What is value?

What Do You Value?

 Everyday our lives are jam packed with things to do and places to go. Everyone is in a rush, either to get to work on time or to catch the school bus. Living in a world where it seems like everyone and everything is so fast paced, how much do we think about what is valuable to us? We now have so much technology to make our lives be so much easier, things that our parents never had while they were growing up. People waiting for hours in a line to get that new iPhone or iPod touch. People can have the internet in the palm of their hand and use it pretty much anywhere and anytime they want when they want as long as you have WiFi  How many times in the course of a day, in a week do you think about what is valuable to you? Is what you find valuable an item or a moment?

 I see it advertised whenever I am watching tv, I get emails about it from Apple. I hear about it being totally redone to make it be an even better phone. How the phone is thinner, how it has 4G and even new ear buds so you can listen to your music and have fantastic sound. It is the iPhone 5. I had always wanted an iPhone ever since seventh grade. I love listening to music and I thought it would be so great to have it on my phone so I don’t have to carry an iPod and my cell phone around with me( hopefully so that I have one less thing to lose). At the end of eighth grade, my mom and I were both seriously considering getting one. My mom told me I should wait since Apple usually has a new iPhone come out about once a year in the fall. I went home and looked up the iPhone 5 on my computer and I saw that it was set to be released in September. After learning about some of the “bugs” with the previous iPhones I hoped that this one would be a great one and could eventually be mine.

 The day came, the day the marvelous iPhone 5 was released. I looked up all of the reviews on my computer and heard pretty much positive reviews. My mom and I finally decided that the iPhone 5 would be the phone that I could get. I was so excited, after all of these years of saving and hoping to get it, I would finally get one. the day came in the middle of November. The anticipation escalating as we drove to the Verizon store, in the middle of the day. I walked into the store, signed in and walked around waiting to be called on. After about five to ten minutes it was our turn.I saw the woman come out and ask what phone I wanted and I had to contain my excitement from jumping up and down. I said calmly, the iPhone 5. The lady said okay and asked what color I wanted, I said black. I picked out a case, one with the most protection, because I know my poor phone will end up getting dropped by me. Finally it was purchased and the phone was mine. I was so happy and I couldn't wait to get my music on it and download some apps (specifically temple run).

 Now that I have owned the phone for a couple months I use it all the time. I use it when I get to school in the morning. My bus gets to school before 7 am and sometimes the wait for school to start can seem like it will take forever so having music that I love makes it all go by faster. I also use my phone when I am commuting back and forth from my parent’s houses. My Dad lives two hours away, in a town that is close to Boston. I use my phone for almost the whole two hour drive which makes everything go by so much faster. I love my iPhone and I really enjoy what I can do with it.

Although I value my iPhone I also value my  Friday and Saturday nights are the best nights of my whole entire week. I look forward to them as I trudge through the sometimes very long week. I love to stay up late, and I really hate to go to bed early ( not to mention wake up early). On Friday and Saturday nights I feel like I can relax, and that I don’t have to do anything. I know that everything is done for the day and nothing needs to be done urgently. I turn on the TV  load one of my many movies into the tray and wait to press play. I put the headphones on so I don’t wake anyone up with the sound of the movie and begin to relax. Some nights I don’t end up watching a movie, I end up watching music videos off of on demand for hours. I sit in my chair, and watch my dogs sleep soundly. Sometimes even my cat decides to join me in relaxing.Every once in awhile my dogs wake up for a little while , but usually fall back asleep pretty quickly. Around 2:30 or 3 am I begin to shutdown my TV and head up to bed.

 My iPhone 5 and my Friday and Saturday nights are similar to each other. They both provide entertainment for me. My iPhone provides it through music and surfing the internet. My Friday and Saturday nights provide entertainment when I am watching movies. The one thing that my Friday and Saturday nights provide for me, that my iPhone doesn't is true relaxation. I enjoy listening to my music, but the places I listen to it in, I don’t feel like I can fully relax. Probably because the day isn’t close to nearing an end and it feels like there are still so many things that I have to do before the day is over. I value both my iPhone and my Friday and Saturday nights. On days where I just feel very stressed I really appreciate my Friday and Saturday nights. During my day though, I really appreciate the convenience of having my little source of entertainment in the palm of my hand.I love how fast the phone is and especially the internet speed. In my life these are some of the things that I truly value you the most.

Matt Alacran editorial: Why Do We Not Accept People Who Are Not Like Us?

Why do we not accept people who are not like us? As you go about your everyday life, do you ever notice how many people don’t accept people because they are not like us? I am a clone, I am the clone of the drug lord El Patron, who used to be the great ruler of the country Opium. I’m sure that many of you have heard all of the stories about Opium, how people who don’t do what El Patron wants become Eejits. Basically they are zombies except that they are alive and have a chip controlling their brain. If you don’t tell them when to eat or drink they won’t, they’ll die. During my time living on the Alacran estate I had my fair share of not being accepted by the many people who lived and worked their. I remember the day as if it was yesterday. When I was little, I used to live in this small house with a very kind woman named Celia. She took care of me everyday and told me she worked at a house for a rich family. One of the days when she was at work and I was home alone, I saw children from outside our house. This was the first time that I had seen anyone other than Celia. I was curious and wanted to go out to meet them, instead when I tried to get out, I hurt myself really badly and had to be brought to the big house. There I found out that I was a clone, I had “property of Alacran Estate” printed on my foot. As soon as they found out everyone immediately did not accept me. First I was thrown out onto the front lawn and was only brought in when the doctor said I need to be treated by him. The doctor was not a nice man and I disliked him deeply. I was put under the care of Rosa ( another employee at the Alacran Estate). She was a very bitter and mean lady, I was treated like an animal. I was thrown into a room with a dirt floor and I had to go to the bathroom on newspaper. When El Patron came and saw how I was being treated he stopped it all. I was able to have a life, I was assigned one of his bodyguards. His name was Tam Lin and he took very good care of me.Tam Lin treated me like I was a true human being. Iwas taught many things and I excelled at music. El Patron used to have me sing to him. Truly only Celia, Tam Lin, Maria ( one of El Patron’s grandchildren) and El Patron treated me well. People would avoid me, I snuck around the house and enjoyed watching and listening to Felicia play the piano. I remember how on Emilia and Steven’s wedding I was not invited and not allowed to be seen. All of my life I have not been accepted by other people. I am a clone, but I am also a boy, a human boy. No one else could tell that I was a clone except for the mark on my foot. I just don’t understand why people won’t accept someone who is different. Every human is different from one another. People have different hair colors, eye colors, heights, personalities. People have different talents whether it is music, art, writing, etc. Everyone likes different kinds of foods, some people love pizza, others hate it. Some people love chinese food, mexican food. What is it about someone who is a clone that makes everyone hate them. We are the clones of another human being. We grow, mature, and have skills. I was different from El Patron in that I had a talent for music. I am not an evil person who makes others live in misery. My point, my reason for writing this column is to tell people to accept people who are not like us. I have shared my experience of growing up in a place, a world where I was not accepted by most people. I hope this convinces you to accept other people who are different than us. Give someone a chance, get to know them. They might be someone who is worth getting to know and becoming your friend. Sincerely, Matt Alacran