Day 4 Response- Kyle Rich

Ashly- In my personal experience, i have made a lot of decisions i've regretted. Some, i had to live with the consequences, and other times i got away with it, but still had to deal with the weight on my conscious. When dealing with consequences, they were never easy. Making big decisions i've regretted has made me slow down my thinking and logic so i can set myself up to try my best not to have regrets again. Although bad decisions are inevitable, i feel as if i have cut out most of the bad decision making in my life. Although the punishments sucked, it was always a learning experience. It was redemption and making good for what i've done wrong. But to me, the times i made bad decisons and got away from any ramifications, was worse. Having a heavy conscious weighing down on you can be so overwhelming that it just breaks you down. I am a huge beliver in Karma, and i feel that what i'm not able to make up for, will come back to bite me in the ass at one point or another in my life. Everything bad that happens to me, i can trace it back to sometime when i did wrong. Marjane is a character constantly facing tough times. It seems as if nobody tells her how the world around her really is, and she always has to find out things the hard way. But she makes up for it by having a heart of gold, and learning as much as she can through these negative experiences to better benefit the people around her. It's just all trial and error though. I feel as if the story progresses and she grows up, she will finally start to realize all the problems and turmoil outside her own "comfort zone." I've never really in the past worked to overcome something. Like Marjane, i always experienced things out for myself and overcoming something to me, is always finding out the hard way. I truly believe what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and i can relate very well to her in that sense. Not only in the story, but also in my own life i feel as if more and more things are going to eventually happen. But with  more and more experience and knowledge, i feel as if Marjane and I eventually will become invincible.


Natalia- Although what happend to Marjane and her maid was sad, i feel as if there wasn't any better way they could have gone about it. Once again, a lack of knowledge is devastating, and the girls had not the slightest clue about the social system going on in Iran. I feel as if they knew about the system, they could have gone about it a better way. If the girls had knowledge of the situation, i feel as if they should have been upfront right away about their situation and coming clean to being a maid. And if the guy saw past it, then great, however if he took the information poorly and rejected her, it would have been great to know right off the bat that this is a shallow and judgemental person who does not have the ablility to see who people really are. And with that information, she would have known it wasn't right and could have moved on with less dissapointment. It's sad to say that where i'm from is not diverse in the least sense, so i do not have too much experience with class systems or race. But i have seen people judged by the way they dress, how they walk, or how they spend their time. However, i feel as if you hate, and focus on discriminating, your going to attract it. If your racist against Hispanics, your son or daughter is going to come home with one. Or if you discriminate against gays or lesbians, somebody close to you will come out. And to me, thats the universe's way of making you have to overcome that obstacle the hard way, and you can either keep the hatred, or you can stop judging and see the individual inside somebody, not the sterotypes. So for somebody like me who has never treated people poorly without getting to know them, hatred, discrimination, and rasicm has never been a point or problem in my life.