2B or Not 2B By David Crystal

Summary: In the reading "2B or Not 2B" By David Crystal,  he explains how the abbreviation in texting is seen as an alien. He quotes "They are destroying it: pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences,  raping our vocabulary. And they must be stopped." (335) On the contrary to what David is quoting,  he feels completely against the claims of abbreviation ruining the human language. He states, "Children could not be good at texting if they had not already developed considerable literacy awareness." (345)

Response: I do agree with David's claim that abbreviation is harmless.  David gave an example "Words suchas exam, vet, fridge, cox and bus are so familiar that they have effectively become new words." (338) Although we may not notice abbreviation is common throughout daily life, tv, frame, and bulb are also words that are abbreviations. Personally I try to limit my use of abbreviation in texting, but if I am put in a stressed situation to reply to a text message swiftly; I will resort to abbreviation. It is a quick was to get your message across.

Blue-Collar Brilliance By Mike Rose

Summary: In the reading Blue-Collar Brilliance By Mike Rose he explains his thoughts about education in the work place. He states "Intelligence is closey associated with formal education-the type of schooling a person has, how much and how long-and most people seem to move comfortably from that notion to a belief that work requiring less schooling requires less intelligence." (247) Mike seems to defend blue collar workers. In the reading hr gives an example of his mother. His mother was an waitress in the 1950's. Mike grew to understand it was more to being a waitress,  it wasn't just physical work it was mental dealing with real life experience that could not be taught.

Response: I strongly agree with Mike and the notion that blue collar workers are less intelligent. Just because a blue collar worker doesn't have the same schooling as a CEO, they do have hands on experience that could be valuable to the company if they are ever moved up in the workplace. Not every skill can be taught, it is experience that builds an successful employee. For example my father is not book smart at all but he is a handyman, he made a living driving heavy equipment for 35years for San Joaquin Public Works. Back in time, men didn't need schooling, they needed to provide for there families, but now in present day if you don't have enough schooling it is difficult to obtain even a warehouse job. I feel that if a person can work hard and is good at what they do, they should never be judged on how much schooling they have.