’t change anything. He came to a reasonable answer that this didn’t end well for him. Wiesel could still describe the horrible acts that were happening in the camps even 15 years after the war had already
In the poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room,” written by Jonathan Swift, one may say he portrays himself to be a chauvinist by ridiculing women and their cryptic habits. However, others may say he wants to help women from the ideals placed upon them by society and prove to be an early feminist. This poem written in the 18th century represented women to be fake and sleazy at first. Then during the 20th century, the feminist movement used it as an attack against women, depicting the poem’s meaning as not valuing their rights and freedoms. The truth far hidden from these points of views became uncovered recently. This essay will explain both sides of the views and using critical thinking will uncover the real message the author intended to portray.
"Where's the cigarettes?" she asked. We all sat there, looking dumbfounded, and wishing it were only cigarettes because the consequences for that were less severe. She stood at the door for a few minutes, staring at us with a look of complete disappointment on her face, before walking out the door, shutting it behind her.
In conclusion, we see that gender roles, as specific as they are in our culture, vary from culture to culture. And the variation of gender roles, in a global perspective, demonstrates that they are learned through socialization as oppose to stemming from nature, instinct and drive.
During the junior year of my high school, I somewhat became aware of Women’s Right Issues. I have made an effort to evaluate majority of the culture standard that I had previously taken in as the “untaught order of items.” Picking up and reading a book called The Women’s Room has taken me to a whole new direction in enlarging my knowledge of the female soul involved in women’s creative writing. Reading The Women’s Room left me in a stage where I seemed to find myself cry, laugh, feeling puzzled, and often, feeling livid and confused.
Hopper, K, (2009) Flann O’Brien: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Post-Modernist. Cork University Press, Ireland,
Embarrassed bringing the car to get washed, I sat and waited for the car to make it through the other side. Nervously waiting I was greeted by two more people that were also waiting for their vehicles to be cleansed of minor visual defects. One of the customers was a man in his mid forties and the other was a boy almost the same age as I was. I still sat there in anticipation waiting to see my car pass through the other side.