My table	Date	Reflection
2/11/08 At lunch a friend of mine said she went to get her nails done last weekend. My other friend commented about how “those Asian’s always do a bad job”		I laughed along with everyone else and though it was funny. I didn’t realize what she had said until a few minutes later when I thought back.
2/12/08 When asked what her step-father’s name was my friend replied Jeremy, pronouncing it Jer-OH-me. Another friend asked if he was black.		I laughed because Jeremy is in fact a white man. But my friend seemed a bit shocked at the comment.
2/13/08 Some friends and I where making a bet, when asked who should hold the money someone pointed at me and said “Duh, Paulina should hold the money… she’s Jewish”		I laughed along with everyone else. Honestly I didn’t think very much of it.
2/13/08 A friend made a comment that “It sucks to be Phil since he’ll never get laid.” Phil is a larger student.		I laughed along but thought it was rude because Phil is a very nice person, and he shouldn’t be discriminated against because of his weight.
2/14/08 On the bus some friends where discussing their classes. When someone mentioned a classmate named “Olga” another person made a grunting noise making her seem like an uneducated “cave-person”		I thought it was pretty rude to say because the person hasn’t even met Olga, it shouldn’t be assumed that she isn’t smart just because of her name.
2/15/08 When asked if a friend liked the Jonas Brothers as a music group she replied “No, they’re bad singers and Irish”		I thought it was weird that she had to add that they where Irish to her sentence. It would have been a sufficient answer if she had just said “They’re bad singers”
2/15/08 Some friends and I went to the mall. We entered the bathroom where my friend tried pushing me out the door and joking about how “No Jew’s were allowed”		I knew my friend was joking but it was still a little hurtful. What does being a Jew have to do with going to the bathroom at a public mall?
2/16/08 In class we were talking about stereotypes and someone said “Our class has stereotypes, look the emo boy is sitting all alone!”		I laughed because the kid who was being called emo laughed too, but it was an awkward feeling in the room for everyone
2/16/08 On the bus a person asked why my (black) friend didn’t like him. She responded by saying “Maybe if you wouldn’t try to act like a black person all the time….” He replied “Whacha talkin bout yo?”		I never really realized it until my friend pointed it out, but people impersonate other cultures all the time and it could be taken very offensively if you are part of that culture.
2/17/08 A friend drew a communist symbol on my binder. I told him to wipe it off. He replied “But you’re Russian…. Aren’t you like Joseph Stalin’s relative or something”		I was pretty upset because I am not in fact a communist. Actually it shouldn’t be assumed that because you’re Russian that you’re a communist. Communism was one of the reasons my parents left Russia.
2/17/08 Someone made a comment that Hitler’s mom was Jewish. A friend of mine replied “I’m guessing she didn’t have blonde hair or blue eyes”		I felt offended by this because I am Jewish with (dirty) blonde hair and blue eyes. It shouldn’t be assumed that because 1 Jewish person looks a certain way, they all have to look like that.
2/17/08 I was talking to a friend and I couldn’t understand what she was saying. Because she had to repeat herself a couple times she jokingly said “You dumb Jew, you’re going deaf”		I was upset because what does being dumb or stupid have to do with being Jewish? In fact there are many famous Jewish scholars. She not only insulted me by calling me dumb, but she insulted my religion which was completely unnecessary.
2/18/08 Talking to my dad on traveling to Europe he said “Don’t go to France, they’re all morons there”		I thought it was pretty rude because he’s just making an assumption about all the people there, not every French person is a moron.
2/18/08 Again talking to my dad he said “And Germany, you can’t go there, they all want it their way or the highway. And if you don’t like it they’ll make you like it.”		This was also rude because he was making an assumption and saying that every German was in fact like Hitler, which is not true.

those were my results straight out of my notebook.

On my essay we had to write our reflections. I couldn't belive how easy it was to pick up on some of these things. They were around me all the time, even when i wasn't looking for them. And, at the start of the week i would just laugh along with my friends,  (and i didn't even start thinking it could be derogatory untill i got home and had to type them up). As the week progressed you can see most of my reactions became "normal" or angry at people for saying something like that. And, in my oppinion as the week went on, the comments became worse and worse.....

it's very interesting to observe people. And i had people ask me all week, "Why are you writing that down? Wait, i didn't say something deregatory...." etc. People didn't even realize what they were saying, and if i didn't have this project, i would have just treated it the same as any other comment and not thought twice.


so try it out.... you'll be surprised with your results.