It’s A Set Up

In my neighborhood, it’s the usual “hood” set up. There are food shops, hair shops, barber shops, liquor stores and convalescent homes every three blocks. Luckily my block isn’t so bad but up the hill and down the street about three blocks away is a whole different neighborhood. There are no shootings going on in my area but shootings have occurred several blocks down. Compared to other cities like Richmond I live in a nice neighborhood with less violence and shootings. Living in the “hood” makes things harder for me. Every time I leave the house or come home I’m always aware of who is around and what cars are parked on my block. If I notice guys hanging outside on my block I call my mom or dad to open the front door if they are home. So that way they know someone else is home. If it happens to be no one home, that’s when I have to think on my feet and use my best judgment. Either wait until they clear the area before getting out of my car or getting my taser out ready for battle. Living in an urban neighborhood you have to always assume someone is going to try something with you!

A neighborhood can teach you so much if you really pay attention to everything that happens on your block. If it’s just knowing what time your neighbor takes out there trash every Friday, or knowing when another neighbor is usually home from work. Little details can save your life one day. I do believe a neighborhood can affect who you choose to become in both good ways and bad ways. I am who I am because of the neighborhood I lived in. Because of the struggles within my neighborhood, the crime my family tries to avoid, the poverty we experienced together as a community that what makes me strive above all that goes on in my community and become a better person. The only thing that my neighborhood is doing for me is keeping me prepared for the real life struggles and pushing me to be successful!

Egregious Advertisement

Every day I am surrounded by some form of advertisement. Whether it’s on a billboard, bus, Bart, newspaper or on my phone! Advertisement is everywhere I am, you would think it would be hard to ignore.  Usually I ignore billboard ads as big as they are I don’t tend to look up at them. Most are annoying to listen to and to see like the Pandora advertisement. While you’re listening to your music an ad pops up after a song and starts talking about something boring like insurance. Not the best advertisement while people are listening to a station it’s an interruption. Tampon commercials are foolish to me like the Playtex commercials when they have the women dressed up in all white saying it works. The women are smiling and in good moods because the tampon is comfortable? Commercials that are over the top like the Verizon commercial with the thunder and lightning coming from the store insinuating that Verizon has the best service connection. Yes they have the best service connection compared to others but they are very expensive!

I would like the Covergirl commercials if they would use a regular girl instead of a Pop singer or actress! Rihanna and Drew Barrymore wear Covergirl so I’m going to buy cover girl! Maybe I just don’t understand their message but in my opinion state the actual benefits for using cover girl products other than this celebrity wears it. The Progressive Insurance Commercials grasp my attention every time. The point of the commercial is that Progressive values their customer’s and they beat other competitor’s prices and deals. Advertisement that gets straight to the point is usually what grasps my attention. Most advertisement has ideological reasons why you should buy their product or why their product is better than competitors.