"Learning to Read" by Malcolm X

I thought that "Learning to Read" by Malcolm X, was very interesting. I liked how Malcolm explained the history of Africans and his opinions about it. Malcolm’s story was very moving as he explains the struggles he goes through as he learns how to read and write. His story was very important on emphasizing how important it is to read, write, and have a broad vocabulary when learning something new. I now recommend myself and others to always carry a dictionary to strengthen one’s knowledge and vocabulary. By also having a strong knowledge of words, it can give many opportunities to us in the future.

When Stores Don't Have My Size

I'll admit it, yes, I am a mallrat. I go at least once a weekend, but usually I’m there twice. So you must’ve guessed it, I love shopping. I’m a big time sucker for sale signs. I honestly believe about 98% of the things I own, I have bought on sale. So when I see the big sale sign in front of a store, I’m lured to walk in. But a lot of the time, while I'm shopping, I can never find my size.

I pass through all of the clothes in the front and walk quickly to the back, because everyone knows that’s where the sale is, right? While I’m browsing through clothes, I find a dress I like at a reasonable price. But of course, they don’t have it in my size anymore. I ask the sales associate if they have anymore in the back, and she responds, “Whatever we have out here is all that we have.” Usually, the only sizes left are between a size six and a size fourteen. Sometimes they’ll have a size four, but when I try it on, it’s too big where my boobs are supposed to fill in the dress. So I continue to walk around the store for a little longer hoping that I would find the dress in my size somewhere. When I realize that it’s hopeless to mope around looking for the dress, I start to get irritated.

I usually blame the skinny people for coming to the store ahead of me and buying my size. Sometimes I even blame the fat people who think that they fit into a dress that’s between a size zero and two and buy it because they think that they look good. Other times, I just blame myself for my timing as I think to myself, “If I was at the mall an hour earlier, that dress could’ve been here”.

When I arrive home empty handed, the search still continues. I go to the online store check if it is still in stock. About 80% of the time they don’t have it anymore, and if they do, it’s usually more expensive. I hate walking out of a store empty handed because they don't have my size.

Holiday Disappointments

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been spending winter holidays with my family, our neighbors, and their children. Three of my neighbors’ children happen to be my best friends. Angeline, Lorraine, Kathryn and I have been best friends since 1993 when we all moved into the same neighborhood of Carson, California. In this year of 2008, it should have been my fifteenth New Year’s celebration with them, but it was not. The biggest disappointments during the winter holidays were that I did not spend time with my best friends and that we were unable to do our yearly traditions.

This year, the tradition of spending New Year’s Eve with my family and neighbors were broken. The day before we were supposed to leave for our New Year’s party in Las Vegas, my mother received an important phone call from the Philippines; her brother had just passed away. My mom immediately cancelled our trip to Las Vegas because she wanted to attend the funeral in the Philippines. However, on New Year’s Eve, my mom decided not to go to the Philippines anymore because of the high expenses. My parents debated for a little while whether or not we should still go to Las Vegas and try to spend time with our neighbors. By then, it was already too late to leave for Las Vegas since it was already New Year’s Eve. Traffic would have been a problem and my family and I would have spent New Years in the car. Instead, I spent New Year’s Eve at a family friend’s house in Ontario. It was not the same as the past fifteen years. I was disappointed when I realized that my best friends were not there. They are one of the main reasons why I enjoy the holidays. Holiday parties were one of the ways that we were able to catch up since Angeline, Kathryn, and I are currently attending college while Lorraine remains a senior in high school. New Year’s Eve represented our way as best friends to end and start the year together.

In addition to not attending the New Year’s Eve festivities, my best friends and I were unable to make our yearly “Neighbor List” since Kathryn and I did not attend the New Year’s Eve celebration. This list contains predictions of what we think will or will not happen in the year to come. For example we would write down, “Rita Nicole and her boyfriend will stay together throughout the whole year” or “Kathryn will quit her job by April”. We also read the previous neighbor lists from the year before, and see which of them actually came true. As best friends, the neighbor list was not just a simple list that one of us accidentally washed away in the back pocket of our jeans in the laundry machine. The neighbor list was very important to us. The neighbor list was one of the ways that we bond to start the year. It was also a way to look back on past memories and to laugh or cry. At this coming New Year’s celebration, it will be the first time we have no previous neighbor list to see what came true in 2008.

Although the winter holidays are something people are always excited about, many people set their expectations too high. In doing that, it causes a lot of dissatisfaction for many people. This year, I was upset when I discovered that I could not attend the New Year’s Eve celebration in Las Vegas and when my best friends and I could not make our traditional neighbor list.