on performing extroversion

So I mentioned a few weeks back that I got a job and that this job requires me to get out of my comfort zone. To go into a bit more detail, it's specifically a street canvassing job. It basically forces me to stand on the busy downtown streets of Chicago, stop people, pitch to them, and convince them to sign up to sponsor a child on the spot. Our canvassers are a little different from most others (e.g. Greenpeace, HRC, etc) in that we tend to be more outrageous and we basically get people to stop by saying crazy shit to them. (e.g. Whenever I see Asians, I say, "I'm Asian, you're Asian, let's be friends!" And there's one guy who pretends to fall in front of people and when they help him up, he says, "By the way, have you heard of our charity?" city people lmao)

So I was talking to an incredibly friendly German tourist earlier today who really took an interest in what we were doing and he asked:

Him: Is this job hard?
Me: How difficult it is depends on what type of person you are. You have to be okay with most people ignoring you and the occasional rude response.
Him: Yeah, you would have to be a "people" person.
Me: It's not even that, really. I don't think of myself as a "people" person at all.
Him: Well, you certainly seem like one right now!

And I told him that the most important thing is just to tell yourself that you can do it. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would probably rate myself as a 7 in terms of shyness. Even now, this job is not really "changing me" in that regard. Outside of work, I'm pretty much as quiet as ever. But that doesn't limit me nor anyone else from performing extroversion when it's required of them. To be honest, I think shy people often tell themselves that they cannot do things that they actually can do. And part of the reason I took this job was in order to prove that shy, introverted people can do a job that requires a lot of social interaction just as well as more extroverted people. The most important thing is just to believe in yourself!

Ex-Wives and "Deadbeat Dads" in the Media

So I was reading this one creepypasta and the majority of the opening paragraph is:

I moved last year because I had divorced my wife and lost my old house along with custody of James. It’s rather the shit-end of the stick, but James and I love Halloween. It’s one of the few times a year that Tracy finds it acceptable for my only son to come visit me. James stays with her on every other holiday throughout the year, his birthday, and everything else in between. I get to see him only on my birthday and the week preceding Halloween, unless the high bitch-court finds it suitable for him to come spend the night every once in a while. Hmph. Frankly, I’m surprised she let him come shopping with me.

And I recalled that I have seen a LOT of movies that feature the whole "bitchy ex-wife who rarely lets me see my kids" trope. And it REALLY bugs me that the media so easily demonizes "ex-wives" in comparison to "ex-husbands." First of all, how often is it truly the case that the ex-husband (who does not have custody of the children) is a wonderful father who was equally involved in raising his children? Why should ex-husbands feel entitled to see their kids as often as they want when most fathers don't even ask for custody in the first place?

I think it's especially bad when movies/tv shows/etc. have their male lead character feel "threatened" when their ex-wife marries a wealthier man who is "stealing" his family from him. (And it's always a wealthier man because that just makes the ex-wife even more of a superficial bitch, right???) To re-iterate: most fathers don't even ask for custody in the first place. The media needs to stop sympathizing with deadbeat dads--if anything, the media should be criticizing the shit out of them and sympathizing more with single mothers.

EDIT: Ok I just came across this webpage and though it's not directly related to this post, it does relate to a lot of things I post more generally, so I'm just gonna lump it in here:

Androcentrism: It’s Okay to Be a Boy, but Being a Girl…

"Sociologists use the term “androcentrism” to refer to a new kind of sexism, one that replaces the favoring of men over women with the favoring of masculinity over femininity. According to the rules of androcentrism, men and women alike are rewarded, but only insofar as they are masculine (e.g., they play sports, drink whiskey, and are lawyers or surgeons w00t!). Meanwhile, men are punished for doing femininity and women… well, women are required to do femininity and simultaneously punished for it."

ParaNorman = Natsume Yuujinchou

Just finished watching the movie, and seriously. To anyone who has seen both, the parallels should be obvious.

And the climax of ParaNorman really explains why I love Natsume (the character) so much. Because even though he was bullied his whole life (and honestly, there's a strong likelihood that he was abused by some of his relatives), he made a conscious decision to not hate everybody and to try to see the good in others.

And I'll leave it at that, lest I go into fangirl mode. *-*

JJBA Voice Actors

On Twitter:

Sugita (Joseph): Fight by my side from now on too, Caesar!

Sato (Caesar): I’ll always be watching over you, JOJO.

In contrast, Phantom Blood actors in first meeting (as told on JOJOraDIO):

Okitsu (Jonathan): Oh, you must be the voice actor for Dio! Nice to meet you, Koyasu-sa

Koyasu (Dio): I’m not going to be friends with you.

Okitsu (Jonathan): Huh?

Koyasu (Dio): You’re Jonathan, right? I’m not going to be friends with you.

Okitsu (Jonathan):　(´・ω・`)

koyasu pls

So I just got an offer of employment

As a fundraiser for a charity organization called Children International. (To clarify, I'm not employed under the organization itself, but a separate organization that fundraises for them. It's actually pretty interesting how different nonprofits get their funding, but tl;dr that's a post for another time.)

It's such a coincidence, since my best friend just got accepted to his first-choice graduate program, then a few days later, I get this job! And the salary + benefits are pretty good considering that I'll only be working 5 days/week. But most of all, it's such a relief to no longer have to worry about applying for jobs, relatives giving me not-so-great suggestions about what I should do/what types of jobs I should look for, scraping together the money to pay for my monthly loan repayments, etc.

AND I get 5 weeks paid vacation, which means I can take a trip abroad! Maybe I can visit all the Western European countries I didn't get to see this past summer. Or maybe I can finally GO TO JAPAN asdadjasjkdsj

In any case, I'm excited. Nervous too, because this job will require me to step outside my comfort zone (which is honestly part of the reason I went for it). But I'm more excited for now. :)