Jerry and Peter at New Trier

Today in class, the conversation stuck with me. I wondered if there really were and if so who were the Jerry's and who were the Peter's in this world and more specifically of the North Shore and New Trier. It seems that there often is a dominant narrative (or in this case a dominant character) in our daily lives. It is easy to see Americans as the Peter's of the World, while other countries such as 3rd world countries are seen as the Jerry's. We often say: "Why can't they better themselves?" Yet it is not always up to them. It seems to me that on the North Shore, white, upper class citizens tend to make up the majority of the population, where as some parts of Chicago are seen as poor and black. These examples are rather obvious, yet I found New Trier a bit more intriguing.

Who is the typical student at New Trier? Looking back, I remember an exercise we did where we designed the average student, Taylor's life. Using the example Taylor, I believe that the average New Trier student is either white or of Asian ethnicity. According to Jonathan Kozol's The Shame of a Nation, 98% of New Trier students are either white or Asian. So what else makes up Taylor? Or in this case: The Peter's of New Trier. Well, I've observed that many kids are wealthy or have lots of material possessions. Most New Trier kids can be found with an Ipod or cell phone on them at any given time. I think that Taylor often would wear a T-shirt and Jeans because some kids (like those with purple hair and all black apparel are seen as the Jerry's or the zoos).

So why does this happen? What calls for this social hierarchy in each and every environment? I'd argue that it is human nature, but why? Why do people have to judge someone, like Peter judged Jerry, solely based on appearance and/or lifestyle and/or differences from "the norm"? And why do those like Peter sit back and say to themselves things like: "Why... why do you live there?" (Albee 22). It's not always a persons choice where or how they live, so why do they have to be scrutinized for it?

Final Four Good for Detroit

In these difficult economic times, it is great to see that Detroit will finally catch a break. Yesterday the Final Four began in Detroit; the finals will be [in Detroit] on Monday. As we all have learned in class, Detroit is a big city for the automobile industry and the home to Ford. In these economic times, people have been hesitant to buy new cars rather using their existing autos as long as possible. Such anecdotes have been discussed in newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune. Detroit has really been hit hard. Real estate is now dirt cheap there and the once thriving city is suffering exponentially from lack of revenue. Also unemployment rates have skyrocketed in Detroit.

This is why I have decided to dedicate this blog post to Detroit and the Final Four. Yesterday at the Final Four over 70,000 spectators traveled near and far to watch their favorite teams battle for a National Championship. This is great for Detroit. Hotels are filling up, as well as restaurants. People are shopping for apparel also, which is great. Another huge factor to this years Final Four is that Michigan State is still in the tournament. And although I dislike Michigan State [being a huge Michigan Fan] I am ecstatic that Detroit has a hometown team playing for glory. Michigan State, to the delight of Detroit business owners, has even made the finals. This means that more apparel will be bought and more fans will try to get last minute tickets because a hometown team will be playing for the NCAA championship. The NCAA tournament has provided a great amount of revenue for the city of Detroit, a city suffering immensely from this recession.