10:51PM 5/1/2019
I think the United States is a very safe place, in spite of all of these statistics that are peddled by the media and espoused by this textbook. In fact, I think we’re one of the safest countries on Earth. I’ve put myself in some pretty dumb and dangerous situations in the past, such as black-out auto-piloting my way back home from the bar (walking of course) and walking back from a bar in New York City to my hotel at 3AM. (New York does, in fact, sleep) Obviously my personal experiences don’t mean that violence doesn’t happen, but overall I think America is very safe, especially considering our population size of 327 million people and the incredibly diverse mixture of cultures, ethnicities, and religions that make up said population. For all of our differences, I at least would expect a much higher crime rate or tension among groups. We’re not perfect, but I think it’s safe to say that there is a reason that people continue to immigrate to America in search of a better life. If it wasn’t a good place to live, people wouldn’t pick up everything to come here.
That being said, I think the chapter’s advice on violence can really just be boiled down to the following: don’t put yourself into stupid situations and hope for the best. To be honest there really isn’t a lot in this chapter that’s actually helpful about avoiding violence in general; mainly because there’s not too much you can do to avoid it. It’s like Ivan Drago says in Rocky 4: “If he dies, he dies.” Shootings, muggings, robbery, and other violent crime are very random. If you piss the wrong guy off when he’s having a particularly bad day, you could get shot. Robbers could pick your house at random and rob you, and if that happens and you’re at home, for some reason it is socially unacceptable for you to defend your family and your property. In fact, that’s a particularly lose-lose scenario for you because you either protect your family and kill the intruders first and ask questions later, or you get your valuables robbed and your family possibly raped, maimed, assaulted, or killed by the intruders. Either way you lose. If you walk past the wrong alleyway, you could be mugged. Again, it really just comes down to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Sure, I don’t plan on walking the city streets at 3AM again anytime soon, but if I did get robbed back in New York, I’d have no one but myself to blame from being in that situation.
It always pains me to read about sexual violence because of how heinous a crime it is. Unfortunately, we live in a reality that is not populated exclusively with good actors, but frankly has bad people living that do bad things. I just hope that the tips and suggestions listed in the chapter help potential victims avoid rapists and sexual predators, and that if they do fall victim to these criminals, that they take the steps necessary to see that justice is served.
Regarding distracted driving, I’m starting to develop a habit of looking at my phone more often while I’m driving. This is pretty dangerous and something that I need to nip in the bud before it becomes second nature. I think putting my phone on do not disturb while driving would be beneficial, as hearing my phone vibrate against its mount always drags my eyes to the screen. It does suck when you want to change that one song and you’re in traffic though, first world problems I guess.
The book also states the possible side effects of noise damage, where you expose yourself to high decibels of sound over prolonged periods of time. While not a problem individually, these instances can add up to damage or completely destroy your hearing. Unfortunately, I’m here to life my life how I choose to, and I’m willing to own the consequences for my choices. I’m not going to limit my life or deprive myself of certain experiences because some book says 100 something decibels of concert volume will make me deaf. That’s pretty puritanical if you ask me. I’m going to see my favorite bands/artists if I want to, listen to my music however loudly I desire, and not live my life scared of my own shadow.
Regarding my health topic, the next two weeks (including this one) are absolute hell regarding academics. I have so many final papers, projects, and tests all due within these next two weeks and I’m struggling to schedule it out and take the time to do everything right. I just found out I’m graduating Magna Cum Laude, but that doesn’t mean that I can just drop everything for the rest of the semester and graduate. I have to finish strong, both for my undergraduate GPA and so that I can make the best law school application possible. This results in a new SMART goal: to put my academics first and finish assignments with the highest quality and earlier than the day they are due. Oof.
While academics come first, they shouldn’t completely override the time set for my physical health… but they have this week. I didn’t meet my SMART goal, which sadly isn’t new for me this semester, but I need to keep pushing. A little weight lifting will go a long way to releasing the pent up stress I’m feeling. My overall health is also taking a hit from this added stress. My sleep schedule is extremely erratic and when I do sleep it is not restful, I still haven’t entirely gotten over this cold of 3 weeks now, and my health has degraded to the point where it’s beginning to effect my digestion. God I just want to graduate and get some time off to recuperate. There’s nothing like a controlled home diet with plenty of protein and veggies. SMART goal for the week health wise is to just endure and survive. I don’t have time to go to the health center when I need to research and write two 13 page papers for one class alone, let alone my final work for the other three.
Here’s a photo of me at my girlfriend’s sorority formal, this picture is SO backlit I absolutely hate the chandelier at this venue. Was fun though.
Logan's Fitness HEAL102 