A Plague of Tics

This short story was definitely my favorite thing to read in this whole class. It was interesting all the way through, and pretty funny. I really enjoyed the way the author wrote. This story was about a boy who had OCD. It started out with him in school and the teacher complaining about his tics. He always licked the light switches and tapped himself on the head with his shoe. He was being disruptive all the time and she was getting annoyed so she set up a meeting with the boy’s mother. The funny part is, this teacher wasn’t the only one who requested a meaning. Throughout the story, it talks about the mother and her meetings with every teacher the boy ever had!

                The most interesting parts of the story are when the boy tells us what goes through his mind. How he counts the steps he takes walking home from school and how he HAS to lick the neighbors mailbox in passing. This to me is hilarious, but it also has to suck that you just HAVE to do these things or it’ll drive you crazy. The boy says that he hates his mind. So obviously he wants to stop his tics and doesn’t want to have to keep doing all these ridiculous things, but cannot stop himself; he has no control over it.

The boy’s mother knows just exactly how she is and I’m guessing she figured there was nothing else she could do about it so she just deals with it. She seemed to maybe drink her problems away because during every meeting with her son’s teachers she was drinking and asked them for a drink. Whenever they talked about her son, she drank. (from what it seemed)

Something I noticed was when the mother told her son’s teacher that her husband keeps everything and doesn’t throw anything away. So, not only does the son have a problem but the dad is probably a hoarder! Anyways, the dad tries to threaten the boy with violence so he will stop his tics. I don’t think he really understands that the boy doesn’t really have control over it. A funny part was when the dad and son were driving in the car and the dad purposely slams on the breaks to try and get the boy to stop putting his nose up against the window. The son hits his nose and gets a nose bleed. He then becomes addicted to the pain.

The boy was always addicted to something and he felt he had NO choice but to just do it. I would hate that feeling. Having to always be touching or licking something when I walked by and driving myself crazy if I didn’t. I think it would have to be really annoying. I wouldn’t want to go out in public because I would be embarrassed. I do have somewhat of an OCD, but not anywhere near as serious as his. I have to shake everything before I drink  or eat it. (things in bags or boxes or bottles, ect.) Like, I have to shake my water bottle before opening it and again before I drink it. When people don’t shake their drinks or something in front of me I get really disgusted and REALLY angry at them. But it is controllable, I’m not licking everything in sight, thank god! Haha

It was funny reading about when he went to college. He wanted to get rid of his roommate so bad, the first thought that came to my mind was he’s weird, and probably weird enough to kill him! But, he didn’t. I also liked how it ended. The boy turned to cigarettes which became his new addiction. I think this made him feel better because cigarettes just do and because he always had something to do with his hands.  I used to smoke, I quit also J but I do know about the hand thing. To help quit people use dumb dumb lollypops so they’re doing something with they’re hands. Maybe the boy can do that since its way more healthier than a cigarette! Who knows. All in all the story was great!!

5th Blog Post

I am writing my research paper for my English 202 class on Indoor tanning addictions and how harmful they are to your body. I don’t think people really understand how harmful indoor tanning is, and the number of people using them continues to rise. Honestly, tanning doesn’t “look” harmful, but it is indeed very dangerous. Scientists and Doctors are now telling the world that they believe indoor tanning is one major cause of skin cancer. So, the major question that I would like to answer in my research paper is: Is indoor tanning really worth it? Do the results of indoor tanning outweigh the risks? Is having this addiction of tanning really all that serious? If there is evidence to prove that using UV lighting is harmful and can cause skin cancer, why isn’t that enough to get through people’s heads?

I really am not sure how to write a thesis statement. I never really had to do this before. I’ve death a little with it last year, but I feel they weren’t really looked at or graded much like they were supposed to be. So, here is a shot at writing my working thesis statement. (which will probably need to be edited very much) “Tanning addictions can be extremely harmful to a person’s body. Yes every woman wants to look beautiful and feel relaxed while doing it, but is altering your appearance really worth the lifelong consequences of cancer.”

From reading some of the articles that I picked on line, using EBSCOhost, I think I have a good bit of knowledge on my topic. The information that I know is more general knowledge. I personally think that if you are someone that tans on occasion, maybe for to get a quick base for the beach or for the prom, it isn’t a very bad thing. I do understand that it is harmful to my body, that’s why I don’t go everyday all year round; I just think for other people, they don’t understand the risks. Tanning has many dangerous side effects such as damaging your eyes and skin from the UV rays. Tanning beds are also now one of the biggest causes of skin cancer, especially Melanoma. Women that tan everyday tend to have a more orange base skin color instead of a golden brown tan; which I would love to tell women that it isn’t attractive so please stop! When you get older your skin will most likely look like leather and will be wrinkled. Another thing, it is said that tanning in an indoor tanning bed will also cause the look of aging. I think some women believe that tanning will make them look prettier, younger, and skinnier. Actually, I know women believe that because I have heard friends of mine saying it several times: “I want to go tanning before the summer starts. I’ll look a little skinnier and better in my bikini.” Maybe this is true, but what I know for a fact that is true, is that if they are tanning everyday for too long, they are going to raise their chances of getting cancer.

Since the information I know about tanning is more general, I need to find out the real facts of indoor tanning and linking it to cancer. I need to make sure that there is enough evidence to back up my argument; that indoor tanning really isn’t worth cancer. I think that I need to find more information based on the addiction concept involving tanning. I have a lot on the risks and the outcomes of tanning, I would like to know more about the addiction aspect. Also, I have found an article that talks about indoor tanning addictions and how people who have the addiction may have anxiety and substance abuse. I need to research this more to get enough information for my paper. I also need to research about how tanning portrays the media. Women think if they aren’t tan they aren’t beautiful, and so on. This is mainly because of the media and what other women are doing today. So, I will need to research more on this topic so I can include it in my research paper. Lastly, I want to research tanning and the costs. I know it is very expensive, so I would like to know how much a person with the addiction may spend on just tanning.

I can’t think of that many arguments that oppose my topic. I think the main one would probably be that tanning is relaxing. Yes, I would agree that tanning is relaxing. You lay in the tanning bed for, on average, 15 minutes. During that 15 minutes you can just lay and think, listen to music, maybe even nap; hopefully if it turns off itself. But, to argue, I still think there are other ways to relax that don’t have cancer risks. Maybe another would be that women who aren’t tan aren’t as pretty as other tan women. (I’ll have to think more about this)

One source that I found would be very helpful to my research was:

1.       Mann, Denise. “Indoor Tanning Addiction Linked to Anxiety, Drug Abuse.” Skin Problems and Treatments Health Center. WebMD., 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 3 March 2011.

This webpage talks about how tanning addictions are linked to drug abuse and also anxiety. This is a good article for me to use.

Another good source is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal that I got from EBSCOhost:

2.       Woo, Denise & Eide, Melody. “Tanning beds, skin cancer, and vitamin D: an examination of the scientific evidence and public health implications.” Dermatologic Therapy 23.1 (2010) : 61-71. Web. 3 March 2011.

This article will be very helpful to me because it talks about how people think they are getting the amount of vitamin D they are supposed to from UV rays by tanning. Also, it talks about how skin cancer is the most common types, indoor tanning is one of the fastest going industries we have today, the types of equipment, and so on. It will be very helpful for me towards my research.