When was the last time you were a cookie thief?

There is a poem called "The Cookie Thief" by Valerie Cox. We are all cookie thieves sometimes in how we erroneously use the categories that Charon talks about. When was the last time you were too quick to categorize or judge someone? Have you ever been stereotyped or judged wrongly? There was a Washington Post experiment in which Joshua Bell, violin virtuoso, played some of the greatest classical pieces ever written on one of the most expensive violins ever made. And yet few people noticed because he was dressed like an average guy and he was playing in the subway.
Below is a video about a different type of street performer that challenges your assumptions about people and categories.


Another great piece of media about stereotypes is episode 362 from This American Life. Click here to listen to the episode where 5 people tell stories about stereotyping. Listen to the prologue about people with disabilities, and Act One about NY cops stereotyping people coming from Brooklyn.

Service Experience Step 2

After each time you do community service, you should post about your experience. Your posts should help you to remember the details about your experiences so that later in the semester you will be able to write a sociological reflection of the experience. The journal also provides evidence of your participation in the service experience. Please include the information below or you may email it to me, but be sure to include the information requested below. POST ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE 1 WEEK AFTER YOU SERVE THE HOURS.

Name of organization you volunteered at:
Where was your experience (address):
Date(s) and time(s) of experience:
Supervisor or person in charge and phone/email address:

Things to record: How did you feel about the service before going? What were your expectations? Were there aspects that you were apprehensive about? Where did you have to go for the service? Had you been there before? If not, what was it like going to this place? Who were the people you came into contact with? What were they like? What was the interaction like? What was the actual job you did? What was it like? Was there anything that surprised you? What were you thinking as you did it? How long did your tasks last? What did you think as you went home?