Journal 2 Scratch Beginnings

Journal Entry 2

The beginning of chapter seven starts with Adam and his experience at the Career Services Department at crisis ministries. It was surprising to the extent that the charity center went to learn about his past and things that can be done to help him. One assumption that we had coming into this book was that the homeless and poor alike had very little help in getting guidance to help put their life back on track with a job, healthcare, and other necessities. One question we have though is whether this is typical with all types of crisis centers run by non-profit organizations or is type of care and guidance specific to Crisis Ministries. That then leaves the question that if others aren’t giving these types of services, maybe there needs to be more information on how to help people and Crisis Ministries should outsource its basic system.
One significant part of the book is happens in seven when Phil Coleman gives his job hunting advice to Adam. He tells Adam that he needs to be more assertive when it comes to looking for jobs and talking to managers about positions. Phil is able to cut through some of the old notions of job hunting in which you put yourself out there and wait for a call back. Phil tells Adam that people are not going to go around looking to higher homeless people and therefore if Adam wants a job than he must give a large impression on the person who is going to higher him. This advice leads Adam to one of the most important moments in his journey to find the American dream, his first steady job.
The next momentous moment of the book is when Adam finally joins the work force at Fast Company. We felt this moment was important because it is the first step Adam had to take to becoming self sufficient and reaching his goals by the end of the year. This job finally gives him the opportunities that didn’t exist before to where he can finally save money and look forward to moving out of Crisis Ministries.
Optimism was an important point in the beginning of the book. Marco, one of Adams good friends from Crisis Ministries in the first few chapters was a leader of optimism about the future. Marco had planned his future out to go to school, get an apartment, and start his own business. Yet unfortunately in chapter seven, Marco tells Adam that because he failed to file a tax return that year, he wasn’t awarded financial aid for the first semester at the community college. For the first time Marco loses his confidence in the future and also loses his optimism because of this set back. Unfortunately we feel that this small set back may lead him to become either depressed or lose the drive he had before.
This lost in optimism also affects Adam in a direct way also. Adam from the beginning of his time at Crisis Ministries was looking for friends and people he could work with to help in get out of his homeless situation. Marco was one of those people who Adam was looking to relay on to make good decisions and possibly work to get an apartment together. This set back with Marco therefore may lead to a setback with Adam too. Now he may not have the same support he might have had if he had Marco to work with. This type of intertwined dependence on each other seems like it is extremely important to helping people make it through tough times, yet it also leads people to being vulnerable to others mistakes or failures.
Therefore our guess is that Adam will have to help Marco along the way more to help in get back on his feet. We still feel that Marco hasn’t lost all hope for his future and this setback will only be minor. We feel that Adam and Marco will continue to work together through this book and will eventually help each other out of the homeless shelter and onto a steady life path. Whether or not Marco will accomplish all his dreams in the time spend he wants is also unlikely therefore Adam will most likely have to give him dose of reality.

Summary with a twist 7 and 8 (Charlie Warnes)

In chapters seven and eight the main ideas all have something to do with getting a job and climbing the social structure ladder. Basically what happens is Adam starts to give up on his job search and is about to settle for the measly pay at the car wash when a few people talk him out of it. Phil and Leo both give Adam motivational speeches or rather stories that give him the desire to get back into the job search. Adam decides to give Fast Company, a moving company, one last attempt and to his surprise he gets the job. The two chapters end with the idea that Adam is finally starting to get out of the dirt hole.
These two chapters were very much written with a tone of optimism. The job search for more than one person finally yielded a positive outcome, although for some their aspirations had to be put on hold. With good there is always some bad and unfortunately for Marco in this section the bad is definitely weighed on his end. Simply put, these two chapters are a lead into what Adam’s life will be like for the next year or so; it is safe to say that Adam is going to do anything possible to achieve his goals.

Vocab ch 7&8 Stephen Fisher

1. Prospective 85 =expected or likely to happen or be something
2. Earnest 86 =intensely serious or grave in attitude
3. Atypical 87=not conforming to the usually type or expected pattern
4. Journeymen 91=somebody with ordinary competence, competent and reliable but not exceptional
5. Shied 91=reserved, and uncomfortable with others
6. Assertive 93=confident, forceful and strong
7. Demeanor 97=somebody’s outward behavior, manner, or appearance
8. Buoyed 100= too keep something from falling or sinking
9. Tedious 101=boring because of being monotonous and/or repetitive
10. Irreverent 103=being disrespectful or having a lack of respect
11. Laggards 103=someone or something that does not keep up with others, slow

Graphic Organizer Chapters 7 & 8

When in the homeless shelter Adam tried to get a job by submitting a bunch of job applications and waiting for replies. He was then made fun of by another fellow shelter man and was told that you can’t just wait for them to call, and if they call they aren’t going to want to hire somebody who’s homeless. He said you have to go out there and tell him that they need you. So instead of waiting for the jobs to come to him Adam went out and told a manager that he was going to be the hardest worker that the manager had. The manager was so impressed by Adam’s attitude that he got the job. So the key to meeting Adam’s goal, which is getting money and his own place to live, is getting a job. And the key to getting a job is to be assertive and learning not to take no for an answer.

Discussion Questions (Logan)

Do you think that it is a bit ironic that the best information that Adam has received while Adam was from a homeless man who gets a new job every week? If so, why do you think Adam listened to him?

-It is ironic, and does pay off for Adam. He listened to the homeless guy, because after he thought about what the man was saying, it just hit him that he needed to be persistent.

 

Where do you think Adam conjured up the confidence to give a long speech to Curtis McNeil?

-Adam did not plan his 'speech' or anything of that matter, it was all spontaneous. I think that he was sick of getting turned down and just unleashed his frustration onto Curtis. This surprisngly worked, and thus led to Adam getting hired.

 

What do you think convinced Curtis of hiring Adam at Fast Mover?

-Adam says "I'm pretty much the hardest working guys you're going to find in Charleston." He also says that he has the best work ethic out of all of Curtis' guys. Then to sum up his speech he says that he will work one day for free, so that Curtis could have the opportunity to see how he works. Adam showed that he was very dedicated to getting the job and sustaining the job, so he was in fact hired.

 

On page 102, Leo said that there are three types of people, do you agree with his classification of people? If not why, if so why? 

- This classification is somewhat accurate, but to every opinion there are always exceptions. I disagree with his classification because some that go to school, end up still in poverty. Also in his third statement, he says lazy people that do no do anything with their lives, he doesn't take in to account that some people are born in to poverty and do not have chances to work their way out. 

Vocabulary (Cody Sanoy) 5 & 6

Demeaningly page 60 - To debase, as in dignity or social standing

Forecasted pg 60 - To estimate or calculate in advance

Finesse pg 61 - Refinement and delicacy of performance, execution, or artisanship. Skillful, subtle handling of a situation; tactful, diplomatic.

Philosophical pg 62 - Love and pursuit of wisdom by intellectual means and moral self-discipline

Discharging pg 62 - To relieve of a burden or of contents

Frigid 63 – extremely cold

Congregation 64 - A body of assembled people or things

Indigent 66 - Experiencing want or need; impoverished

Centrifuge 69 - An apparatus consisting essentially of a compartment spun about a central axis to separate contained materials of different specific.

Epiphany 78 - any moment of great or sudden revelation

Psychosis 82 - A severe mental disorder, with or without organic damage, characterized by derangement of personality and loss of contact with reality and causing deterioration of normal social functioning

Adversity 84 - A state of hardship or affliction; misfortune.

Discussion Questions 5&6 Stephen Fisher

1. In chapter 5 when the homeless are at the churches get-together for the baptism, there are many volunteers who are giving their time to help the people out through their own charity. Why do the homeless who have all these free accommodations such as healthcare, food, and job finding assistance go back onto the streets? What keeps them there?
2. On page 79, Adams writes about how important humor was in helping the members of the shelter maintain hope and keep going. Why do you think humor is so important to the human spirit when it comes to making it through huge obstacles?
3. Adam writes in chapter 6 about the evils of drug abuse and its effects on some of the people who live in the shelter. Adam then writes:

“…on a smaller scale, don’t a lot of us have similar problems? The guy smoking a cigarette while chewing a stick of Nicorette gum; the adulteress going out with other men, justifying that it might help her become a better mate to her husband; or the obese man ordering a diet soda to go along with his bacon double cheeseburger combo meal. What are we justifying, really? Do we even want help?”
What could this quote mean?
4. Is the facts that people who are in Adam’s situation look for things to help them feel better: cigarettes, alcohol, drugs; the reason why it takes them longer to get out of poverty and back on their feet. Do people in a lower standard of living more susceptible of to evil of addiction?

Answer:
1) We think that many people don't work to improve their standing, because the street is the only place where they feel comfortable. If people live in certain conditions for a while they begin to have less drive to get out.
2) Humor is important to people in difficult life circumstances because it helps people keep hope and feel better. It also helps build bonds between people which is important to make it through difficult times.
3) We think that most people want to change certain habits but in reality are not fully committed towards that goal. Most people may say they want to change because of social pressure, but in private their feelings may be different.
4) Many people turn to false happiness (drugs) which they think helps them. When in reality they are slowly becoming addicted and hurting themselves more. Poor people are usually the least educated and are more susceptible to these advertisements.

Graphic Organizer chapters 5 and 6 (Charlie Warnes)

In chapters five and six Adam’s job search continues and along the way he meets a lot of genuinely cool people. Adam realizes that when homeless money isn’t what makes you friends or makes you happy, but is simply something that can get you out. Money is something necessary to survive but isn’t something that decides whether or not you are happy. The ideas money and happiness bring to the table clash and it took becoming homeless for Adam to realize this. Simply put, in chapters five and six Adam realized that money isn’t everything and that friends like Marco are going to be essential in getting out of the that wretched shelter.

Summary of chapters 5 & 6 (Logan)

In chapters 5 and 6 Adam work very hard and keeps on searching for a job in which he gets very frustrated. Chapter 5 starts out with Adam going to work with George on Sundays. He had to clean up dog poop and weed the garden as George asked him to do. When he arrived back at the shelter, he hears from a friend that there are free hamburgers around the corner at a church. They decided to go, and along with the hamburgers they had to attend baptisms. Towards the end of chapter 5, Adam decides that he is going to donate plasma twice a week for extra money.

Chapter 6 then starts off, and he decides that he needs some more clothes, so he goes to goodwill to buy some cheap clothes. He then goes on to applying for jobs, and he goes into detail about a moving job that he wants. He walked downtown to find this place, and he ended up filling out an application. This made him angry because the lady said that the manager would give him a call in the near future, which he knew would not happen. Adam then gets the idea that he wants to meet more people, so he decides to start buying cigarettes and going out to trade the cigs with felloe shelter mates. Adam then sees a man-purchasing crack and he gets very upset about this, and the chapter ends with Adam not finding a job.                     

The tone of these two chapters in my opinion is frustration. Adam did not enjoy working for George because of the heat and the harsh work that he had to do.  Then in chapter 6, he was upset about not finding a job and also the man never calling him back about his application. To end it, he was very disturbed by the crack deal, and he spent a lot of time talking about how he did not like this.