Parent-Child Relationships in a Diverse Society Assignment

Parent-Child Relationships in a Diverse Society - Assignment Example Living with a single parent will influence the growth and behavior of the child as well as the parent-child relationship. In case of a single mother, the responsibility of supporting the child’s growing up needs can result in less time being spent with the child as she might have to work outside the home for longer hours as a result of which the mother might also have some degree of frustration and depression. In case of single fathers, they would have to manage work in order to spend time with the child. When the children begin to live with an independent parent the household chores and other styles of living can undergo a drastic change, and the child would have to adjust to the lifestyle change. Reduced parenting can result in the child being more aggressive, preoccupied, and depressive with a feeling of insecurity and in some cases violent behavior. When such a behavior is left uncorrected the child’s social behavior is also affected leading to an unhealthy lifestyl e (Separation and Divorce, n.d; Divorce Effects on Children, 2008). From the legal point of view, it can be a stressful time for both parents and children while negotiating the custody of the child and divorce settlements. In addition, coping to live with the society can also be a big challenge for all those involved in the divorce. The single status of the parents will most likely make them enter into a new relationship in want of stability. All this could result in lifestyle changes for both the parent and the child (Separation and Divorce, n.d). Thus it is the moral duty of the parent taking custody of the child to ensure that the child has a normal growing environment and the other parent should also show equal responsibility towards the growth of the

American government shutdown Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American government shutdown - Essay Example In the event that the gap of funding stays for a long time, the law requires that some government officials be laid off so as to address the emergency activities and services. During the government fund strain, the projects which are funded by law other than things like the social security are bound to be affected. All the activities that rely on the annual appropriation funds get affected with the decline of the congress to approve the funding of such annual appropriation (United States, 1999). The shutdown may not affect all the segments of the government. However, sometimes it may affect all the government operations depending on what the congress has turned down. For instance, during the time of Carter and Ford’s administration, there were gaps of funding that caused six partial shutdowns that affected only the departments of education, welfare, and labor. This was effective for around 18 days and what was causing the controversy was the federation abortion funding. During the administration of Reagan, there was some nominal shutdown. This was so especially when funding measures were under discussion to take care of government plans and priorities. During the administration of Bush, there was also a shutdown which lasted for a weekend and was resolved later on a Monday morning. During the Clinton administration, there was a shutdown that lasted for between 5 to 21 days due to the United States’ budget deficit. This was the most severe shutdown in the history of America. The massive congressional gain of the conservative was the reason and the cause of this historic shutdown. In 2013, there was yet another government shutdown which was created by a minor conflict of interest. This was caused by the dispute between the proponents and opponents of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which is famously known as the Obamacare. The republicans did this purposefully in the house of senate as well as in the house of representatives to delay the

Beliefs About Good and Evil: Literature Review

Beliefs About Good and Evil: Literature Review Sohila Sandher Maggie Campbell, Johanna Ray Vollhardt, (15 Jul, 2013) Fighting the Good Fight: The Relationship Between Belief in Evil and Support for Violent Policies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Vol. 41. 250-267 Retrieved from: http://psp.sagepub.com/content/41/2/250.full.pdf+html Maggie Campbell and Johanna Ray Vollhartd attempt to address â€Å"which forms of collective action more effectively communicate the illegitimacy of the status quo and the efficacy of a group? What are the factors that shape support for different protest strategies?† The goal of their studie was to â€Å"explore the extent to which violent and non-violent tactics convey a heightened or mitigated sense of illegitimacy and act to build or undermine a sense of group efficacy in the movement.† They also worked to â€Å"consider relationships between the use of violent and non-violent tacts and endorsement of those tacts in future action.† They also explore the existence of amoderator of prcesses, specifically focusing on allegations of corruption against authority. Their study was based on Coal Seam Mining in Australia. The first experiment Campbell and Vollhardt conducted had three different parts. The first part was to test the hypothesis that non-violent protest is more supported than violent protest, and that conventional methods of protest receive less hostility from sympathizers. The second part of the experiment worked to consider how specific collective actions influence sympathizers perceptions of a situation in relation to Coal Seam Mining. The third part meant to connect illegitimacy and efficacy with endorsemet of future violent versus nonviolent actions via meditational analysis. The experiment was carried out on a sample size of 192 people who were recruited through a survey research firm that was looking for Queenslanders over the age of 18 years old. The reason they picked specifically from Queensland is because it is an area that is affected by mining and is witness to ongoing anti-mining protests. Out of the 192 people, 121 were female, 50 were male, and 20 opted not to specify. The average of of participants was 46.67 years and the average Queensland residency was 30.52 years. The experiment was a one-way design that compared the effects of the independent variables of violent protest, non-violent protest, and a no protest control condition on four dependent variables. The four dependent variables were: support for the protest, hostility toward the protestors, and endorsement of non-violent, and extreme methods. The mediator variables were the illegitimacy of the issue and group efficacy about resolving the Gas situation. The procedure included a questionnaire and reading of articles on protests, depending what group the subject was placed under. The results from experiment 1 show the possibility of protest violence being less supported than non-violent protest and that violence creates more hostility towards protestors involved. The experiment also showed that non-violence promotes future non-violence because it â€Å"effectively communicates the illegitimacy of the issue and bolsters the belief that action can be effective.† The experiment concludes that â€Å"adopting violence during a protest is, at best, a waste of time.† Experiment 2 measured the role of corruption in a government system or authority in moderating support for violent and non-violent protest. The experiment found that allegations of corruption have paradoxical effects on perceptions not only on specific events but also on broad social change. The end result of the study is that there is little support for strategic use for violence in protest, but that is important to remember the role of the media and that different political opponents might generate different sympathizing results. Maggie Campbell, Johanna Ray Vollhardt. Fighting the Good Fight The Relationship Between Belief in Evil and Support for Violent Policies. (15 July 2013) Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Vol 40. 16-33 Retrieved: http://psp.sagepub.com/content/40/1/16.full.pdf+html In this article, Campbell and Vollhardt focus on the consequences of using the terms of good and evil to label people and groups and how labels effect the willingness to interact with a person or group in a violent or non-violent manner. The study â€Å"aims to examine the social psychological underpinning of beliefs in good and evil, and investigate mechanisms through which these beliefs legitimize violence against those viewed as evil adversaries.† They also acknowledge that there are different levels at which people acknowledge evil; that there is no â€Å"true evil† and â€Å"true good†. The research done by Campbell and Vollhardt suggests that the individual’s definition of good and even might predict negative intergroup attitude and support for violence towards perceived enemies. They worked towards developing measures that asses individual differences in believes about good in evil â€Å"reliably and separately, as a construct in it’s own ri ght.† They used four different studies to analyze how the labels of good and evil work. The goal of the first study was to provide an initial empirical investigation of beliefs regarding good and evil, and endorsement of redemptive violence. The expectation was that beliefs on good and evil and the support of redemptive violence would predict more support for violent intergroup outcomes as compared to support for nonviolent outcomes. Campbell and Vollhardt hypothesized that there would be â€Å"an indirect effect of belief in evil on intergroup policy preferences†. For this study they collected data from 349 participants living in the United States, the majority of which being European Americans. 41% of the group identified with a religious group, while 58% of the group had at least a 4-year college degree. The study was conducted online, with participants coming in from Facebook, Craigslist and, listservs. Good and evil, endorsement of redemptive violence, measures of support for violent vs. nonviolent policies, and control variables were all measured on a seven point scale. This measure ended up mainly catching a belief in evil. Study 2 was meant to strengthen the measures on belief in good. Study 2 was based on an exploratory question of whether the belief in good or if a belief in a dichotomy would present itself. The study was conducted much in the same manner as study 1. The conclusion was that belief in good predicted two nonviolent outcomes, and that participants who believed in good viewed themselves as part of the non violent categories they supported. Study 3A and 3B were conducted to test if a belief in evil predicts support for violent policies when effects of other cognitive processes are controlled and also established the social psychological constructs that predicted such attitudes. These studies were also conducted online. Studies 3A and 3B provide us with empirical evidence to the argument that belief in evil in conceptually different from previously studied constructs, and that it also has a predictive power that can help explain support for violent policies. This study showed the importance in looking at the beliefs in good and evil to understand attitudes towards violent or nonviolent policies in intergroup conflict. There is a promise of real world implication with this study. Thomas Talhem, Jonathan Haidt, Shigehiro Oishi, Xuemin Zhang, Felicity F. Miao, Shimin Chen. Liberals Think More Analytically (More â€Å"WEIRD†) Than Conservatives. (17 Nov 2014 ) Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Vol 41. 250-267 Retrieved: http://psp.sagepub.com/content/41/2/250.full.pdf+html This study is designed to test whether liberals and conservatives legitimately think about the world as if they were form different cultures because of differences in the ways they process the same set of facts. They play with the idea of temporarily changing peoples cultural thought and thereby changing political opinions. They use the term WEIRD as a category. WEIRD stands for the portion of the population that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. The researchers of this study argue that the liberals that fall within WEIRD are a even more remote part of the population. WEIRD people are considered outliers because they score analytically on measures of thought and perception as compared to the rest who think ore holistically or intuitively. They present the hypothesis that liberals think more analytically because liberal culture is more individualistic, with priority for individual identity instead of group. The study uses four reports that tie the relationship of politics to holistic-analytic thought. The first study brings cultural thought measure into political psychology, the second distinguishes social and economic politics, the third measures thought style with cognitive tests instead of self-report scales, and the fourth tests whether thought type causes political opinions by briefly changing people’s thought styles and then measuring their political opinion. The samples were US college subjects that naturally control for age and education, large internet samples to cover diverse demographic groups and allow for control of more demographic variables, and a sample from China that has a different political climate as compared to the United States. The first study used a triad task, and a framed-line task. These tasks were administered to the group of college studies and measured on a scale from 1 to 7. They found that social liberals had a more ‘Western’, analytic, cognitive, and perceptual style than their conservative American classmates. The socially conservative students were more relational, cognitive, and perceptual. Their styles of thinking were more ‘East Asian’. The researchers claim that study 1 add to evidence that there are cultural differences in cognition between people in the same nation. The second study was similar to the first, but it was ran on a large Internet group instead of one university campus. It replaced the information from study1 because it was a larger sample size. Study three used date on cultural differences between students in Northern and Southern China. It was a replication of the findings in the first two studies. An important difference was that the relationship between social politics and thought was only found in more developed areas. It did find that this is not just an American phenomenon. Study four looked at if thought style causes people to be liberal or conservative. Study 4 provided the first evidence of cultural thought style causing attitudes toward political opinions that were presented in a long-form article. The different samples gives researchers some evidence that the relationship between politics and thought is not only of one particular culture. Running Out of Nurses: Nursing Shortages in the Middle East Running Out of Nurses: Nursing Shortages in the Middle East Introduction Nursing is a challenged and dynamic profession. Struggles and challenges have accompanied the development of nursing profession through the previous decades. Although nursing was started with unorganized and weakly defined beginning, our sisters and brothers didnà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t stop until nursing become respectful and recognized profession. Now in the twenty-first century, the most challengeable problem is nursing shortage which is considered a public concern because of its massive effect on the quality of care and on patient health and safety. The first nurse Nightingales concept was cause no harm to patients. This was the foundation for the scope of practice for nurses. Any obstacles that may result in threaten patient safety should not be ignored. (Cherry Jacob, 2002). Nursing shortage is an issue where the required number of nurses is much more than the supply. Nursing shortage has been reported as crisis due to its seriousness. In the moment of speaking there are 200000 vacant nursing positions worldwide and it is predicted to increase to one million or even more by 2020. 85% of hospitals have expressed concerns about nursing shortage and half of them have difficulties retaining and recruiting nurses. Moreover, the turnover rate among nurses is continuously rising. Recently it has reached 40% in some hospitals nationwide (Albro, 2008). This assignment has been done as a requirement for contemporary nursing course; it will discuss the history, reasons and impact of nursing shortage. Explore the issue of recruiting foreign nurses and the issue of nursing shortage in the Middle East. History Experiencing shortage of nursing had started long time ago. Opening the first school in nursing in the US was the result of difficulty in finding adequate number and trained nurses to hand round in Civil war. After World War 2 the medical services that were provided had significantly changed resulting in huge increase in the number of hospitals and creating special care unit which generate the need for more nurses to serve. That time educational centres for nursing start to appear to educate and train nurses in order to overcome the shortage of nurses. Now the evidence shows that all countries worldwide suffer from nursing shortage and it is an international concern which needs to be highlighted and managed as soon as possible (Andrews Dziegielewski, 2005). Contributing Factors In 1980s it was easy to identify the reasons behind nursing shortage: increase the number of hospitals, length of hospital stay and aging population. Although these reasons are true, this is not the whole picture. It is more complex than that Age Nursing has experienced highest registering rate in 1960s-1970s. Because of new job opportunities opened in 1980s-1990s, smaller number of women registered. As a result of that, the average age of RN nowadays is 45 or more. Most of the middle aged nurses will reach retirement age between 2005-2010 (Abualrub, 2005). Nursing image Over the years nurses have developed concerns about their image in the society. Nursing has been differently described within the population as saints or sinner, admire or ignore, powerless or powerful. Can we say nursing shortage result from nursing image or nursing image result from nursing shortage? These two are highly related. Above that the education preparation for nurses differ 2 years associate degree, 3 years diploma and 4 years baccalaureate. These levels of education have made people not value nursing as a profession. Having a bachelor degree isnt necessary when you can be qualified to work after 3 or 2 years. This leads to discourage people to enter nursing and undervalue it (Daly, Speedy Jackson, 2003). Job satisfaction The reasons why nurses have the intention to leave nursing the career and why the turnover rate is increasing is mainly due to job dissatisfaction. Common reasons nationwide are over load, schedule changes, lack of appreciation and less family time. The nursing field doesnt offer the chance for frustrated nurses to speak out and this nourishes the dissatisfaction feeling. Lack of satisfaction makes nursing not an attractive profession for young people. More than 50% of working nurses will not advice their children or sisters to enter nursing (Diana, 2005). Faculty shortage Linda, Clarke Silber (2003) did a study that showed a strong relation between nursing education and patient mortality rate. Education plays a role in providing high quality care. 19% is the mortality rate in hospitals that have 60% of nurses with bachelor degree where it is higher in hospitals with only 20% nurses having bachelor. Lack of nursing faculty that provide proper education for the demand of bachelor graduating nurses directly affect the nursing shortage leading to directly affect patient safety. Nursing institutions witness an increase of registration, American Association of Colleges of nursing state that 13% increase of enrolment rate between 2004-2005. This increase needs an increase in nursing schools and clinical settings to educate these students. If there is not enough nursing faculty the condition will be worse. According to AACN 2005 nursing schools have rejected 41683 qualified applications. The main reason was having not enough nursing faculty, clinical areas and preceptors to educate this number of students (Allen, 2008). Implication of Shortage No doubt nursing shortage will have a negative impact on health care system. Nursing shortage forces hospitals to impose mandatory and unsafe overtime on nurses, increase responsibilities and workload and create floating nurse. All these contribute to job dissatisfaction and decrease quality care (Goodin, 2003). On patient Linda, Clarke Silber (2003) conducted study to show the relation between nurse work load and mortality rate. 50% of hospitals worldwide have 5:1 patient to nurse ratio. The study shows if the ratio is 6:1 or more, the risk for patient death will be 14%. If it is more than 8, the risk will be 31%. The number of medical errors is rising in a dangerous rate. One of the associated factors is nursing shortage. Study done by health resources and services shows a strong relation between number of staff and medication errors. These errors may have undesirable effect on patient health (Goodin, 2003) On nurses Not enough staff intensifies the level of stress of nurses. Overtimes, increase responsibilities and emotional stress promotes increase staff absenteeism, impair decision making ability and increase level of turnover. More than 75% of RNs believe that their job quality delivered to patient is strongly affected by the shortage. Three from four nurses feel is frustrating, discouraging and disappointment when you unable to provide proper nursing care, just because of there is not enough nurses in the floor. (Revira, 2009). Shortage remedy As a remedy for nursing shortage health care societies have started to hire foreign nurses. Phenomena of hiring foreign nurses has been introduced and practiced for almost 50 years (Leavitt, Mason chaffee, 2007). Recruiting foreign nurses is specifically problematic as a technique to resolve this shortage simply for two reasons. First, the shortage is global issue; means the country which sent her nurses abroad intensified the shortage within its health care system. Second, hiring foreign nurses cost much more than hiring home graduate. This related to the coast of recruiting and training them into the organization (Cherry Jacob, 2002). . Recruitment and retaining RNs Nursing associations are constantly working in order to recruit nurses as much as they can. Recruitment strategies should focus on attracting young nurses. Efforts should be maximized to spread the awareness among school aged students in order to make them consider nursing as a career or a profession (Yoho, Timpanaro Fowler, 2006).. Retention of professional nurses have helped the organization to overcome the shortage. To retain experienced nurses organizations should consider staff needs, In response to that, magnet hospitals were created. Hospitals which they focus in developing proper retention strategies, mainly by enhance nurses autonomy and support decision making ability. Magnet program aim to increase job satisfaction, decrease turnover and promote encouraging environment. Now magnet considered the most effective programme in US for retaining and recruiting nurses ( Valerie, Dreachslin, 2007) Nursing shortage in the Arab world The image of nursing as a profession in the Arab world is significantly improving. The status of nursing will be addressed from three dimensions: practice, education and image. Nursing education in the Arab world causes a lot of confusion due to the different educational levels. The minimum accepted educational degrees to enter the profession can be associated degree (2 years) or diploma degree (3 years) while in the US the bachelor is the minimum accepted degree. Moreover, some countries dont offer bachelor degree where other countries have recently started bachelor program like UAE. Arab world also tend to recruit foreign nurses especially gulf countries to overcome the shortage. Nursing image plays a big role in promoting the shortage in the Arab world. Most of the population doesnt prefer their sisters or daughters to choose nursing as a profession (Shukri, 2005). Conclusion Nursing shortage is an international problem which needs to be solved urgently. All the reasons and impacts of nursing shortage are now internationally known and it cant be ignored any more. There are many reasons that could lead to this problem, few of them were addressed: Age, nursing image, job satisfaction and faculty shortage. Leaders of nursing in practice and in academia should work to gather to develops plans enhance the growth of nursing staff. Impacts of nursing shortage cant be denied because it has a dangerous effect on patients health and on nurses. The practice of hiring foreign nurses doesnt help in solving nursing shortage. Recruiting and retaining strategies should be carefully studied in order to increase the number of working nurses. The shortage in the Arab world is a noticeable problem in which a lot of efforts need to be done in many areas to overcome this shortage.

Tom Green Vs. Cheech Maron :: essays research papers

Tom Green is the type of guy who probably got kicked out of class all the time. Teachers, Principal, and administrators knew his name. The guy who was never taken seriously.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tom Green is a male Stefanie. The reason being, in comparison, both are hyper, crazy, and love to make other laugh and just straight out have a good time. Tom is guaranteed to make people laugh and take his show to the extreme. From particle jokes to crazy pranks pulled, to candid cameras and cruel humor. ( clean humor) No one is hurt while the camera is rolling, with the exception of Tom. a good time   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Little Rascals is a kind of movie that has a cute humor to me. In the movie, it’s based on young kids, between the ages of 6 and 8 years old, who try and accomplish deeds that great of adults. There always getting held back one way or another. For example, when Alfalfa tries to be romantic with Darla, the gang always seems to catch him in the act. So the gang gives him consequences since their club is the â€Å"he man women haters†, so his punishment was to sleep at the club house that was burned down to a crisp, out in a storm, and had to watch it. Thinking there were monsters, and bum’s out there to get him, unable to sleep, all for the love of Darla. Another situation would be when Buckwheat was sent to call the fire department for when the club house was burnt down, and when he finally went to the phone booth, he didn’t’ know the number, and questioned â€Å"what’s the number for 911?† And left..   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I’m pretty† is a song that is from T.L.C’s latest release. The song talks about, Society, how it has changed and how girls will do any type of reconstruction to their body just to look â€Å"better†. This topic really opens peoples eyes in the song. As you listen to it, you will finally/if not already notice how todays women are doing any type of surgery for some attention, and â€Å"love† from another. If you look good, you will be accepted in society, for being so pretty. But the pretty really counts inside if you think about it. To some it is all about what size of bust, waist, or hips you got, wheter you got it â€Å"going on† or not. This topic is really effecting teens in todays world. Stereotyping the look is what it’s all about. Sadly it is true, but I feel the song will help others notice what is really up

Captains Log

We arrived two days ago on this island from Telepyus, Land of the Laestrygonians with heavy hearts, grieving for the loss of our dear comrades. In our sorrow we lay on the shore for two days and two nights, wailing and crying at the pain and anguish we felt for our lost companions. But now I feel that I have to move for the sake of my remaining crew, otherwise I believe we will stay here forever, wallowing in our grief. I am going to leave the men here while set off alone to explore, it would be pointless trying to make the men move now. Half of the crew and myself are now sat on the beach, awaiting the return of the other half of the crew. After my last entry I set off and came to a rocky height and as I became close to the top of it I could see a cloud of reddish smoke rising, as I got closer and closer to the top I saw that it was coming from the chimney of a house in the distance. I was unsure of how I felt at the sight, I was left in two minds, whether to press on forwards and investigate or not. After some deep thought I made the decision n to go back to the shore and try to find some food on the way, the welfare of my men must come first, I would then split the men in to two halves and leave half on the shore and the I would send the other half to explore the island I think that it is best to only let half go incase of any danger, that way if any crew are lost it will only be half or less. I cannot risk loosing any more crew after what happened with Antiphates and the Cyclops. On my way back the Gods must have been in my favour because I came across I stag, which I managed to kill and although it was a brute of a thing I could just manage to put it over my shoulder and drag it back to the shore where I greeted my men warmly and we ate the meal. The meal did seem to boost their morale, which is what I had hoped; I hoped that it might encourage them that we were going to be fine. After we ate we slept and this morning half of the men set off to explore led by Eurylochus. Eurylochus returned alone, claiming that the rest of the men were turned into pigs by a witch named Circe. He told me that when he and his men had reached the Palace of Circe they had heard a beautiful voice singing while working on a loom, one man had said that whoever was inside must have been either a Goddess or woman, she called out to them and invited them inside. But Eurylochus, being a very suspicious man, suspected a trap and did not go in, so Polites led the men and in their innocence they followed him inside. Then he told me that the men had been fed and given drinks of yellow honey with Pramnian wine which she tipped with a noxious drug. The men were then herded into a pigsty and fed acorns and forest nuts, they grunted like pigs but their minds were as human as before, but with no memory of their native land because of the drug. After hearing this news I threw my sword in its silver scabbard over my shoulder and grabbed my bow and told Eurylochus to take me back with him by the same way he had come. But he threw his arms around my knees and begged me to let him stay where he was, so I let him stay because if I had pursued my order, it may have caused a mutiny because he would have disobeyed my order making me look like a bad leader, or and the rest of the crew may have been swayed to the point of view that I had bad judgement , after all my judgement wasn't always perfect, I hadn't been very cautious where the Cyclopes and Laestrygonians had been concerned and perhaps it may have been better if I had have been. So I let him stay and kept up a better image rather than risk looking unkind and uncompassionate. But although Eurylochus will no be coming with me I still have to go on because I cannot loose any more men, so I am going on alone to retrieve my comrades, I'll set off now. I have just returned back to the beach after my encounter with Circe. Soon after leaving the shore I was surprised to meet up with Hermes, who told me that I should eat a special herb called Moly which would stop Circe's powers affecting me. He then instructed me to go on to the palace and accept Circe's offerings, but when she strikes me with her stick I should rush at her with intent to kill her and she will beg for me to go to her bed. He said that if I slept with her she might rob me of my courage and manhood so I should get her to swear an oath before hand so that she wouldn't, and that after I had been in bed with her she would let my men go. I ate the herb and then went on to the palace and when I got outside I called to her and she let me in and fed me and then she offered me a goblet of yellow looking honeyed wine, but I knew that it was drugged, and just like Hermes had told me I drank it and it had no effect thanks to the Moly. Next she hit me with her stick and shouted â€Å"Off to the pigsty and lie down with your friends†, so I snatched up my sword and rushed at her as if I meant to kill her, she slipped beneath my blade, grabbed my knees and burst into tears. She then asked me who I was and where I came from but before I could answer she said that I must be Odysseus because Hermes had once told her that a man named Odysseus would come to her palace and suffer no effects from her drug. She then asked me to join her in her bed and get to trust each other. I could not deny a Goddess, and it was for the sake of my crew, Hermes had told me to accept this offer and although I could not help but think about my wife in Ithaca I knew that to get back home to her I would have to sleep with Circe, so I followed her to her bed, but not before getting her to swear a solemn oath that while they were in bed she should not rob me of my courage and manhood. After I had slept with Circe she told me to return to the shore and collect my men and bring them back to the palace so she could offer them food, drink and fresh clothes, and she let the men out of the sty and turned them back. I got to the shore and told my men the good news, that their friends were now human again and that we all had a feast waiting for us at Circe's palace. But Eurylochus did not take this as good news; he told the men not to trust me and said that I had almost cost them their lives before and that it was my fault we had lost so many men before as it was me who always led the men into danger, like when I made the men go into the Cyclops cave and stay there, and when I lost the men on the Land of the Laestrygonians. I was so enraged by his defiant outburst I considered drawing my sword and lopping his head off there and then but my men held me back and calmed me down. They said that they would come with me and Eurylochus could stay with the ship if he didn't want to come, however he came anyway, if only through fear but we all knew that he was terrified of Circe's Palace too. So now we are all going ahead to Circe's Palace, although my blood is still boiling over what Eurylochus said. I have just had the most difficult day of my journey so far, for after I collected my men and took them to the Palace of Circe, after some persuasion we when to the Palace where the two partied of men met and cried in joy at the sight of each other and we stayed there and ate and drank and bathed and rested for a whole year. It was so relieving to be able to rest and relax that I didn't realise that we'd stayed that long, until the men came to me today and reminded me that we should be on our way because they wanted to get home. I felt like a bad leader for getting so engrossed with this lifestyle that I forgot about their feelings and the time. We feasted for the rest of the day and then as night fell I went to Circe and clasped her knees in supplication and I told her what I felt and how the men felt and asked her to keep the promise she had once made me about sending me home. That is when she told me this dreadful news; to get home I must first go down to the underworld, into the Halls of Hades and consult the soul of Teiresias, who was the only person who could tell me the way home. These terrible words struck me hard and my heart sank, I felt like I had no more reasons for living. But If I ever wanted to return home I had to do this, it was heart breaking but it had to be done. What would be worse was that I would have to tell the crew. I found out from Circe that I would have to set up my mast and wait for the north wind to blow my ship on its way, she said I would come to a wild coast and Persephone's Grove, I should go to the specific place she stated then dig a trench as long and wide as a mans forearm, I should go round the trench and pour offerings to the dead and after that I should sprinkle white barley and begin my prayers and make Teiresias a separate offering of a the finest jet black sheep of my flock. Then there would be more sacrifices of a ewe and ram and pray some more until I would be able to talk to Teiresias who could give me a route home. As if this news hadn't been hard enough I now had to tell my comrades the same thing and get them to agree. Then one of the younger men who had gotten drunk last night herd me calling the men to wake up and he leapt up and fell off the roof and broke his neck and went straight to Hades. Then I broke the news to the men, it was so had to tell them but I had to do it or we will never be able to return to our beloved homes. When I told them they were broken hearted and deeply upset and Circe put the animals for the sacrifice on the ship for me. The men have agreed to go on the next step of our journey home; I just hope that we will prevail.

External factors affecting the fast food industry Essay

There are a number of external factors that have a deep impact on the sales and revenue earnings of the fast food chains. The changing demographics, shift in consumer taste and preference, eating habits, increase in cost of supplies and labor, economic condition of the geographical area in which the outlets are located – all these are some of the factors that affect the profitability of the business. Pricing strategy Families and individuals in the higher income group are most frequent visitors to the fast food restaurant. The disposable income plays an important role in determining consumerism in this sector. The prices on the menu card is not so important when it comes to catering to high disposable income group. But that restricts the customer base and may not be an ideal situation for the company. Today’s lifestyle has incorporated the fast food industry into its daily schedule. The Wendy’s or the McDonald’s have menu cards that suit the pocket of the low-income segment group too. Recently McDonald’s had introduced the Dollar Menu where all items cost $1 only. It was a runaway hit with the teenagers and youngsters. The variance in price has enabled McDonald’s to attract customers from all segments. In response to this pricing strategy Wendy’s and Burger King also introduced low priced meals to suit the pocket of all segments. Back Yard Burgers on the other hand have higher priced burgers at $3. 59. The premium priced menu card has not found acceptance with all consumer segments but the management does not want to compromise on the price of the products. It believes that in terms of quality of the food items the prices are reasonable. Back Yard Burgers wanted to distinguish itself from the cutthroat competition in the industry with premium quality products. The management strategy holds good in terms of quality and service but is it good enough for the survival of the company? A look at the sales figures for the past 3 years gives an indication of the sales and revenue trend. Consumer taste and preference The ever changing taste buds and increasing changes in lifestyle of the consumer has kept the fast food industry on their toes. Rising mobility, increasing number of women joining the workforce and hectic schedules leave very little time for a home cooked meal. The need for faster options in food and service was felt that led to the tremendous growth in the fast food industry. Quick serve burgers, pizzas and sandwiches accompanied by French fries and coke became the ideal meal for the average Americans. A diet rich in fat and sugar attracted the consumers in plenty. This resulted in obesity and a disease prone society. Diabetes, heart problems were some of the impacts that the cheesy diet had on the consumers. Lawsuits were filed against some major players in this field like McDonalds for the growing obesity among children and adolescents. This awakened the consumers of fast food and they realized the necessity for healthy alternatives. Health conscious consumers are more alert of what they eat and how it can affect them. The industry witnessed a radical change in consumer taste and preference. This brought about a sharp decline in revenues for the fast food industry. The fast food chain operators brought about a change in their strategy by adding salads, fruits, and soups to the menu cards. Low calorie burgers and sandwiches are offered in addition to the regular menu items. This offers the customers with choice to healthier meal options. Back Yard Burgers has also adapted to the changing consumer preference by adding nutritious salads and milkshakes to their menu card. Introduction of grilled charbroiled burgers that claim lesser fat and lower calories have attracted the consumer interest and taste. Healthier and tastier alternatives in food items prepared with fresh ingredients are the strategic point of Back Yard Burger’s customer service. This has not only earned it a good reputation among the loyal consumers who return for more of the great quality food and taste but has also strengthened its market position. But the fast food industry cannot ensure consumer loyalty since the interest of consumers is flickering. They always want to try something new and better variety of options in food that they consume. To serve the changing tastes of the consumer and maintain their interest the restaurant needs to constantly make changes to its menu card by adapting to their taste buds. Back Yard Burgers should keep this mind while formulating their operating strategy. With more fast food companies offering a wide range of products and services, Back Yard Burgers should also draft changes to its existing operating structure. One way of achieving this objective would be to combine the essential features of both fast food and full service restaurants. A menu card that features in a regular full service restaurant integrated with fast food service will work wonders for the company – boosting sales and revenue with an increasing consumer base. Event catering and home delivery service could also open newer avenues for the company.