Sometimes when communicating, people tend to understand the feelings of others but do not necessarily agree with them. Sometimes when friends come to me with problems and relationship issues, I may understand why they are upset but I might not agree with the reason for their behaviors. One could say that this could be called sympathy. But in fact sympathy, where you relate to the others feelings, is completely opposite in the fact that understanding/relating, and agreeing are two completely different factors.

At my Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream I deal with peers that are about the same age as me. We all have school stress, girl problems, and money problems. We all, whether we like to admit it or not, experience the same hardships that every other typical teenager experience. There is this one boy at my work named Mike. Mike is in college and has a girlfriend, who is extremely manipulative and controlling. Mike and I are both Shift Supervisors with the same responsibilities and salary. I try my hardest to do my job good and to make sure the store is spotless before I leave. Likewise I expect others to do the same. For the past month Mike has been calling out sick, doing the bare minimum when at work and is constantly taking 25 minute breaks to go outside and talk to his girlfriend.

While reading Julia Wood’s Relational Communication, I identified with many of the topics discussed, perhaps none more so than the section devoted to attachment theory. The theory provided me with many new insights regarding my self-perception and my relationships with others. Throughout the reading, I find the theory accurately describing my childhood and my emotions.

According to Wood (2000), attachment theory claims that our earliest experiences decisively influence how we view ourselves, others, and relationships. Wood continues by citing studies by Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall (1978) that found that the initial bonding between a child and its primary caregiver, usually the mother, is the first and an especially formative influence on individual’s views of relationships. As a child, my stay at home mom primarily raised me. In parenting, my mother definitely displayed characteristics of the secure attachment model as she consistently responded to me in a loving, reassuring, and supportive way.

My early childhood is consistent with Wood’s analysis of influences on the likelihood that the primary caregiver will exhibit loving, nurturing, and attentive behavior. My family is upper middle class as my father as an attorney was able to financially provide for us without my mother working. However, this situation also provided a down side, as my father was constantly busy with work and other social commitments. With my father, I was not able to form the same bond present with my mother. Early memories with my father are reflections of polar opposites as I remember receiving either high praise for a job well done (usually involving school work) or criticism for failing somehow (usually involving undesirable behavior). The lack of interaction and the sharp contrast present in the limited time we spent together led to the formation of an anxious-resistant attachment model.

There are positive and negative elements of employing workers over the age of 65. One of the disadvantages of having workers over the age of 65 in the workplace is the elderly having more resistance to adaptation in the work environment. In most situations they would rather leave their jobs than adapt to workplace changes. Needless to say this leads to added costs of hiring and training new employees. Workers over 65 are also more prone to injury and sickness as they grow frail and can lead to higher healthcare costs.

However, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages as workers over 65 are experienced, knowledgeable and experts in their professions. Their work ethic is strong, and can be valuable mentors to others in their profession. They are also considered loyal, trustworthy and reliable. In conclusion, the Social Security benefits would be available longer if we had more individuals investing into the program instead of withdrawing from it.

Is old just a number or is it really just a state-of-mind? According to the Websters NewWorld Dictionary, old is defined as having lived or been in existence for a long time, mature in judgment, wise, not new, worn out, shabby, having existed long ago, and ancient. Nowhere in the Websters Dictionary does it say anything about what age is considered old. However, how do we determine when a person is no longer useful or productive in the workforce? Age does not really have a lot to do with it. In this paper, we will show the advantages and disadvantages and the effects of being 65 and over.

At Bob Jones High School in Madison, Alabama, drug use, unprotected sex involvement, and alcohol consumption levels amid teens are very high. Suicide is an increasingly prevalent danger among teens in the United States. There is a direct correlation between these facts and how drastically communication in the family has degraded over the years. Some parents both disallow any usage/consumption/involvement whatsoever and refuse any conversation of such at all. Joan Hall, a drug-specialized counselor, says, “There are two categories in which most all parental actions are able to fall. These categories are ‘protective’ actions and ‘risk’ actions” (Hall). Protective actions are good; they, obviously, protect/prevent children from harm and actions that could jeopardize their health or well-being. Open communication between parents and children is one of many protective actions; closed communication is very much a risk action. Parental communication with adolescents is an extremely productive and beneficial feature. It can lead the way to an improved society in which children are more informed and protected.

Unprotected Sex Involvement and Suicide

Recently my girlfriend and I had been having problems mainly because I didn’t really trust her. I heard a lot of things that I didn’t want to believe, and she denied. One night I was done with the whole thing so I went to her house to talk everything out finally. We started talking and it didn’t get anywhere, we just started arguing and then stopped talking. After 15 minutes of silence I started to get upset and asked her to just tell me what had happened. I was sitting at the foot of her bed, and she told me what she did. We were both crying and I was so angry. I just wanted to choke her and never speak to her again. My world had crumbled right then and there.

As the days went by I started to feel better and better. I went out with friends and had a great time. I saw that things weren’t over for me. I worked really hard to not fall into a depression and keep my head straight. I focused on other friends, school and work. I even worked on my guitar playing for awhile. I was doing all of this to keep my mind off of things but that soon came to an end.

When I was tuning my guitar one of the strings snapped, and a huge feeling of sorrow and disappointment came over me. All of the feelings that I felt the previous week came flooding back. All of the sadness and feelings of betrayal came back. This stupid guitar triggered be to go back to the room where I found out my girlfriend was unfaithful. I heard the words and saw the tears all over again.

After I had my meltdown I calmed down again and realized that life will go on with or without certain people or things. Everything happens for a reason and things will always get better. My relationships with everyone else have been strengthened, and I have even made a few new ones through this process.