Thoughts Behind...

Every meeting, email, or letter begins with a greeting. "Good morning," "hello," or "dear *recipient.*" Only once an opening has been made can the intent of communication be addressed. However, though unnecessary in content, such polite phrases serve to transition and maintain friendly relations beyond just solemn work. In Korean, the staple greeting comparable to "hi" or "hello," literally means, how are you? However, no one interprets it that way or responds to the question. Despite not staying true to its meaning, it is a necessary means of easing into the meat of a conversation. Very isolated from the other employees, I often found myself asking for favors or questions at work without saying "hi" or "how are you" first. I noticed I was disrupting their work and disregarding their existence as a person and instead only seeing them as a source of inquiry. By bypassing any greeting, any conversation becomes too a...

The Coronavirus. Many say it all started with a Chinese man who had consumed bat soup, and it has spread irresponsibly ever since. We've heard stories of travelers from China, Korea, and Italy returning to the United States recklessly infiltrating mass gatherings and most definitely thought of such an action as selfish and rash. The simple solution is to quarantine yourself. But the reality of avoiding the virus is much more complicated than we say. Quarantining means two weeks of nearly no human interaction and remaining within the few thousand feet of a home. Not only that but quarantining also raises the issue of spreading the virus to family members. Either you become isolated from the rest of the family, which can be incredibly difficult because of the close proximity, or everyone in the family accepts their fate of becoming infected. However, this dilemma doesn't even consider the challenge of quarantining. Regardless if one were to be doing so out of fear of others o...

Nearly everyone imagines getting married one day. Some girls create a Pinterest board with the perfect dress, venue, and bouquet, while others don't. Regardless of the amount of thought put into it, the majority of people picture having a grand white wedding with all their friends and family--just a happy time. But aside from the obvious fear of commitment and attention, one of the scariest parts of a wedding is paying for it. Sources state that the average wedding costs $38,700. This includes the cost of an engagement ring ($5,000), the ceremony and reception ($29,200), and a honeymoon ($4,500). To put this into perspective, according to the U.S. Census, the average household income in 2018 was $63,179. That means on average, couples spend over 60% of their annual income on a single unrecurring event--and that's being generous considering the fact that new couples make less early on. As Didion criticizes the commercialized nature of American culture, she exemplifies with a...