A Dime a Dozen (Senior response due before Wednesday, May 8)
Furthermore, the play is called Death of a Salesman. It is both a literal and symbolic title.
Willy sells goods for the Wagner Company. He travels to New England each Monday morning and returns home to Brooklyn for the weekend. During the week he visits department store "buyers" who decide if they want to sell the Wagner products in their stores. In his best days thirty some years ago, he probably "opened up new territories" for the company. Now he's not as effective: there are no new territories, there's more competition for sales, and the almighty dollar rules everything. Willy isn't a hot-shot salesman anymore, so he is placed on straight commission with no salary like a beginner. It's the Wagner Company's way of gently pushing him out of its company. He is officially now a "dime a dozen."
We can blame some of Willy's problems on Willy. He is loud, bossy, and narcissistic to a fault. He cheats at cards and cheats on his wife. He doesn't seem to know how to raise his sons. He is uncertain about the best way to do his own job.
Yet, America hasn't been to kind to Willy, either. He has attached himself to a dream, yes, the American Dream, that has pandered to Americans since, well, America became America. It's a dream so bright (like a Gatsby green light) that we sometimes lose touch with our reality. To escape his reality and to reach his dream, Willy has to cheat to succeed, and it does him in, losing the love and respect of his beloved Biff.
The American Dream is just as attractive today, and the road to achieving it just as littered with wrecks like Willy.
So for your writing (minimum of 250 words), relate the story of either:
a. an individual (someone you know or someone you research on line) who has lost his or her job
b. a company that has gone out of business, largely because of a change in the times, not because of mismanagement
c. an individual who has taken the "road less traveled" to success (someone less known than Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, etc.)
d. an individual or company that has benefited itself financially by "squashing" another individual or company
Post before Wednesday's class. Worth ten points.
posted by JTF @ 3:20 PM
80 comments
80 Comments:
One of my favorite stores from my childhood was Blockbuster. Blockbuster is a DVD, VHS, and video game rental store. As a child, my parents took my sister and me to Blockbuster at least twice every month. We would take a fifteen minute drive to Blockbuster, pick out a couple DVDs to watch throughout the week, get a few snacks in the checkout line, and, then, take the fifteen minute drive home. After Blockbuster hit bankruptcy in 2010, it went out of business. This business became unnecessary as Netflix and Redbox became more popular. Although Blockbuster was a big hit during it's time, going to blockbuster is more time-consuming than using either of the companies listed above. Netflix gives you access to movies immediately to watch on your computer or tv. Redbox allow you to rent recent movies on DVD from machines located outside basically any drugstore or supermarket. As technology became more advanced, Blockbuster became obsolete. Verizon Fios even offers Video on Demand program where you can watch rented movies for a small price. Willy is a lot like Blockbuster. Willy is no longer as convenient as he used to be to his boss. He has minimal opportunities to sell his products because there are no new territories available in New England. He also has a more difficult time selling because he has more competition than he used to. Blockbuster’s competition and lack of new customers prevented them from continuing to thrive. Every person and business has it’s own expiration date.
CJ Vincelette
D. Lately, it seems that opening up locations of one company directly next their competing company is a trend. For example, where ever a Rite Aid is located, a Walgreens soon appears right next to them and vice versa. Their objective is to make a new location next to all their competitors and start off with lower prices to attract all their competitors’ customers and put them out of business. This is almost cheating because the original business will either have to shut down due to the lack of customers or lower their prices which could still put them out of business. Competition should work as in the perfect competition model in which every company sells the same prices and are not located on top of one another. Unfortunately, the greed and desire to cheat wealth has driven people to take short cuts to achieve their goal. They justify the fact that they make another person/business shut down for their own well-being to become rich. This selfishness is what has been driving people’s minds to achieve the American Dream just like Gatsby. He did whatever it took to become rich to buy a house across the lake from Daisy and throw parties in hopes that she would come. He did not achieve fame fairly and had no problem trying to get Daisy, even though, she was a married woman. The greed he held within drove him to do unthinkable actions to get what he wanted. Some businesses now may or may not take that strong of an approach to quickly become rich, but they do try to take every short cut there is to reach their goal.
For most people the American Dream of being successful begins after getting their college degree. However, for a family friend, Bob, this was not the case. As a college student, he began a computer programing company in his college dorm. Soon, he could not keep up with the demand of his time with this and his schoolwork. He soon had to make a big decision. After talking it over with his parents and friends, he decided that it would be best if he took the chance and dropped out of college to focus on his company. He felt that since he was young enough and if his company failed, he would have enough money so that he could go back to college. However, for Bob, there was no looking back. As his business grew, he needed to relocate and decided to go down south. That decision proved beneficial as he met his soul mate. Together they have traveled the world and have properties all over. He has even convinced his family to move closer to him so he could spoil them. Although I realize that this is not a typical success story, it does prove that success can come if you work hard and are willing to take a chance. However, even though Bob ended up being very successful, Willy’s story is headed the opposite way. Willy started out successful, got lazy, and thought that he could cheat his way through life. Bob’s story has a different ending; he is always working hard, looking for new ways to improve his company, and looking for incentives for his employees. Although Willy will tell you the American Dream is dead, from Bob’s success story, you can see that it is still alive and well for those who are willing to put forth the effort.
A). My grandmother worked for Discover Card for twenty-two years. She had gained a few promotions and due to her dedication to the company, they kept her around for a very long time. Her job was not the most important at Discover Card (she was a computer tech employee) but it was important in the daily flow of business because whenever someone had a problem with their computer, they would call my grandmother to come help them. Eventually the company started hiring younger, college degree students and the older people like my grandmother were less common. Now my Grandmother was the one who helped teach the younger employees how to do her job, and then they went on to be promoted in only half of the time it took her to get promoted. After 22 years they fired her because they said she was no longer qualified to work at her job since she didn’t have a college degree and they had already hired enough new people to do her job that were willing to do it for less money. Since she had been working for so long she had gotten a few raises and was making more money than the new people. The company realized this and therefore fired her. I find this so extremely unfair. My grandmother was so good to their company. She never missed or was late to work one day in twenty-two years of her time there. I just find it crazy that someone can dedicate so much of their life to something and then one day they go to work and get fired because they don’t have a college degree. My grandmother did fine without a degree for all of those years, why did it just become so important now?
A recent story in the news is about A.J Clemente. He debuted for his first news-casting job and his first two words were profanity. He was fired immediately making it his first and last night on North Dakota’s KYFR. A lot of people may see him as being a jerk or deserving of being let go. However, AJ was a good friend of my sisters in high school. While many laughed at the famous YouTube video of his first two words, she felt terribly for him since she knew how hard of a worker he was. His nerves got the best of him and although he messed up big time, he wasn’t deserving of being fired. However, this mess up gave him publicity and a chance to try again at a new job. He’s young, and enthusiastic. Although his debut may stick with him forever he doesn’t deserve to be jobless forever. Like Willy, AJ can blame AJ for some of his problems. Out of all the words in the dictionary, why would you choose those two? All his hard work went down the drain in the first ten seconds of his first show. Also like Willy, AJ had a dream and worked for that dream. While Willy cheated to achieve that dream, AJ did hard work. My sister can remember him on Newark High School’s morning show and even since then has went to college and looked for a job on the news. Although his first job was a bust, I think with all his publicity he will find a new job. Sometimes mistakes work out in the long run.
Circuit City used to be a thriving business for the sale of electronics including sound systems, TVs, DVD players, video games, phones, and more. My family and I would frequent this store due to its low prices and good qualities. I remember one black friday after Thanksgiving when my mom, brother and I stood outside at three in the morning waiting to get in. It was freezing cold but worth the long wait. My brother was getting a computer monitor reduced to half its sale price and my mom was getting a new cell phone. The year after that we got our surround sound system and TV from them. We still have both those items and they have been working well. Circuit City was our go-to place for all our electronics. Our loyalty to that store did not stop it from going out of business. New electronic places popped up promising better offers. One company to outsell it was Best Buy who offered in home visits to fix your computer, next day delivery for appliances, and even lower prices than Circuit City. Another company to outsell it was Radio Shack who convienantly placed themselves mainly in malls to add to the one-stop shop. In this day and age, loyalty to a company does not seem to matter anymore. As long as you have the lowest price and the most convienant purchasing options, than you will outsell anyone. It was sad to see Circuit City but competition is more important these days to people. Willy is a lot like Circuit City. He can not uphold to this day and age’s competition and is forced to step down. He used to be able to walk into any department store in New England and have people lined up to buy his products. Now if he were to walk into those same stores today, he might get a smile and friendly hello from the company but now he would have to line up like everyone else to sell them products.
Sadly, in today’s world, hearing of someone losing their job is all too common. Yet, nobody ever thinks it will happen to them. My family was one of those people. My dad had worked for Corporation (not going to name for privacy reasons) for over twenty years, steadily climbing the latter and finally settling as a territory manager. This company manufactures and fixes computers and machines such as ATMs. It was my Dad’s job to oversee a certain area and was in charge of the field workers within that area. However, due to budget cuts, my dad was let go after over twenty years dutifully serving the company. All the oldest and best managers of the company were let go, because it was these men and women who were paid the most. We never thought it would happen to us. Luckily, within a short period of time my dad found another job at a similar company. However, this job lasted only a few short months before he was once again let go due to the company’s unrealistic expectations. Funnily enough, my dad was rehired back at his original corporation as an account manager, a notch under his original job. Eventually, he was promoted back to the job he was laid off from. Things have truly come full circle. Through these tough times, my family has learned how to adapt to anything life threw at us. We have learned to be grateful for the earnings we do have, a lesson everyone must learn one day.
A. Someone that comes to mind while watching this play is my uncle. He is such a loving man and doesn't deserve the things he's been dealt, especially lately. A couple of years ago my uncle lost his job and was thrown out into the world after twenty-five plus years at one business. He went to this particular business right out of high school and didn't have a college degree. The company was trying to weed out the old and bring in the new and better, and threw him out. Therefore, my uncle, with no other business experience and no college degree was on the job hunt. He tried everything, from working in an office, to fixing up cars. He moved to Florida and opened up his own car body shop. Once that didn’t work out he stayed in Florida and started working for someone else’s body shop. Things weren’t going well with his American dream. He moved away from home and didn’t have a job. He’s been all over the country looking for a job. He moved to California and thought he found a steady job, and while he loved the job he hated being away from home and his family. Just like in “Death of a Salesman, he drove all the way to California from Michigan on a Monday and would come back practically every weekend. Life out West wasn’t for him. He is now back home in Michigan searching for a job. He reminds me very much of Willy because he is a very dedicated man who loves what he does, but can never seem to catch a break. Things aren’t looking up for Willy, but hopefully they’re looking up for my uncle.
Julia saccucci There are many business’s that go out of business, but one that sticks out to me are Vital Records. Records were a world wide used product which played music on a record player. In the 1980's, Vital Records started to rapidly decrease in the use of them, and in 1986, Records were off the market and they were no longer making them. This is all because of 8tracks and cassettes, but those did not last long because shortly after that they made the CD player. You could use CD's in the car, in a radio, on a cd player, etc. It was a lot more convenient than a record. This did not last long, they then introduced the MP3 player, the Ipod, and most importantly, the internet. This ran everything out of business because you could now just go on the internet and download a song for free then upload it to your MP3/ iPod which could also be your phone at the same time. You can take your iPod or MP3 player and plug it into your car and it plays right on there. They are a lot more convenient than carrying around a CD player everywhere with you. The Ipod may be more expensive but there are definitely a lot more things to do on them while holding a lot more music. Willy is a lot like the Vital Records. He was no longer able to sell his product because he has a lot more competition to deal with then he did in the beginning of selling his product.
My uncle used to own a florist in New Jersey. It was a family run business that started many years ago. It was a booming business and they were always busy. The florist was well known in the town and everyone would go to them when they needed flowers. He ended up going out of business a few years ago because people started buying their flowers at other places. They would buy them at Costco or grocery stores because they were cheaper. People were buying flowers in grocery stores because of the low prices, which is a sign of the changing times. Everyone was trying to save money and get bargains wherever they could because money was tight. Some of the flowers in the other stores would be equally as nice as the flowers from the florist. Gradually, the florist started loosing customers and the demand for flowers was going down. Since people were trying to save money where they could, they would buy lower quality flowers if they had too. While the florist was loosing money, the grocery stores were getting more money from the flower sales. It is also more convenient to buy flowers in a grocery store because it’s like one stop shopping. You can buy flowers and food in one stop instead of running out of the florist to get flowers. The changing times caused the florist to shut down. I’m sure this wasn’t the only flower shop to close, due to the changing times and economy.
John Schnatter got his first job in a local pizza joint called Rocky’s in Jefferson, Indiana. Like most, he started off with the dirty work of washing dishes. With some hard work and perseverance, he was able to move up to making the pizzas. John noticed something working in a local pizza joint compared to a large chain; large chains aren’t able to give you the same quality pizza with excellent service that local places could. After graduating high school, he attended Ball State University and got a job working at another pizza joint, Greeks. After graduating college, john went home to Jefferson and found out his father’s tavern, Mick’s Lounge, was struggling badly. To help his father afford the taven, john sold his prized 1972 Camaro Z28. After saving his father’s business, John knocked down the wall of the broom closet off the back of the tavern and bought $1600 in used restaurant equipment, installed an oven in the tiny space and started selling pizzas out of the back of the restaurant. John started his own Pizza Business in 1984 and named it Papa John’s. Papa John’s is now the third largest pizza delivery and take-out restaurant chain in the United States. Internationally, there are over 4,000 Papa John's establishments, including over 2,600 in the U.S. and the remainder spread among 32 other countries. John Schnatter is a perfect example of someone who had the American dream a pursued it.
I can imagine what Willy had gone through when he was placed on commission as opposed to salary after all those years. It’s hard being so successful in the business, but having all that taken away when times get tough. My dad went through a similar situation not too long ago. It was just last year when we found out that Sunoco Refinery would be laying off hundreds of employees. My dad’s job was possibly on the line and we didn’t know when it would come. He decided to get out of there just in case he was laid off. After months of job searching and numerous interviews, he found a new job at another refinery. It just was not the same, though. Our entire family was shook up and a lot of emotional stress was put on us all. We had to remain tough as a family and get through such a change together. My dad had been working at Sunoco even before him and my mother got married and had built up weeks of vacation time. All that was taken away so quickly. He had to start all over at a new place at the age of 50, “like a beginner.” The new job he found ended up paying more money, even though he lost some of his vacation time. The entire situation just left him feeling abandoned by a company he thought he would see through retirement. I can see how Willy has some problems, especially because his family life isn’t that strong. Having setbacks in your job definitely hurts the mind and the heart.
All businesses want to achieve the goal of being successful. But in reality, some of the competition is so strong that it makes it tough on businesses to flourish. Wal-Mart is a great example of a corporation that has blown up in the past couple of decades. Wal-Mart has been driving out competition all over the world. Its approach has always been to have the lowest prices anytime and everywhere. The way in which Wal-Mart goes about its business is unethical. Wal-Mart imports consumer goods from other foreign countries. This is beneficiating Wal-Mart, but it is destroying business in America. The reason companies in the US can’t compete is because foreign countries can produce consumer goods for much cheaper prices. As a result, Wal-Mart has forced companies to layoff many US suppliers and also discourage American innovation. Wal-Mart has the ability to support American jobs by allowing higher wages, investing in its supply chain, and paying its employees acceptable wages. Sadly, Wal-Mart’s greed for wealth and power has caused it to take shortcuts, which as a result has drawn many customers away from doing business with them. Wal-Mart’s makes it clear to other companies that they will do whatever it takes to make more money. Their selfishness is like any person just trying to accomplish the American Dream. Gatsby is a great example of this. Gatsby wanted Daisy so bad that he did everything in his power to draw her attention. After becoming wealth, Gatsby buys the house right across the lake of Daisy. He throws extravagant parties hoping that Daisy will come to one of them. It wasn’t hard for Gatsby to get Daisy, even though she was married at the time. Gatsby let his greed get to him which made him work even harder to get what he wanted. The goals of all businesses are different, but the ways Businesses go about reaching their goals are corrupt, hostile, and competitive.
An individual I know who has lost his job is a family friend. This man was the only source of income for his family. Sadly, he was laid off and not only did this man suffer the loss of his job, but he has had to watch his family he once took care of suffer along with him. His eldest son had to drop out of college due to not being able to afford it, his wife has taken small jobs here and there in an attempt to try to help make ends meet, and his youngest son currently works three jobs while still in school. After seeing day after day the struggle his parents face, it makes sense he would work this much to try to avoid ever having to live in this type of condition ever again. To be living a life of comfortably depending on a steady income to having it abruptly cut short with the knife of reality, the American Dream isn’t always as “dreamy” as it is made out to be. Sometimes it can be a nightmare. Although the American Dream may be just as attractive today as it has always been, attractive does not mean perfect. This man understands the wrecks it carries with it. What was once a stable household has been thrown into turmoil. Like Willy, it is easy to attach oneself to a dream, specifically the American Dream, filled with hopes and promises of a future. However, Willy, like my family friend, had to face reality and face the fact that not all dreams come true in the way we think they will.
This story Death of a Salesman relates to my Uncle Tom. My uncle got a good job in college working the computer system at a business. Because of this job offer, he did not graduate college and get a degree. He was making a very good salary over the years at this job and was very happy and content in his lifestyle. My uncle has two daughters, my cousins. One goes to DMA and the other is a sophomore at University of Delaware. Very unfortunately, right at the crunch time of paying for books and tuition for my one cousin, my uncle’s job laid him off. He had become too experienced and valued at this job that they paid him "too much." They would rather pay someone less experienced a smaller salary than keep my uncle on his rather generous salary. This caused my uncle to feel very betrayed. He had committed years of his like and a tremendous amount of hard work to this company and they let him go at the snap of a finger. Being without a job having to support a family and pay for college tuition was a massive new stress on my uncle. Not only was he without a job, he was also without a college degree. Employers seem to overlook any possible employee if they do not have a college degree. It seems near impossible for him to get another job. He picked up a few small jobs doing yard work or painting for people just to get by, but he never seemed to be able to find a steady job. Now he has plans to start his own business. I think my uncle’s story relates to Death of a Salesman because everything went wrong for both of them no matter how hard they worked. They both remained hopeful and positive but got let down a number of times. Both Willy and my uncle were once very successful and well respected in their jobs. They seemed to have been taken advantage of and cheated by their former employers. Both Willy and my uncle have high hopes in business. I hope my uncles business is a success.
One of my absolute favorite places I used to go when I was little was Blockbuster video store. I used to beg my dad to take me to the nearby blockbuster in jennersville after we were done grocery shopping. I used to search for hours and hours finding the perfect movie or game to play. Recently, blockbusters have closed down left and right. People are finding easier ways to rent and obtained movies such as Netflix or on demand. People have become so dependent on technology lately and are so lazy that these stores were forced to go out of business. Who wants to get up and drive to the store to get a movie to have to drive back and return it the next day when you can just rent it on your TV with the touch of a button? Also, you had to worries about late fees and returning your movie on time while if you just rented it on your TV, you have no hassle or no worries, you just but it and its done. Personally, I miss blockbusters. There are still times I want to go and find an old movie that they do not have on demand or on Netflix. I will always remember the times when I was little and went to the store. I go past the abandoned building all the time and just remember my childhood and just reminisce on how much the world has changed in just a few short years.
I can understand what willy went through with the problems with his job. My Mother worked for Dupont and was told she had a few months to find another job because she was going to be laid off. She was very upset, she had worked with them for many years but due to her disability (MS) they didn't want her working there anymore.My mother was always a hard worker and always did her best in everything she tried. Even though she had a disease that affected her brain and memory she still strived in her job. Eventually her boss started purposely blaming things on her that weren't her fault and doing whatever he could to get her out of the business blaming her disability and saying she was unable to fulfill the tasks at hand. He did whatever he could but he failed every time,eventually he finally got a person with a higher position decide that my mom couldn't work there anymore. so my mother retired and got long term disability and now she gets sixty percent of her pay.
My Uncle's friend worked for DuPont many years back. He had worked with the company for over 40 years. He was one of the senior bosses and he thought he had everything planned out. However, cuts started being made and people began losing jobs and pay cuts. The company promised the leaders and bosses they would still have a job, but they may experience a pay cut. The next morning, my Uncle's Friend arrived at DuPont and as he entered the building, everyone was quiet when he walked by. He thought that everyone was scared that they were going to get fired. When he got into his office, all this things were packed up in a corner and a new name tag was already on the desk. He said that he felt faint and scared. He thought it was a nightmare and just wanted to wake up. He couldn't believe that they were firing him! Him, the senior boss! How could they do that? After 40 years of service and only 5 years until retirement. He stayed out all day driving around in his trunk avoiding going home to tell his family and wife what had happened at work that day. When he finally got home, he walked straight into the house and went into his room. He closed the door, laid down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling desperately trying to think of what he could do now.
The only relation I can make to Willy Loman is my uncle Bill. He is a smart, charming, and funny man but he was not successful in the working world. He was making a lot of money as a vice president of a company when he was only 35 years old but he decided to quit. And this wasn’t the first time he had done this either. Every job he went to he rose through the ranks quickly with new ideas and consistency but he would never take advice or feedback from anyone, including his superiors. He fought and disagreed with almost every boss he had. And obviously he was fighting uphill while doing this. Having the pride and arrogance that he has, he would always decide to quit and find work somewhere else. Eventually the pattern caught up to him and his flamboyant attitude and no one would hire him. He decided to retire young but quickly ran out of money with no pension or source of income. Uncle Bill ended up living with my aunt for three years until he used inheritance money to buy a new house. Every time I talk with my dad about being mad at a coach, teacher, or someone of authority he brings my Uncle Bill (his brother) into the conversation. He always says, “sometimes you’ll have to do things that you don’t agree with and take other peoples s*** to be successful, I’ve been working here for 30 years and I still have to do that. You know Bill never did and that’s why he ended up broke for all those years.”
I think my Uncle Bill can be related to Willy solely on the basis that he has too much pride. My uncle couldn’t hold a job because he wouldn’t listen to his superiors and Willy won’t take the job and money he needs to feed his family because he doesn’t want to feel belittled. Willy also doesn’t listen when people say things he doesn’t want to hear and my uncle does this too.
These days if you asked me what my favorite store was I would automatically name a clothing store. Eight years ago, I would have told you KB Toys. KB Toys was my absolute favorite. Unfortunately, due to many competitors and the change in times it went out of business. For me, this is extremely sad because so many of my memories link back to KB toys. There was on right by Mcdonalds on Kirkwood Highway and there was also one in the mall. Every time I went the doctor’s office I would go to KB Toys in the mall after for a treat if I behaved well. Every time I was forced to go to Bachetti’s for lunch meat with my mom I would go for a treat. KB Toys acted as a reward for me. When you would walk in, there was always the moving toys in a little box all together. I was the kid that would turn all of them on and annoy the other shoppers, but I was truly in heaven. Many kids remember Toys R’ Us as there childhood toy store and fortunately that shop is still existing. I feel bad for all the kids that will never be able to walk into a KB Toys and hear those moving toys colliding. I was unaware that KB Toys closed completely down until the one on Kirkwood disappeared. Seeing the white painted windows with no toys showing and the big KB letters torn down was a very sad sight for a teenager.
A) My dad worked in the plastics & polymers business for over 20 years as a procurement manager. His job was to call various plastic producing factories and coordinate the shipment and purchasing of all the raw materials used to produce polymers such as polypropylene and polyethylene. He started out working for a company called Himont which eventually merged with another company to form Montell, which later merged to form Basell, which about 8 years ago became Lyondell-Basell. This company formed into one of the biggest polymer corporations in the world. His work location moved from place to place including Elkton, MD, Concord Pike in Wilmington, and Newtown Square, PA all within a matter of a few years. About 3 years ago, my dad was informed that his job was moving to Houston, TX. He was offered the chance to keep his job if he moved, but he decided not to put my family through the stress of relocating half-way across the country. As a result, he was laid-off from Lyondell-Basell. He remained unemployed for quite some time, and after searching relentlessly for a job close to home, he finally found one. He now works for Day & Zimmermann and works less than 5 minutes away from home. My dad’s story is similar to Willy’s in that they both experience a sudden loss of employment. As one could imagine, this unfortunate experience puts tremendous stress and frustration on any individual. Perhaps the stress of this job loss is the reason for Willy’s behavior and attitude. I can speak from first-hand experience of the effects of unemployment on an individual and on a family, and I believe it is not something that anyone should have to go through.
In the play the traveling salesman Willy is repeatedly knocked down by the company he works for. He has to work so hard for no pay at all. The American dream is to come in and hit it big making lots of money. However it is not always evident who has to suffer and fail for others to get the American Dream. A super store that everyone knows comes in and wipes everything out of business around it. Walmart. This place is known for their super low deals, providing jobs for the community, and being at everyone's convenience for their hours. The store has mega success, everywhere it comes up places around it crumble. For example there was a small grocery store that was right next to Walmart on route 40 in Elkton Maryland. I loved this store it was one of my moms favorites. We knew the people because of how much we went there and it was small and personable. The Walmart had only been there for three months when they lost almost all of their business and were forced to close. Although Walmart's prices were better it truly is a shame for this small store, especially because in today's society it is hard to find a small convenient store. don’t even remember the store name because it feels like forever ago. But I remember them because it was so small and knowing all the friendly faces was comforting as you went into a store. It made everyone trust their opinion on what type of food to get or what brand. If you walk into walmart now theres probably fifty employees per shift where there were probably 5 at the convenience store. Just like in the play Willy is kicked down by the big company, and Walmart kicked away the small stores.
Someone that I know that has lost there job is my step-father. He works here and now sporadically, but all in all he lost his job. He is a carpenter by trade, and when he was younger he use to build hundreds and hundreds of houses. Every time we drive through a neighborhood he points out a house he built or that his company built. Now that the economy went downhill a lot of people like him lost their jobs because the housing was not in demand. So he tried opening up his own company. He tried building decks and add-ons to houses, but that never seemed to last long because people did not want to spend money in fear of the economy getting worse. Now that the market is slowly picking up there is some demand for new housing and add-on and rebuilding parts of houses, the only problem is that they are not hiring the people they laid off. They are hiring illegal immigrants that will do the work for half the price of other people. The owners of the company want everything done so they get the most profit, so they hire people they know they can pay less so that they get more money out of it. The other problem is age. A younger man in his twenties can work harder and faster than an older man. It might not be the best quality, but the work gets done fast and they can move on the the next project. So getting losing your job can be a tough thing, especially when you are getting older and they can hire someone to do the work quicker.
In the past couple of years, Delaware watched one of its most prominent car factories close its doors for good as many families lost jobs and incomes. Open since 1951, it has supplied many jobs over the years and the news of the closing came as a shock to many. The factory originally manufactured tanks, but then was converted to a Plymouth and Dodge plant in 1957 to fulfill demands for cars. Many Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth cars were produced totaling upwards of 7 million. In 1997, $623 million dollars was invested into updating the facilities when the plant was to build a new sport utility vehicle, the Dodge Durango. The new facilities included a training facility, a production simulation building, a paint shop, a 1.2 mile test track, a new material handling fleet and new controls on the assembly line. In 2007, the plant announced that they would drop a shift from the work day and would be closing in 2009. In 2008, however, the plant decided to close its doors early because of a slowdown in the economy and demand for sport utility vehicles. The less money that people had to spend and an emphasis on the environment caused a decline in sport utility vehicle sales and ultimately cost people their jobs. The close of the Chrysler plant had nothing to do with how it was being managed or run, a simple change in the times was enough to snuff out the light of the days when cars were made there.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a well-known film star, as well as the former Governor of California. When people hear his name they think of the Terminator, Predator, and Kindergarten Cop, as well as many other movies that he stared in. What most people don’t know is his humble origins in Thal, Austria, a small town bordering the Styrian capital Graz. When he was growing up, Arnold’s family was poor. In fact, Schwarzenegger himself once said that one of the highlights of his youth was his family’s purchase of a refrigerator. What began the climb that launched Arnold into stardom was his body. Arnold got interested in bodybuilding when he was 15, and, after winning the title of “Mr. Olympia” in 1970, used his fame to go to America and pursue his real dream of becoming an actor.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s story is similar to what Willy thought was possible in America, enter the country as a nobody, and through being well liked you could rise to the top and be wealthy. However, Arnold had an advantage that Willy did not. Arnold came into the country known. What’s more, he did not limit himself to one dream, like Willy did to his son Biff. Rather, after his autobiography and weight-training guide Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder was published 1977. He took English Classes at Santa Monica College and, in 1979 Arnold graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Superior with a degree in international marketing of fitness and business administration.
The rest, as they say, is history.
While watching the play Death of a Salesman, Willy’s story reminds me of someone that I know who has also lost his job before. That person is my dad and he used to work for a company called FMC Biopolymer, in Newark, Delaware. He monitored production and managed the warehouse there. He worked there for over eleven years until he was laid off with several other employees. The reason that FMC laid off my dad and the other workers was because the company was relocating their distribution center to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. If my dad were willing to go to Harrisburg then he probably would not have been laid off, but he just did not want to go that far. When my dad lost his job my family had to cut back on spending for a little while until he could find a new one. While my dad was searching for another job, he worked with my uncle and helping him at The Fireplace Shop while he looked for a more stable job. Fortunately, his search for a new job did not take very long. He was able to start at his new job after about two weeks since leaving FMC. I believe that my dad’s story relates closely to Willy’s in Death of a Salesman. Both of them were successful in their jobs. They were both well liked by other people, they both worked very hard, and just when everything was looking up they lost their jobs. My dad was able to fight through and make the best of what happened to him and now he is just as successful, if not more so, in his current job, and I want to see if Willy is able to do the same.
Growing up whenever I wanted to watch a movie my mom would take me to Blockbuster or other movie rental stores. We would search through the vast selection of different movies and find one that we wanted to watch. We would then go to the counter and pay to rent it for a week. At the end of our rental period we would go back to the store and drop it in the drop box. If we didn’t return it in time we would have to pay a late fee the next time we wanted to rent a movie. Although that was only about 8 years ago, renting movies has drastically changed. There used to be several movie rental stores within a 10 mile radius of my house but they have all went out of business due to changes in technology. Nowadays if you want to rent a movie you simply go on to iTunes, go on demand, or go on Netflix. The movie rental stores didn’t go out of business due to poor management, they went out of business because there was no longer any need for them. In time everything eventually goes out of business because there will always be newer and better things developing.
Willy’s story reminds me of my brother Chuckie. Chuckie will be turning twenty-six this coming Sunday and til this day is still not sure what he wants to do with his life. Chuckie graduated from St. Mark’s in 2006. He went off the Dover to attend Wesley College. Chuckie did not realize until he got there that Wesley was not the place for him. He had a horrible time there with bad roommates, break-ins, excessive parties and constant noise. Chuckie couldn’t stand it so much that he left once he finished his first semester. When he returned home he started a job with a landscaping company. He was making a great salary. Chuckie worked with this company for about two years, until he realized it wasn’t what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, so he quit. After that he bounced around having a few different jobs over the years but nothing consistent. Just recently he has been traveling over the East Coast setting up cheerleading floors for competitions. This is just to get some money in his hands for the time being. Chuckie has no idea what he wants to do and the last thing but yet the most important thing that he needs to do is go back to school. He thinks that things will just work out for him but instead he is stuck trying to figure out what to do with his life. I think that this is a great example of someone searching for their American Dream because the money is not going to just come; you need to go to school and get the right education about a career that you want to pursue to become successful. It’s not about the amount of money you make but rather what makes you happy and is also able to support yourself and your family when the time comes.
My dad’s second older brother had a big dream that he was going to be very rich. In the past, my grandfather’s family did not have money to give chances to study for all five sons. Only the oldest son could study. My dad knew that he could not get any opportunity to study, so he applied to army to earn money. My uncle started a business with borrowing money of neighbor’s. He did not learn how to run business and how to manage it. Definitely, he failed that business and did not have money to pay back. He had no choice, so he fled to other area and started new business again. The point of this story is that he just wanted to become rich without putting any effort or sacrificing his owns. Even though he earned little money to save in a bank, he invested the money in stocks. He also did not study for stocks and did not know how stocks are running. He just wanted to walk the gentle and fast way to be rich. He got a lot of debt and could not go back to his country town, because what he had done for his neighbors. My dad tried his best to be a great soldier. He hadn't been very rich but he never got any debt. He is living happy daily lives because he has done no wrong in his past. I learned that if we try our best without cheating then the great result would follow it. An effort does not abandon a success. Fortunately, my uncle also realized it and he is living his life with his best.
Losing your job is always tough. For this blog I decided to write about my Uncle who’s family had moved down to Georgia for a new job and was then fired. My Uncle and his family lived up in West Chester where he worked for the company GE and was doing pretty well. After a few years there, a company recruited him down in Alpharetta, Georgia. Then there was a huge decision to make, stay in West Chester and keep working at the job he had or take a chance and move down to Georgia and try out this new and better job. It was an extremely hard decision considering the fact that his family had no intensions to move. They would be leaving family behind and would have to start all over. However, when it was time for a decision my Aunt decided it was best for my Uncle to do what he needed to do and take the new job. They packed up everything and went down south where they had to start fresh. Then after about 9 months at the job, the company reorganized and got new management where my Uncle was then laid off. Losing his job at this time had to have been so tough especially since they just sacrificed so much moving down there. Having all these new expenses such as purchasing a new home and relocating schools for my cousins were just a few examples. My Uncle losing his job is like Willy and his job because no matter what he possibly could have done, nothing was up to him. Like every person in America my Uncle and Willy both had a dream, to do the best you can in life. And with this dream sometimes there are bumps along the way. America changes everyday with the times and the only thing you can do a lot of the time is accept it, try you’re hardest, and move on.
While watching the play “Death of a Salesman”, I immediately thought of my cousin Victoria. Victoria is twenty-three years old and still has not graduated from college. She has been attending the University of Delaware with a major in music. Although she has spent many years in this major, she is having second doubts on if it is the right path for her. In high school, her dream was to become a music teacher and work in an elementary school. College and her part time job have completely changed that dream for Victoria. After being fired from her job at a music store, she now wants to become a nurse. Victoria feels as though she will make a greater salary in the health field and wants to forget about her passion of music all together. Being fired caused her a great deal of sadness and made her look at music in a completely different way. Although Victoria loves music, she has to do what’s best for her in the long run. She is searching for her American Dream and the money it entails. Victoria will have to go back to school to get the right education in order to graduate with a degree in nursing. If a higher salary is truly what will make her happy in the long run, I think she should go for it and strive to be successful in anyway possible. Right when she thought she knew what she wanted to do in life, things completely turned around and made her think differently. My cousin relates to Willy in that she has high hopes for herself and won’t give up until she gets what she wants.
Talking to my parents, I learned that there was once a phone store where you would go to rent your house phone. People used to go in the store and pick out what home phone they would like in their house and they would rent it directly from the company. You would sign a contract for a certain amount of time and after your time limit was up you would return your phone. To me this idea is foreign and strange. From talking to them, I also learned that it cost a lot more to rent a phone with color or even a design verses a normal black or white phone. The styles of these home phones changed just as our cell phones change and become more advanced as technology advances. What started out as a rotary phone with a spinning dial, quickly became a phone with a really long cord so you could walk while you talked. As technology changed, so did these home phones. These types of stores quickly died down after home phones could be simply bought and plugged into the wall instead of having to rent one. We do not have any of these stores around now. This is an example of how time can simply change how things work and what is popular at the time. In another ten or fifteen years cell phone stores may become “extinct” and something else may become popular. Time, and not necessarily mismanagement, can change how things run.
A. One of my family's friends named Marcia is feeling the hard effects of job loss. She worked as a medical assistant in a doctors office 5-6 times a week. She has a two-year medical assistant associates degree and regrets not continuing school to get a higher degree. To thoroughly explain her situation I need to talk about some background information about her job. Even though she is a medical assistant, she got paid a nurse's salary. This is because Maria could perform nurses' tasks and procedures better than the actual nurses could. She was way more qualified than a medical assistant because she had so much previous experience. She went out of her way in the doctor's office to get everything done while the nurses and technicians just sat around on their personal computers. She always went above and beyond during work hours and even checked on patients when she was not working because of her close relationships with the patients she dealt with. However, money got tight in the doctor's practice and patients weren't flowing in like they used to. This caused Maria to get fired due to the financial difficulties the office was dealing with. Why didn't the lazy nurses get fired instead? Because they were younger and had higher college degrees. The doctor felt that the young nurses had more potential to learn all of the things that Marcia had mastered. Marcia is now struggling with finding another job that pays as well as her old job due to the fact that she was not paid a usual medical assistant's salary. It is so hard to find a job now a days that will hire someone with only a two year degree. Back when Marcia got out of college it was no problem because people were lucky to even get a degree. Like Willy, Marcia was used to living the American Dream and being able to sufficiently support her family. Both of their American Dreams are now dead. Although Marcia isn't as emotionally effected as Willy was, she still has to deal with the same challenges he did.
My cousin was a young, healthy young woman. At the age of 27, she was a hard-working occupational therapist who worked in an elderly rehabilitation center. As an occupational therapist, she worked with many elderly people who were recovering from different bone replacements and injuries, to regain their personal strength for their own independence again. One day during my cousin’s lunch break; she was rear-ended by another car at a red light. From the accident, my cousin has suffered from strenuous back pain and even had to get a disk-replacement surgery in her spinal cord. She has also not been able to work for two years due to the car accident. Even though she hasn’t been able to work the past two years, that doesn’t mean that she hasn’t wanted to work. She’s been looking for new jobs over the past six months, but with her ever-lasting back pain, it’s hard to find somewhere that she is comfortable. This is the difference between my cousin and Willy. Willy is just an egocentric man who wants all of these great things for himself and his family, but he essentially isn’t willing to work hard like everyone else. My cousin, who is temporarily disabled, isn’t asking for everything to just fall onto her lap. She’s working to get her pain to a manageable state, then she wants to get back at her job to become independent and back on her own two feet. Willy just fell down, and pulled his entire family down with him.
One person in my life that can relate to Willy is my older sister. My sister is now a senior at the University of Delaware, but she has traveled down the wrong path several times through her journey. When she arrived at the campus freshman year, she no sooner found out that she had a lazy, unmotivated roommate. She would go out partying until 3 in the morning, and come back to the dorm throwing up with a group of her friends. Needless to say, this schedule messed up my sister’s determination for her school work. Another huge factor which brought her motivation down was her boyfriend at the time. Instead of going to school, he worked full time at a construction place. He would constantly try to persuade my sister to quit school and work full time. I believe that my sister started giving in to his desires, rather than reaching for a higher goal and achieving her personal best. She soon fell into the same pattern as her roommate, except she just skipped class altogether. She almost failed out her very first year of college, but luckily they allowed her to remain in school as long as she worked harder the next few years and brought her GPA up. Thankfully, she turned herself around and has been successful up to this point. I am hoping that after she graduates college, she will continue to pursue her own dreams and never settle for less than she deserves. Unfortunately, some of the people in her life who were supposed to be the ones encouraging her at the time, failed to do so. I hope that she realizes her own talents and abilities, and continues to strive for her best no matter what others think of her.
Most people go through all the years of school including college and then go on to get a good job and raise families. Some don't go to college but are lucky enough to go on to get good jobs and make a lot of money. The American dream is to be able to be successful in many different aspects of your life. Some people put emphasis on education and others focus on getting a good job and earning a lot of money. my friend Tim (fake name real guy) went to high school, worked hard and got his diploma. For some reason he never made it to college. He went straight from high school into the working world. Tim was lucky enough to get a good job and started working on cars at Chrysler and was making good money too. He was a very hard worker. He worked over forty hours a week and never missed a day. Things were going well, and he was happy with his job and his boss was happy with him however with the economy, he had to get laid off. Tim had trouble finding a new job and struggled. His American dream for the time being was over.
Many industries have had to reconstruct themselves to adhere to the changing times around them. In doing so, these companies hold the ability to thrive throughout any market regardless of the circumstances. Although some industries and businesses do conform to the times, some fail to keep up with the fast moving pace of the world we live in. An example of a thriving industry that has changed for the pace of society is the financial industry. Banks have changed in a way that allow a variety of ways to pay bills, check balances, and withdraw money. However, an example of an industry that has failed to keep up with the changes made in society is the DVD and Video industry of Blockbuster and other movie rental services. The Blockbuster industry has failed to thrive in the modern world today because of the failure to keep up with the new technology used by American citizens every day. Putting these businesses out of the market was done by on demand movie and TV rentals. The On Demand movie rental system has taken the place of video stores for many reasons. The first and most important reason that the On Demand business has flourished is because it is much more convenient compared to the video stores. With this new system, one does not have to take time out of their day to drive to the movie rental store and search around the business for the movie they are looking for. With the movies On Demand, one simply has to sit down with their popcorn and their movie is ready to go. Another reason that the On Demand industry has flourished compared to the movie rental shop industry is because the movies that one is looking for are never out of stock and to find the movie one desires to watch, searching the title all that has to be done.
A few years ago my dad was laid off from his job as a sheet metal worker for the Local 19 Union. It has been rough the last couple of years but more importantly it has been frustrating. Everyone in today’s world is striving to acquire the American Dream. It is entirely true when people say that the American Dream is simply just an attraction in today’s world, people are solely attracted to the glamour and the elegance of the “rich and prosperous” life. My dad, being the stereotypical “worker of the household”, has been frustrated because he feels he has failed to supply and support his family with their needs. However, my dad has supported my family in other ways that do not deal with the amount of money he was bringing home every week. My dad is my biggest support system and has taught me so many life lessons, none I could ever learn from anyone else. Through his struggle and persistence to support and care for his family he has taught me and my sisters the true meaning of love and family. He has taught me that no matter where life puts you, you can always work your way through the hardships and overcome anything.
RMitchell Green
Every business wants to succeed in America, but there is one company that comes to mind that has grown so big that it is destroying thousands of American jobs every year. Everybody loves to shop at Walmart. They are known to have a wide variety of merchandise, all at really low prices. Consumers are blind sided by the extremely low prices that they don’t see that this huge company is really stepping all over smaller businesses and destroying American jobs. A majority of the merchandise sold at Walmart is made overseas. Because everything is made overseas, costs are significantly lower than any other business around making it hard to stay away from. Even with Walmart already stepping all over suppliers overseas, the employees at Walmart are given low benefits to keep profits high. An example can be seen from a local grocery in Seattle. The owner reports to pay health insurance for 95% of its employees. While on the other hand Walmart only pays 45% of its employees health insurance and more than half of the children of their employees are on medicaid. Walmart’s success has discouraged American innovation. Wherever a Walmart pops up, stores around it just can’t compete and are forced to close their doors. It is definitely sad to see Walmart’s greed for money is destroying so many jobs in America. As Walmart bullies suppliers and destroys smaller businesses, Willy in the Death of a Salesman is kicked down by the big company and is no longer needed.
There are actually two individuals that come to mind when I think of someone who has taken the road less traveled by to success. These two individuals are my grandparents, whom I call Mom-mom and Poppy. My Poppy came from a large family of 8 children, so after he finished the 8th grade his parents told him that he had to start working. So my Poppy never went to high school and he worked until he decided to join the military. Then there is my Mom-mom, she was one of 11 children and got lost in the mix sometimes. She eventually met my Poppy and they started dating. When she was 18 she got pregnant, while she was still in high school, so she dropped out of high school. Her parents did not approve of her getting pregnant so she went to live with her aunt. In the meantime, my Poppy was at military camp around the time of JFK’s assassination. Eventually he came home and got married and my Mom-mom had her baby, who turned out to be my father. My poppy turned out to be a very handy man! He can fix anything and he is always helping the other people in his community. He may not make the most money in doing this but he does talk to everyone. My Poppy could be Willy in that he cannot go as far as he would like with the American dream in getting a job as more than a handyman because of his lack of education. Willy cannot pursue his dream because of his lack of actual skills at selling his products. My Mom-mom could be like Biff just because towards the end of high school she got pregnant and it changed everything for her. Biff flunked math and saw his father cheat at the end of high school for him which changed everything for him. The difference is that my Mom-mom, despite getting pregnant and her life changing, has had a successful life. Her and my Poppy raised a wonderful son and got through all their difficulties. They have the ability to spoil their grandchildren and be around for them also, so I would consider this a success. This was a different road than most people back in my mom-mom’s time. With my Poppy not having an education farther than the 8th grade and my mom-mom getting pregnant in high school, this would not be the road picked to travel by many, yet they continue to have a good life.
I cannot think of one specific example of a company that has gone out of business because of the change in times, I can recognize the decline in small shops such as bakeries or butcher shops. Now-a-days in America we are all used to going grocery shopping at huge box stores such as Wal-Mart, Costco, or Target on a daily or weekly basis to purchase all of our essentials in a one stop trip; but this is not how it has always been. When our grandparents or even parents were younger they would have relied on small shops to obtain all of their different needs. There may have been grocery stores, but they were nothing like we have today. The new trend of easy shopping all in one big commercial store has taken over the roll of small shops. There is no longer a need for butcher shops, bakeries, or pharmacies when all one has to do is drive down the road to the local Wal-Mart or Whole Foods and have all of these things in one place. Though some of these shops still exist they are definitely becoming more and more rare. This change is not brought on by any negative things done by the shops, but by the modern state of mind; a mind in which easier and faster seems to be the most popular option
When I was a kid I would always go to Borders. I loved Borders, there were so many books, and the kid’s section was the best. My friends and I used to go to Borders, get something from the café and spend the rest of the day in the kid’s section. Then things changed technology advanced and Barnes and Noble started to open stores. I started to go to Barnes and Noble instead because they had a bigger selection of books and there was a Starbucks. Barnes and Noble was so much better than Borders. Whenever I went to Borders it reminded me of the past. My friend loved Borders and when it went out of business she was sad. She always said how much better Borders was than Barnes and Noble. She said it was homier than Barnes and Noble. I guess it was but Borders failed to keep up with technology and it’s competition. My friend hates Kindles, E-Books and Nooks. Borders never really had any of those things. Borders wasn’t able to keep up with technology. It failed to see that people would gravitate towards the new way of reading. Borders was also in a huge debt, yet they still invested the company’s money on building new stores. They company also didn’t see the demand for CDs and DVD were declining. Borders could have still been around if the company took charge and tried to change with the new times. Willy is a lot like Borders because like Borders, Willy is not with his day’s technology. Willy is stuck in the past. He doesn’t know what people want anymore, just like Borders didn’t know that people would wants E-books, Kindles and Nooks. Also Willy had bills he couldn’t pay, just like Borders. Willy doesn’t know how to adapt to change or take charge of his career. He keeps thinking everything will be okay, but it wont. I think Borders thought it could live off costumer loyalty but costumers aren’t always loyal. Once a new thing pops up the costumer will go to that. Just like Willy’s employers hired new, upcoming salesman.
The pursuit of the American Dream comes at a cost. Sometimes, this cost is very high. Surviving in today’s global economy requires flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to change as times change. Those that are able to keep up with the incredible pace of change will thrive, while those that don’t will fail. This holds for both individuals and companies. To highlight the pitfalls of not changing, I am going to blog about the United States Postal Service (USPS). While still in business, this American institution is essentially bankrupt; able to remain in business through the backing of the US government.The USPS has been around since before the country was born. It prided itself on always being there to deliver the mail; through rain, sleet, snow or any other disaster. You could always count on your mail to be there. In fact, before the telephone, it was the only way to get messages to love ones far away. It was reliable and cheap, but also slow.
The USPS business model worked well when they had no competition and the need for quick communication was not important. However, things have changed considerably since the early days of the USPS, and the USPS hasn’t kept up with that change. Today, most folks use internet for bill paying and email, taking large portions of the USPS business with it. Not only is it cheaper to use online means to handle day to day transactions and communications, it is also much, much faster. If you do need to send hard copies through the mail, many consumers choose FedEx or UPS, rather than USPS. Most of the mail delivered by the USPS is “junk” mail. Advertisements that more often than not quickly find themselves in the trash. So much like Willy Loman’s life, the USPS went from being the best to being a has been. They grew old and did not keep up with the change around them. The internet revolution did in the USPS, much like old age and the inability to keep up with younger more agile salesmen caused Willly’s downfall.
The Sound City recording studio is a business that time has not been kind to. Sound City was a famous recording studio in California where such records as Tom Petty’s Damn The Torpedos, Weezer’s Pinkerton and Nirvana’s Nevermind were recorded. It is a legendary studio with some amazing history. Fleetwood Mac even met and recorded their first album there. With advances in technology making it easier for people to record music on computers recording studios like Sound City lost most of their business. Since the process of recording at your home is much cheaper than paying for time in a studio Sound City could just not keep up. Less and less bands started going to recording studios because of programs like Pro Tools. Sound City did nothing wrong to go out of business, people just want to do what is most economical. The thing is, is that they fell victim to changing times like Willie does in Death of A Salesman. New times caught up to Willie and put him out of a job just like what it did to the people of Sound City. This is a sad fact because it is a studio with so much soul like Sound City that makes albums great. The birthplace to the song Smells Like Teen Spirit should become a historical landmark. It is a great thing that start up bands without any money are able to record, but it’s tough when you lose places like Sound City. Now all we have of that old recording studio is the beautiful music made in it.
A. As an adult, you get thrown into situations where you least expect it. A few years ago my dad’s project in his company ended and everyone working on that project was basically getting laid off. As for my dad, he found a new job but he worked with a lot of people who had a harder time finding a job. My friend’s mother was one of them. I’ve known this mother for a long time and I guess you can say she was trying to live the American dream that every Filipino who moves to America would like-going to America and making something out of it. America is a place to thrive and raise your kids in a steady environment. When she was laid off though, she tried for a year or two to find a job in her field. After being unsuccessful, she decided to go back to school and get another degree in nursing. That’s what’s different with her and Willy though. She didn’t give up and she did everything in her power to keep this American dream alive. After being in school for a while, my dad recommended her in his job in his new company. I guess you can say he’s like Charlie who’s helping her out even though my dad isn’t her only friend. She ended up gaining more than what she came here to do. Even though she was thrown curve balls that I’m pretty sure she did not see coming, she was able to make something out of it to keep her family together and keep them financially stable. That’s what’s different between her and Charlie, and that is perfectly alright because she’s doing something right.
A lot of brilliant people are recently out of a job because of this economy and their credentials. My Uncle Bob has a masters in engineering and is the smartest person I know. You could be yelling random numbers and he can add, subtract, multiply and divide all in his head while thinking about what he is having for lunch. He worked at Phillip Mors for about 30 years until he was let go a little over four years ago because of the downfall of the economy. They could no longer afford to pay him as much as he deserved. When he got this news he was almost broken. Him and my aunt thought about everything that they had to pay for: my cousin’s college tuition, their very nice sized house, all the cars, and much more. My uncle did not give up though. He went out and searched for almost two years for a job then he finally found one. They offered him a nice salary, not as much as he was earning before, but still very cushiony. Unfortunately, almost he was only there about fifteen months. Over the Easter holiday he got let go again. In the same predicament as last time he went out to search for a new job. He is still searching. My uncle Bob suggested to my Aunt Marcy that maybe he could retire. They just came into a nice some of money because my Uncle Bob’s dad just passed away. His father left him basically everything that he had owned. Even with all this newfound wealth, my aunt refuses to let my uncle retire.
My godfather Bill Mahon has definitely taken the road less traveled to success. He grew up in a modest home in the city of Wilmington. His parents divorced when he was very young and his father had little to no influence in his life. His mother placed high expectations on him to aspire to something grand like the American dream promises. He went to Salesianum and then continued his learning at the University of Delaware as a Business Major. Making the choice to leave after his first year and work full time, he was employed at Gates Engineering. He moved on shortly after to Firestone Industries and for the next ten years forged a passion for the roofing business. He quickly positioned himself at the top of the estimating ladder and over the next ten years advanced in roofing until he chose to open his own company. He sunk all of his reserves of cash and assets into the roofing business and now ten years later, he is not only established in commercial roofing, but has realized personal dreams of travel and family time at a beach house that he graciously shares with family and friends. So as an industry educated man, he has been invited to circles of peers to discuss business person’s issues in the Delaware area. He has approved as a government affiliated roofer, a very prestigious and difficult level of achievement. He now mentors other independent roofing companies to do the same. I would say that he has taken the road less traveled and has accomplished the American Dream through hard work. He is very committed to both his church and his community, giving back in both donations and resources.
A store that has gone out of business mainly due to the change in times is FYE. FYE was a store located in the Christiana Mall. It had everything from game consoles, movies, accessories, video games, CDs, and more. FYE had everything you needed electronically at a fair price. With the change in times and technology, the store slowly started to go out of business due to the accessibility of getting music or movies online. The increase in popularity of the iPod and iTunes and the easy way of just buying a song for only ninety-nine cents or for buying a whole album for around the same cost that it is in the store off of iTunes, made it unnecessary to go out and buy a CD. The internet also made it easy to download songs or even movies for free. With the increase in buying online, it started stopping the customers from coming into the store and buying a CD that they would just put on their iPod later. With everyone finding an easier and cheaper way through buying CDs or movies, the store began to go out of business. FYE was a store that was in high demand when there was a need for it, but as the technology got better the need for it decreased greatly. This reminds me of Willy in Death of a Salesman because at one point he was a hot shot and could easily get people to buy from him, but now since he is older there is a different need for salesmen.
D. An example of a company that benefited itself financially by "squashing" another company is Universal Music Group's purchase of EMI Music Group. Through this purchase, Universal acquired music labels such as Capitol Records, Virgin Records, Chrysalis Records, and Frontiers Records (all former rivals of UMG labels). Earlier in the century, there were four major “music groups:” the Universal Music Group (who own MCA, A&M, Interscope, Island, Def Jam, Motown, Polydor, and Geffen), Sony BMG (who own Columbia, Epic, RCA, Arista, and Portrait), EMI Music Group (who owned Capitol, Virgin, Chrysalis, Frontiers, Apple, and Manhattan), and the Warner Music Group (owners of Warner Bros., Reprise, Asylum, Elektra, Atlantic, Rhino, and Roadrunner). EMI started to have financial difficulties around 2009, but the company wanted to remain intact. They were hoping to avoid a purchase, but this was not the case: UMG purchased the label in late-2011 and beginning in January 2013, EMI was defunct. There were employees that were fired, and new label heads were hired. Three labels (Capitol, Virgin, and Frontiers) were spared and moved over to Universal, and Apple Records would remain intact as well. Chrysalis Records, on the other hand, folded after the sale. One of the first changes that UMG implemented was reusing the famous Capitol Records building in Los Angeles again. While the building had been standing, it had not been used as an office space for many years. Capitol had practically relocated to England (where EMI was based), but after UMG’s purchase of the label, the company moved back to the Capitol Building. However, EMI wanted to stay as an independent company (just like Willy wanted to stay with his company), but due to the changing economy and a slump in record sales, this was apparently not possible.
When I read the part b blog option the first thing I thought of was blockbuster. The movie rental chain blockbuster quietly went out of business all around America. The only reason it went out of business was because of the tough competition it was faced with. In order to operate a blockbuster, it required a store to house all the movies and games, and employees to run it. Also it required that if someone wanted a movie or game, they needed to drive to the store, pay for it, and then drive back to return it on the date stated. As technology got more advanced, businesses started developing better ways for a person to view a movie or play a game that they wanted without all the cost and hassle. The businesses that came to the forefront were Netflix, Red Box, and any tv cable provider that offers digital streaming of movies through a cable box. The method Netflix uses is that they allow unlimited streaming of movies through an Xbox, iPad and many more devices; and unlimited movie rentals for a very reasonable price. Red box allows for people to drive to a red box facility found outside many drug stores and other business and simply swipe a credit card and select the movie they wish to rent. Red box has cut out the need for business space and employees to run it. Lastly, the cable companies allow for a person to simply select and rent a movie from the comfort of their home without even moving from their couch. This also eliminates the need of employees to run a movie rental store and the hassle of driving to a store to rent a movie.
When I was little I thought I had it all. My mom worked for a magazine group and my dad owned two furniture stores. I thought that was the coolest thing ever.I would go into my dad's stores and all the workers loved me. I used to steal cookie dough out of the freezer and jump around on all the beds but I was still so proud of my dad. I used to get whatever I asked for. That was just the life that I was used to and grew up in. Little did I know that everything was going to change. My father has a very bad case of depression. Just like Willy my dad was very ill and working for so long really started to wear him out. Sometimes my father won't get out of bed for months at a time. How could my dad run a business from his bed? He couldn't. My parents would have long talks about it and the company thought retiring would be the best idea for my dad. I didn't really know what this meant or how bad it would affect me. Even though my dad didn't technically "lose" his job because he retired, we still lost so much. From going to getting everything I wanted to getting a few things here and there was such a change. At the time I wasn't used to it and hated it. But now that I'm older I'm glad it happened. My dad made me realize and understand the value of a dollar. I'm in high school and I work two jobs. I work almost every single day but I'm not complaining. I've learned that you have to work hard for what you want and that is exactly what I'm doing. Just like Bernard in the play, he worked hard and studied all the time and now he is a lawyer presenting a case in front of The Supreme Court. I honestly can't remember the last time I've asked my parents for money or they've given me some. Now that I look bad I'm glad my dad retired. He was only doing what he thought was best for him because of his illness. My dad is still suffering from depression but he is getting through it. He volunteers at A.I. Hospital with all the kids and absolutely loves it. He loves doing it and I love seeing him happy. Money is not the most important thing but family is.
A Store that has gone out of business due to change in times is BlockBuster. BlockBuster use to be one of the number one companies in stock and in sales when they first came out in the 90's. Once companies like Comcast and Verizon Vios came out with options like OnDemand for the consumer to watch movies without leaving their couch, the company started to fail. Who would want to drive to BlockBuster when you could order a movie straight from your couch? There are very few BlockBusters today and Comcast and Verizon Vios are to blame. I grew up going to Blockbuster with my family and always looked forward to the visit but now that Comcast has OnDemand i couldnt see myself going there again. As years went by the number of BlockBusters decreased and in 2010 they went out of business. Comcast and Verizon now have competition with companies like Netflix and RedBox. I believe RedBox wont be around for long because it has the same approach as BlockBuster. The Consumer has to go to his or her local Redbox in order to rent a movie. Comcast and Verizon are still and probably always will be the top companies for movie rentals. BlockBuster going out of Business relates to Willie in the sense that he is old and not needed anymore. Willie isnt able to travel anymore and make sales for the company because he is old and tired. The boss wants to replace Willie with younger more active employees. BlockBuster is Willie , Comcast is the younger employee and we are the boss. When we want something we have it. No one wants to drive to BlockBuster when they could order a movie from there house, therefor the company went out of business. Blockbuster couldnt do anything about the situation except sit there and go bankrupt. Willie cant do anything about it eather because he is aging and tiredsome.
A company that has gone out of business, largely because of a change in the times, and not because of problems in the management, is BlockBuster video. BlockBuster video started many years ago as a place for people to go and rent what ever movie they wanted. It was based on the fact that people did not always want to have to buy a movie just to watch,especially if they ended up not liking it. Blockbuster had started a new type of store and it was a great business, bringing in a good profit. Blockbuster gave way to many video rental stores because people were realizing it was much cheaper to rent movies that you would rarely watch anyway. The store was set up so you could go in and just pick whatever movie you want from the many different genres and types of movies available. You would rent it for usually a period of a week and then return it. Now BlockBuster stores have been shut down and the company can only survive by trying to get people to have movies delivered to their house or buy renting from a DVD vending machine. This is why the company is failing, it is being realized that the job of renting movies is something that can be done by machines very easily. With companies like Netflix competing it is hard for companies like BlockBuster to stay open. The times are changing and people do not want to go to a store to look at the movies they want to watch, they can stream them right from their computer now. BlockBuster was a good company while it lasted but with technology advancing and the ability to do anything from a computer, actually physical stores are starting to disappear and BlockBuster was among the first.
A company that has gone out of business, largely because of a change in the times, and not because of problems in the management, is BlockBuster video. BlockBuster video started many years ago as a place for people to go and rent what ever movie they wanted. It was based on the fact that people did not always want to have to buy a movie just to watch,especially if they ended up not liking it. Blockbuster had started a new type of store and it was a great business, bringing in a good profit. Blockbuster gave way to many video rental stores because people were realizing it was much cheaper to rent movies that you would rarely watch anyway. The store was set up so you could go in and just pick whatever movie you want from the many different genres and types of movies available. You would rent it for usually a period of a week and then return it. Now BlockBuster stores have been shut down and the company can only survive by trying to get people to have movies delivered to their house or buy renting from a DVD vending machine. This is why the company is failing, it is being realized that the job of renting movies is something that can be done by machines very easily. With companies like Netflix competing it is hard for companies like BlockBuster to stay open. The times are changing and people do not want to go to a store to look at the movies they want to watch, they can stream them right from their computer now. BlockBuster was a good company while it lasted but with technology advancing and the ability to do anything from a computer, actually physical stores are starting to disappear and BlockBuster was among the first.
Borders Books was a major bookstore all around the country that used to be a thriving business for the sale of books, CD's, DVD's. As a child, I would always go to Borders for books and magazines with my parents, and it seemed as if the store was always crowded. In 2010, the company operated 511 Borders superstores in the US. The company also operated 175 stores in the Waldenbooks Specialty Retail segment overseas. However, On February 16, 2011, Borders went into bankruptcy and began closing most of its stores in the United States. They simply were losing customers to a newer form of technology. Instead of buying books from the book store, people were downloading them onto their Tablet or Ipad. A new market emerged for the buying and selling of books that Borders could simply not compete with. Willy is somewhat like Borders. He can not uphold to this day and age’s competition and is forced to step down as was Borders Books. He used to be able to walk into any department store in New England and have people lined up to buy his products, however, now if he were to walk into those same stores today, he might just get a friendly hello from the company. Every business has its glory days, but they do not last forever.
My father, Gary Bennett, took the road less traveled to success. His current career was not what he aspired to be when he entered the University of Delaware as a musical theory major. My dad now works at W.L. Gore and Associates in the IT department. Big change right? My dad did not complete college, as most successful people do. Instead he worked to pay the bills in the furniture department in JC Penny's until he was offered the job he still has to this day. He didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew he loved music. So thats what he decided to do in college. That particular path didn't work out for him, but I know he loves his job now so in a way it did. Most people that do not attend college have a lower salary than those who do. However, my dad makes more money than my mom who was in school long enough to almost receive a doctorate. The way I see it, this isn't fair. My mom is a teacher and she worked her butt off in school and still does at her job, but she makes less than someone who didn't even graduate college. I know my dad works hard and deserves every penny he makes, but things like this just don't make sense to me. My mom's situation is similar to Willy's because they both work really hard and do not receive the salary they deserve. Both my parents work very hard and I am proud of them and grateful for all they give to me. They both got to where they are now on very different paths and neither ended up where they thought they would be, just like Willy.
My father, Gary Bennett, took the road less traveled to success. His current career was not what he aspired to be when he entered the University of Delaware as a musical theory major. My dad now works at W.L. Gore and Associates in the IT department. Big change right? My dad did not complete college, as most successful people do. Instead he worked to pay the bills in the furniture department in JC Penny's until he was offered the job he still has to this day. He didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew he loved music. So thats what he decided to do in college. That particular path didn't work out for him, but I know he loves his job now so in a way it did. Most people that do not attend college have a lower salary than those who do. However, my dad makes more money than my mom who was in school long enough to almost receive a doctorate. The way I see it, this isn't fair. My mom is a teacher and she worked her butt off in school and still does at her job, but she makes less than someone who didn't even graduate college. I know my dad works hard and deserves every penny he makes, but things like this just don't make sense to me. My mom's situation is similar to Willy's because they both work really hard and do not receive the salary they deserve. Both my parents work very hard and I am proud of them and grateful for all they give to me. They both got to where they are now on very different paths and neither ended up where they thought they would be, just like Willy.
My father, Gary Bennett, took the road less traveled to success. His current career was not what he aspired to be when he entered the University of Delaware as a musical theory major. My dad now works at W.L. Gore and Associates in the IT department. Big change right? My dad did not complete college, as most successful people do. Instead he worked to pay the bills in the furniture department in JC Penny's until he was offered the job he still has to this day. He didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew he loved music. So thats what he decided to do in college. That particular path didn't work out for him, but I know he loves his job now so in a way it did. Most people that do not attend college have a lower salary than those who do. However, my dad makes more money than my mom who was in school long enough to almost receive a doctorate. The way I see it, this isn't fair. My mom is a teacher and she worked her butt off in school and still does at her job, but she makes less than someone who didn't even graduate college. I know my dad works hard and deserves every penny he makes, but things like this just don't make sense to me. My mom's situation is similar to Willy's because they both work really hard and do not receive the salary they deserve. Both my parents work very hard and I am proud of them and grateful for all they give to me. They both got to where they are now on very different paths and neither ended up where they thought they would be, just like Willy.
Willy’s devastation after losing his job reminds me of my own dad. Though I don’t talk about it much, the past few years have been especially tough on my dad and my whole family. My dad worked at the Delaware City Refinery as a welder for over twenty five years. For those who don’t know the Delaware City refinery is an oil refinery which produces around two hundred thousand barrels per day and employs around five hundred and seventy people. In November of 2009 the refinery was shut down permanently as a way to cut costs by Valero Energy. I don’t even think they thought twice about who would be affected when the refinery shut down. My dad was so upset about the closing; I had never seen him that way. Because he is a welder in a union he is used to working jobs that would last only a few months and then shut down. He was never worried about not having a job though because the union would find a new one that opened up for him. This time was different, there was no job waiting for him because there was nowhere to work. He was fully out of a job for nine months and I could tell he was worried about how he would support his family. Just like Willy, he couldn’t believe the company he worked for, for so long couldn’t keep him anymore. Even though there are some comparisons between both stories, I think my dad’s has a better outcome than Willy’s. In 2010 another company bought the refinery and he has been working the whole time since. I respect my dad for keeping his sane during the whole ordeal and coming out successful in the end.
Since I have been working in a restaurant for more than a year now, I learned that most of the servers have another job during the day as a nurse, or at a bank or something like that. One of the ladies in particular has been working at the restaurant for about 10 years and is in her late fifties. During the day, she works for DuPont. She has been taking a series of tests at work that she needs to pass in order to keep her job. Considering she is getting older and the company is looking for new, younger people with more education. One day she came into work crying and upset. She had failed one of the tests and was scared for her job. She said that she would be allowed to re-take the test in a few weeks, but she had to pass. I thought it was really scary that she could lose her job to a new person fresh out of college just because she did not pass one of the tests. She has been their loyal employee for many years. It just goes to show you that times are getting tough, and it is getting competitive out there. Companies want the best of the best, so that their company will be the best of the best. There is such little opportunity for jobs that as you get older you could easily lose your job to a new, younger employee. Luckily, she did not lose her job. But what would she have done if she did? Another company might not hire her at her age, and she would have to support herself on the money she earns waiting tables.
A company that benefited from taking over or squashing another company was Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church. This church took over Red Lion Christian Academy when they were having financial issues. The administration of GRPC was power hungry and immediately came into the school and take things over. GRPC was a church and a kindergarten through eighth grade school. They had only about 100-150 students. Taking over Red Lion meant GRPC could now call themselves a high school and now had the facilities to expand. The first thing they did when they bought Red Lion was fire anyone they considered to be 'non-essential'. Then they started teaching PreDestination in our theology classes and pushing their own beliefs on the students. Families began to leave rapidly. In the beginning of the year my class had 90 students and after spring break only about seventy-five students remained. GRPC promised to leave the school and everything it stood for in tact, making very few changes, but in hindsight Red Lion should have known that GRPC knew what they were going to benefit from this if they began to make the school their own. On the last day of classes for students all but a very select teachers were fired and along with all other administration and staff. This way GRPC's staff could take over and they even gave members of their own congregation high positions and teaching positions at the school. GRPC squashed all that Red Lion was and had fun toying with people's lives and careers. Although the school is still called Red Lion Christian Academy it is now mostly GRPC with no teachers or staff members being there longer than three years. The graduating class this year is now only about 45 half the size they were at the beginning of the Junior year.
When I do blogs on schoolsville I try to write about stuff that I’m most interested in or topics that I can relate to the most. In todays time every business has to compete with other businesses to make sure they make money that will keep them running. Were seeing how Walmart is basically taking over the industry with their jobs, less price items, and a more variety things for people to choose from. When I go shopping most of the times I like to go to sports stores to gear up on any sports clothing I need or to even buy any accessories I need for the sport I’m active in. The store that I always go to is Dick’s Sporting Goods. Dick’s Sporting Goods seem to be above everyone else and is a company that has benefited itself financially by “squashing” other companies. Dick’s in a way are but aren’t putting out other sporting goods stores. Their name and quality of goods they have makes them the best store around and your first choice of store to go to when you need anything. They also have everything you need for every sport and aren’t like other stores that just might favor one thing. Their prices may not be always the best but you can always find something you need with good quality and cheaper price even though it’s not a top name brand. Al’s, Golf Galaxy, Hibbett Sports, Sports Authority, and Modell’s are all the other stores that could compete with Dick’s but their really just competing for second place. Even though Dick’s isn’t a new store and is probably one of the oldest stores around, they haven’t fallen behind and seem to keep up with time to continue its reign as my opinion the best sports store around. The only thing that could make Dick’s better then what they are now is by them putting stores in international countries and states. This could be related to Willy Lowman from the Death of a Salesman because at one point theses stores were once probably making a lot of money and selling a lot of their goods but now their getting older and more out of date it’s time for them to move on because their customers are going on to better things.
Death of a Salesmen is a great example of small people/businesses trying to make it big in this country. Willy is the small or local business and all the successful people, like Bernard, are the big corporations “squashing” the smaller businesses. Whenever I think of small businesses I think of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I have traveled to Rehoboth Beach every summer for all of my life and every year I see that some stores have closed and that new ones have opened. All these small businesses just trying to keep customers coming back. One of these small businesses is the Browseabout Bookstore, where I was lucky enough to have the chance to work at last summer. Even though Browseabout is a small and local business, there aren’t any other bookstores around to compete with, so business is always booming there. But a few years ago another bookstore was opened up that tried to compete with Browseabout. I unfortunately am unable to remember the name of this bookstore, but needless to say this store did not stay open for very long. People from the Rehoboth area say that Browseabout is to them what Barnes & Noble is to us. Other bookstore would not be able to stay in business because everyone already goes to Browseabout for all the books that they need. That other little bookstore reminds me of Willy because they both do not really stand a chance against the bigger guys, sorry to sound harsh. I love Browseabout and I hope no other big bookstores are built in the area because I would like to see Browseabout stay around for a lot longer.
Today finding or even keeping a job is extremely difficult. Several people are experiencing tough times in which several business are going under and several employees are being layed off. Recently someone whom I know was impacted by businesses cutting back on employees. She worked in the billing department at a doctors office and was replaced by an electronic billing system. Today, businesses use these electronic programs because they are less expensive than employing a person on salary. As seen in the film, Willy is very stuck in the past and not with the current times. When he has the conversation with his boss he gets extremely frustrated with his new recording machine. His boss pays more attention to the machine than what Willy has to say. Willy is beat out by the younger salesman and modern times, just as she was replaced by the new technology.
Kym S Green
When I was in grade school my best friends parents both lost their jobs. Both of them worked for Bank of America and were “let go” when the company switched management, as were many others. For the next couple of months her parents were looking for jobs all over the place (not just in Delaware), but they couldn’t find any that suited their needs. Both of them were hardworking and smart but they were fired just because. Eventually they found a job offer in Texas and took it. That summer my friend and her family moved to Texas. For them achieving the American Dream was a process of success, failure, disappointment, and new beginnings. Willy just like my friends parents started out successful, but when things got tough Willy gave up and got lazy while the opposite can be said for my friends parents. From the time they lost their jobs they were searching for new ones. They never gave up and eventually were able to achieve success again. When people think of the American Dream they often think of having a lot of success. But in order to achieve the American Dream sometimes it involves failures and disappointment as well as success. To Willy the American Dream is dead because he gave up and couldn’t work through the hard times. To my friends parents the American Dream is still alive because they were able to over come the hard parts involving failure and disappointment and were able to find success again.
When I was in grade school my best friends parents both lost their jobs. Both of them worked for Bank of America and were “let go” when the company switched management, as were many others. For the next couple of months her parents were looking for jobs all over the place (not just in Delaware), but they couldn’t find any that suited their needs. Both of them were hardworking and smart but they were fired just because. Eventually they found a job offer in Texas and took it. That summer my friend and her family moved to Texas. For them achieving the American Dream was a process of success, failure, disappointment, and new beginnings. Willy just like my friends parents started out successful, but when things got tough Willy gave up and got lazy while the opposite can be said for my friends parents. From the time they lost their jobs they were searching for new ones. They never gave up and eventually were able to achieve success again. When people think of the American Dream they often think of having a lot of success. But in order to achieve the American Dream sometimes it involves failures and disappointment as well as success. To Willy the American Dream is dead because he gave up and couldn’t work through the hard times. To my friends parents the American Dream is still alive because they were able to over come the hard parts involving failure and disappointment and were able to find success again.
D) There is a major company in the United States that everybody is familiar with. This company is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has several thousand stores across the nation that promise lower price guarantees. While this seems like a great thing that would be beneficial to everyone, it is also a great burden. Wal-Mart can guarantee prices so low that there is absolutely no way any small business or mom and pop store could compete. Because Wal-Mart is such a massive corporation, they can make contracts with manufacturers to many more produce goods for a much lower price because the quantity is so great. A smaller business or company cannot do this. A smaller business or company must pay more for the goods that they are selling, therefore making their profits lower, eventually dwindling to zero and putting them out of business. Wal-Mart, on the other hand, has a much higher profit margin, thus giving them the ability to invest in more capital (factories, warehouses, stores, etc.). This system of extremely cheap production of goods has led to more than $447 billion in revenue for Wal-Mart in 2011, a six percent increase from the prior year, and more than $15 billion in profit, leaving the little guy in the dust. This is a classic case of a company benefitting financially at the expense of its lesser opponents.
My story of success is not of an individual but of two. Their names are Shep and Ian Murry, the founders of Vineyard Vines. These two individuals were corporate workers up until 1998. In 1998, the two quit their jobs because they were tired of the corporate lifestyle. So instead of driving into New York City everyday for their jobs, Shep and Ian started making ties. The first ties Shep and Ian made were sold in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. So, similar to Willy, Shep and Ian were businessmen. Yet, Shep and Ian hit success that Willy never saw. The story of Vineyard Vines reminds me of the success Ben had as a salesmen. Shep and Ian have people such as President Obama and President George W. Bush supporting their ties. They also have numerous young college students that support the happy whale logo which Vineyard Vines uses. Currently, Vineyard Vines is a brand comparable to J. Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Tommy Hilfiger. The company shows that the American Dream is “alive and well.” Unlike many of the other clothing manufactures, Vineyard Vines can say all of its products are made in the USA. Maybe if Willy went with Ben to Alaska, their success could be comparable to Vineyard Vines. It would be a very accurate comparison. Shep and Ian are brothers that were tired of their current job so they dropped everything and started a business. Ben was tired of where he was and saw opportunity in Alaska to do business. If only Willy tagged along. They could have had the success Shep and Ian have.
As America has grown up, it has out grown a lot of things. Much like how it out grew people like Willy who sought to achieve success through a good reputation, America out grew the old "Ma & Pa" stores. These family owned stores used to litter America and were how people got their daily goods. However, these stores were popular in a time where everyone knew everyone; this is not true anymore. We live in a world where we could pass thousands of people on the street and not even make eye-contact, much less ask how their day has been. The company known as Wal-Mart has taken advantage of this fast-paced world. Infamously known for appearing in smaller towns and rooting out the small town stores, it doesn't have the greatest reputation. The company is also known for not treating its employees with the greatest respect. The "higher-ups" in the Wal-Mart industry are just being too greedy and gaining too much money from the near suffering of others. Like most of the upper-class, avarice and arrogance is their greatest sin.
A situation I had that hits close to home involving a family member losing their job is my uncle. Last year my uncle lost his job that he had been at for almost thirty years. He was a higher up in the company, and he had almost made a home there. It really was all he knew how to do. But, because of the economy his company was forced to cut an entire section of the plant he worked at, including managers; Which sadly included him. He was devastated. He never let it show (to me at least) but I knew his world had been turned on its side. It took him almost a year to get back on his feet and find another job. The Job he has now has him all the way in New Jersey, when his wife and child are living in Boston. He has been there for almost three months now, living out of a little apartment. His family plans on selling the house in Boston to move up to New Jersey, but no one wants to buy the house. So for now he has to wait in his little apartment, without his wife and kid, and hope that soon his life can get back on track. This relates to Willy in that selling was all he knew, and all he ever did. Once he got fired, he didn't know what to do, or how to do it. Where my uncle and him differ however, is that my uncle knew that he had to get himself back on his feet, no matter how hard it may be because he knew that he had a family back home that relied on that monthly check to put food on the table.
Although newspapers have not yet “out of business” they are easily on their way. With the news coming in more convenient ways such as television newspapers are becoming more outdated everyday. Now when breaking news is available the instant it happens newspapers are obsolete. Yes there are still people who take the time to read the morning newspaper everyday but that tradition is slowly fading away. Newspapers used to be the only way one could get news up until the last 40 years or so when nightly news started to gain popularity. And now with the Internet the whole world is available at the tips of our fingers. In a way, print is going out of style all together. Books can be bought online or on a tablet and notes can be taken on laptops and ipads. Libraries are less needed with so much information available online. Writers can still make the transition from online to print but print overall is on its last leg. As time goes by print and newspapers could significantly decrease with younger generations becoming more and more tech savvy with very little interest in books or newspapers.
In the summer of 2009, my friend’s father lost his job. This was a hardship, as in most cases, not only on the father, but on the entire family. Brendan*, his son, was supportive of his dad in the tough times at the beginning and he, along with the rest of his family, encouraged his father to try to find a job that he loved to do. In situations similar to these, usually it is the person who had lost their job that goes crazy and tries to think of a quick fix and solution. More often than not, it is the person who lost their job that is stressed out for multiple reasons. However in this case, his father found that actually, he enjoyed not working. He did not have a college education and was forced into doing menial labor jobs. After 20 years of working in these types of fields, it was difficult for him to try to find the motivation to pick back up and start again. Although Brendan was supportive of his dad in the beginning, he began to get furious with his father. When the fall of 2011 came, it was time for Brendan to apply to college. Brendan had been at the top of his class all throughout high school and had worked hard at college building resources. However, when it came time to apply, he soon realized his family could not afford to pay the application fees let alone a college tuition. Brendan did not go to college in the fall of 2012. He could not find it in himself to forgive his father for not working harder for him to get a college education. I wish there was a happier ending, however the fall of 2013 is fast approaching, and Brendan is still working in a restaurant saving every penny he can to try to go to college. His father is still “enjoying”
unemployment. In this case, it is the family members who went crazy, not the unemployed person himself.
AnnaN Purple
I have very personal attachments to the idea of someone losing their job. My dad was recently unemployed for over a year and a half. He works as a commercial plumber. He would help build some of the biggest buildings in Wilmington along with countless doctor’s offices, apartment buildings, and restaurants. When the economy went into a recession, the construction business began to do poorly. No one wanted to renovate their buildings or build new, bigger, or better places to have their business. My dad’s company laid off over 50 people, cutting down to the bare minimum. It was hard to see my dad going through such troubles. I can understand why Willy was on edge all the time; he had so many responsibilities and no way of providing for his family. My dad began to lose things like cell phone service and hot water. He was forced to apply for food stamps just to make sure he had food to eat. I used to help him apply for jobs online just so that he could get his name out there so that someone knew he was desperate for any kind of job. I’ll always remember when he got a call from the company he works for now. That was literally the happiest day of my life. When he was unemployed, my dad seemed so depressed with each passing day, but the minute he got the call, it was like he was a whole new person. He is working now and everything is finally going better, but hopefully he will never have to go through anything like that again.
In the play, we see Willy as an old man stuck in the past and unable to adapt to changing times. This is not an uncommon sight especially in todays day and age. It seems as if its hard to keep up with the constantly changing advances in technology. One example is the Polaroid Corporation company. Although this company didn’t go out of business, it was bankrupt at one point before planning a relaunch of the company. The Polaroid Corporation was famous for introducing instant imaging photography with the polaroid camera. However, the age of digital cameras soon came into market and captured consumers everywhere. The Polaroid Corporation failed to adapt to changing times and missed most of the digital imaging age due to mismanagement. In the scene where Willy goes to see Howard about working in New York, Howard is seen playing with his new recording machine. This recording machine goes on to show how outdated Willy is when he accidentally turns the machine on and can’t seem to figure out how to turn it back off. When the digital age came about, consumers everywhere traded in their polaroids for digital cameras. Because the Polaroid corporation couldn’t keep up with the changing times, they had to file for bankruptcy. They underestimated the effect that digital cameras would have on their business. Due to bankruptcy, they ended the production of polaroids and instant film. The opportunity to expand their business from just polaroid to polaroid and digital cameras was available for them to take, however, they failed to take that step and now they don’t even produce polaroid cameras and instant film. Both this company and Willy were not able to adapt to the changing times and almost inevitably cost them both their jobs.
Not many people take the "road less traveled," simply because the success rate for something out of the norm are slim. People fear the failure is imminent if they don't follow the blue print step by step. Myron Rolle created his own path to success when he could have taken the easier route. Rolle is a former NFL defensive back for the Tennessee Titans. He found success on the road that went through the NFL. Playing professional football wasn't his last stop. During his time at Florida State University, Rolle earned his bachelor's degree in exercise science in just two and a half years with a 3.75 grade point average. Not only was he a scholar, but he was also a star on the football field for the Seminoles. In 2008, he earned Associated Press 3rd team All-American honors as well as Football Writers Association America 2nd team All-ACC honors. He had such a good season that Mel Kiper, College Football Draft expert had him going within the first two rounds of the 2009 NFL Draft. Rolle was guaranteed millions in signing bonus if he was drafted, but he postponed playing in the NFL for a year in order to study at Oxford University. His hard work in the classroom earned him the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. He went on to study at St. Edmund Hall on the campus at Oxford University for the 2009-2010 academic school year in order to obtain his MSc in Medical Anthropology. Not many people have the opportunity to study at Oxford. As a matter of fact, only 32 people are selected each year for a Rhodes Scholarship. Many called his decision "dumb" but Rolle knew what he was doing. Football wasn't his true calling, so he went on to be successful doctor.
When it comes to squashing other companies to get ahead, Netflix stands out in my mind. When I was about 8 or 10 years old a trip to the video store: Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, and so on and so forth, was a phenomenal. Every Tuesday when my sister and I went to my dad’s house we would first go out and grab a movie and or video game. My sister would pick a movie, as would my dad, and I would usually pick a game. It was a great time to sit on the couch together and watch the movies and play the games that we brought home and then, come next week, do it all over again. Netflix is quick and easy and allows access to movies that you may not have been able to get at those stores but it’s not the same. Sitting down and using Netflix doesn’t provide the same bonding experience as a trip to the movie store with my dad and sister did. I love how convenient Netflix Is but it makes me feel sorry for the younger children that are growing up with it. Obviously there are other ways to bond with your family but things like going to the movie store are fading away or are already gone. There aren’t as many opportunities to do things with your parents and family. Things now seem too individual and digital. Its quick but it’s impersonal. I don’t think the trade off is worth it.
In the current economy all of America has had to make the hard decision on whether to declare bankruptcy or make cut backs. Though this happens to the whole country it has personally effected my life through my parent’s companys: Computer Science Corp. (CSC) and Bausch & Lomb. In my Dad’s company there were 8 field technicians two years ago. Today after cut backs the number of field technicians is 3 and they have to cover the whole United States. While my dad was lucky enough to make it through the lay offs with his job my mother was not as lucky and was laid off more than a year ago. Luckily she was able to apply for a different department in the same company to become one of two people in the United States in her field. I thank God for the blessings my family has received in the past few years and hope they continue even as the economy continues to decay. By the time I graduate from college I would hope that the economy isn’t as bad as predicted and my children wont have to struggle as bad as the children in the depression and that I can give them everything I had when I was growing up. That being said in my opinion the only way to become as wealthy as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates is to become a self made millionaire/ entrepreneur.
When most people look at janitors, they don't expect much of them. Who would think that they would be successful? Or own a million dollar company that is one of the few successful real estate businesses in Delaware? My mother's boss happens to have done that. From his humble beginnings as a janitor at the University of Delaware, Jay Sonecha, used his keen mind and practical business sense to create Blenheim Homes, a small but very wealthy real estate company that owns numerous neighborhoods, including the one I live in; hotels and office buildings. This was not an overnight success story. It took him years to build his empire, and now at the age of sixty he has a legacy to pass on to his own children, as Blenheim is a family business. While not very well known, as he likes to keep to himself, Jay is a great man, one the world needs more of.
C. Success is defined by happiness, in my opinion. There was a blog post I read on the internet not too long ago about a man who managed to travel the world on less than a $20,000 salary. He would get jobs on cruise liners and when they ship stopped at a destination he wanted to spend time in, he would stop working on the cruise liner. When he was ready to move on, he would find yet another job on a cruise ship. He managed to spend months in countries all over Spain. He spent three years in China and made some money teaching English to students in Chinese schools. He took a risk, but it paid off for him. Now he is able to travel the world, even with limited income.
B. The changes in the times have brought an end to many businesses and there doesn’t seem to be an end to that trend. One particular company that this has happened to is the small business that my dad owned. The Penalty Box: Hockey and Lacrosse Store is a small business that my dad owned and operated for a few years. About ten years ago, the shop was originally managed by someone else and my dad was only an employee; however after working there as an employee my father took over the shop as his own. He was very successful in running the shop and even relocating the shop to a more populated area closer to an area where hockey and lacrosse supplies are more needed. Business continued to run smoothly for a few years and then everything started to slowly decline. The need to hockey supplies and services was starting to decrease as time went on because for some reason the amount of players seemed to be declining. The reasoning behind such a decline is believed to be purely from the popularity of the sport itself. Though hockey is a seasonal sport that would seem to lack in business in the off season, the roller hockey and lacrosse supplies makes up the business in the off season. The real problem was that the sports were losing their popularity and there wasn’t a need for the shop anymore. My dad’s shop closed down because of the change in times, and that change is that with the smaller amount of players you only need to look and shop online to purchase anything you need.
Post a Comment
<< Home