Assignment #3

Assignment # 3

            After reading Sedaris’ text “Standing By,” I was rather confused on what his overall purpose of the text could be. As I read I thought to myself, “Why is he putting all this in here?” I know people experience those “Light Bulb” moments; nothing made sense until I had gotten to the very last page of the article, a sentence had caught my eye. “If my own little mind is nailed shut, why wouldn’t theirs be?” (Sedaris 277) From that sentence alone, I felt that “Light Bulb” moment, because in the text he goes on about listening or being talked to in the airport, where people are judging, blaming and complete complaining. I believe that he tries to help us understand how we as people try to persuade others with our opinions, unconsciously or consciously.

            On Page 277, there was a sentence that actually made me think after I had got done reading. “Like What if this is who we truly are and the airport’s just a forum that allows us to be our real selves, not just hateful but gloriously so?” (Sedaris) As I mentioned before Sedaris was introduced to so many complaints and so many view points, but the only similarity all of the complaints had were all negative. Throughout the text there was not one single complaint he heard. I believe that Sedaris is wondering if everyone just finds something to complain about. Or do we use judgment or criticism just to start out a conversation, or does it just happen in airports?

            I believe Sedaris wants the readers to actually think about how we as people are quick to judge someone or criticize them. Is it really what being human is all about? But I also believe that he wants us to see how our judgments and criticisms are actually our forms of persuading someone to think and dislike something we dislike. “It had been on the radio and in all the papers, but because I don’t drive, and I always thought that car dealerships were ugly, I’d either turned the page or let my mind wander, which was unfortunate, as I’d have loved to have turned around and given those two what for” (Sedaris 277). I had really thought about that sentence for a long time wondering why was it important to him to just turn and argue, but then the next sentence made me realize why he had mentioned it. “Then again, even if I were informed, what’s the likelihood of changing anyone’s opinion, especially a couple of strangers?” (Sedaris 277) After that I felt as if he was pointing out how persuading someone works. You have to be informed on what it is you’re talking about. If you are arguing about something with someone you have to know what exactly it is you are talking about and have facts and evidence to prove it, especially if you are to try and change someone’s mind. 

Questions

1.) Don't think we are always quick to judge someone, even though we dont say we do?

2.) Don't we usually start out random conversations when it gets quiet talking about what someone is wearing or how they appear?