Employment relationship Essay Example for Free

Employment relationship Essay Unitarism is a process assumes that everyone in an organization is a member of a team with a common purpose representing the goals and policies of a company. The Unitarism has a univocal concept for every individual associated with the company right from managers to lower-level employees, should share the same objectives and work together for a common gain. The various staff levels involved in the company from the unions, the relationship managers and the top line management was actively leveraged for an equal representation through all levels. The groups were accepted only as a part of the reflecting loyalty. The managers were the two way communicators between the workers to the management. The management or the ownership was not allowed to force the loyalty factors. The free market orientation introduced by Margaret Thatcher has elevated the roles of the three levels of the employee relationship. The team representation of various levels have had shifted to more personal attention. The equal employee group representation in a company gradually diminished with management focusing on the individual excellence. The relationship manager who acted as a mediator lost his significance with new profile evolved at the same level of designation. Initially in the early 80’s the personal management scenario was not well defined and without any confined objectives. The personal management system has lot of unanswered concerns like tuning up of the individual performance management concerns with their respective team performance levels. The personal management was general and it was not customized according to the functional and industry specifications to make the personal management more effective. The main concern of Unitarism is, the organization is more inclined towards the organization goals and objectives and may not concentrate on the personal career aspects. The employee may not find it comfortable to tune up the organization goals with his personal individual goals. Pluralism: The pluralism provides freedom to tune up the individuals career goals with the organizational goals. The organization values the employees feedback and encourages the employees to be a part of the decision making process. Every level of the employees has the right to sound his voice in the organization. The employees were thus made responsible to the organization’s performance and profitability. The managers have to play a versatile role in motivating and teaming up the employees. The decision making process can be complex as different brains focus on the concerns and there would be possibility of not arriving at concrete decision The influence of the unions, governing bodies will be more on the management. The influence can swing in both the extremes resulting in the profitability or decisions in favor of a particular sector. Marxism: The Marxism refers the labourers’ welfare and representing their concerns. The low level working class is the prime resource and the Marxism exerts more pressure on upliftment of the working class. The working class was prime resource of production which uses the resources for the prosperity of the organization. The Marxist theories strongly condemn the gap between the operating cost incurred and the profits incurred on the products. The dominance of the top level management and ownership is not accepted. The ownership making considerable profits is not accepted are forced to carry the gains for the benefits of the working class. The modern development has decreased the involvement of the manual labour with the advent of machinery to push the productivity index to a considerable extent. The employee job responsibilities were handled by the machines with the artificial intelligence which in turn does not enhance the skill sets of the working class. The employees at some point of time may perceive the same job profile as monotonous and may loose the expertise. The ownership may start ignoring the skills sets of the workers which in turn lead to termination of labourers. The capitalist dominance was widely disregarded in the later half of the 19th century and many experts has drawn various implications on reformatting the Marxist principles to suite the modern challenges. Among them include Rubery, Braveman, Littler and Paul Edwards, who presented various directions of the labor and employee relations. The main implications drawn by these experts revolve around enhancing the employee relations by activily considering processes like: By Elevating the conflicting raising issues and initiating extra circular efforts like incentives, games and recreation that sooth the workers pressure(Burawoy). The Burawoy definition was vital part of the human resource management in many companies in the today to make the employee feel that the company cares the resources in may other ways. †¢ Bridging the gap between the ownership control and the workers resistance for a mutual profitable accord †¢ A more robust job design keeping on view of the employee growth accepts with equal representation of the control leading to a satisfactory employee relationship(Littler). The management has to tune up the workers with abilities required for the productions(Rubery). The experts have had strongly disregarded the employee coherent methodology with asserting more on mutually acceptable strategies for sustainable business and economic growth. The contemporary organization were now-a-days more proactive in providing the employees with more freedom and flexibility to retain them. The compensatory systems were broadened with more virtual incentives along with salaries wooing the employees to stick to the organizations.

Alzheimers Disease :: Alzheimers Disease Essays

Alzheimer's Disease Introduction to Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain. It is first described by the German neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915) in 1905. This disease worsens with advancing age, although there is no evidence that it is cause by the aging process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The average life expectancy of a person with the disease is between five and ten years, but some patients today can live up to 15 years due to improvements in care and medical treatments. The cause of Alzheimer's has not been discovered yet and it cannot be possible to confirm a person has Alzheimer's until their autopsy following death. How does Alzheimer's develop What causes Alzheimer's? Well no one know exactly the development of this debilitating disease. But recent advances has produced several clues as to how it is born. Initially when we study the brain of a Alzheimer's victim, we focus on two specific areas. One is the cortex of the frontal and cerebral lobes1. The second is the hippocampus (meaning seahorses in Greek which it resembles2) which is located below the cerebral cortex and responsible for short-term memory. If we study samples of these two section, we would find three irregularities which are not found in normal brain matter. These three are called neurofibrillary tangles, neuritic plagues and granulovacuolar degeneration3.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A nerve cell has numerous axons and dendrites coming out of it. A neurofibrillary tangle is when the neuron changes. A number of dendrites are missing and the nucleus is filled with protein filaments resembling steel wool. Although all elderly people has a few of these helix shaped bundles in their brain for they are normal indicators of aging, Alzheimer's patients has more than usual. Their presence usually in the frontal and temporal lobes is a indication of AD.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Senile neuritic plagues are small round objects. They are masses of amyloid protein material composed of residue left over from healthy nerve endings that were broken off and decayed. Their presence near the cell further indicates something gone wrong. Neuritic plaques is the best evidence for diagnostics to make the determination of AD.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A third sign of neuron deterioration is granulovacuolar degeneration. This is when fluid-filled vacuoles are seen crowding inside the nerve cell, specifically in the triangular shaped cells of the hippocampus. This condition can only be observed in carefully sliced, stain and analyzed brain tissue.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The cell having lost all it's dendrites and nucleus soon disintegrates entirely, vanishing into the body's waste disposal system. With the depletion of enough nerve material the brain actually shrinks, sometimes by as much as ten percent5. The more cells the AD sufferer loses, the more mental functions he

Chiquita Banana Overview Essay

Chiquita Brands International, Inc. is one of the most important international marketers and distributors of food products derived from bananas, as well as other fruits and healthy snack products. Chiquita Banana revenues for about $3 billion dollars a year and employs more than 21,000 people and operates in about 70 countries worldwide. Chiquita Banana  together with Dole, Del Monte and Fyffes control about 80% of the global banana market. In 1993 the EU created the Common Organization of the Market in Bananas (COMB) to deal with the harsh competition between these companies. They would allow duty free access to the EU but subject to quotas to bananas from the Africa’s, Caribbean and Pacific, while bananas from Latin America were subject to an import tax of 176 Euros per ton and a quota of 2533 t. As an American company we have decided to take advantage of the new treaty restricting Latin American and ACP countries from exporting bananas to the EU. It will not be an easy ta sk because we still have to compete against European banana producers, but we are an established company and we are determined to benefit from this event and gain market share in the European Union. PESTEL analysis for the European Union POLITICAL: †¢The European Union is composed of 28 member states. †¢The EU has created a single market by standardizing laws within the member states. †¢Some of the objectives of creating this union is to create a better flow on the circulation of goods, capital, people and services within the union. Once a good or service is accepted within the union it is protected from customs, taxes and import quotas as long as they remain within the union. †¢Free movement of capital is intended to allow investment of properties between countries, something that could help banana growers since they can look for more fertile land in neighboring countries. †¢The monetary policy is the Eurozone and is governed by the European Central Bank. ECONOMIC: †¢The European Union’s GDP is ranked as number one in the world accounting for $16.58 trillion dollars. †¢Export goods account for $1.687 trillion, some of the main export partners of the European union are: oUS 17.3% China 8.5% Switzerland 7.9% Russia 7.3% Turkey 4.5 % †¢Food, drinks and tobacco account for 5.9% †¢Import of goods account for $2.302 trillion dollars and the main import partners are: China 16.2% Russia 11.9% US 11.5% Switzerland 5.8% Norway 5.6% †¢Food, drinks and tobacco account for 5.2% of import goods. †¢The service sector is the most important one in the EU making up 69% of the GDP followed by the manufacturing industry with 28.4% GDP and agriculture for only 2.3% of GDP †¢The agricultural sector is supported by subsidies from the EU and currently represents 40-50% of the EU’s total spending. SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS: †¢There is limited data on European children’s fruit intake, but the data shows that the average fruit intake is about 141 g per day. Fruit intake is highest in Austria and Portugal and is the lowest in Iceland and Spain. †¢Girls and women consume more fruits and vegetables and boys and men do, there is no simple explanation to this but it’s believed to be because women in general are more concerned about their weight and keeping a slim fit figure. †¢Children tend to eat less fruit as they age, but it’s the exact opposite with adults. Intake levels increase with age, possibly because income and knowledge increases and one becomes more aware of the benefits of good eating habits. †¢Men once they are married have an increase in fruit intake. Women seem to have an impact on their husband’s fruit intake as well as the variety of fruits eaten. Women tend to handle ‘health-related’ issues more commonly than men so they tend to buy and cook more food than men. †¢Children’s fruit intake levels directly correlate with how much their parents consume. But pressure to eat fruit does not positively affect children’s intake, but it is enhanced when parents are good role-models and encourage them to eat fruits and vegetables. †¢People with self-efficacy tendencies have a higher fruit intake in adults, also people with a high self-esteem tend to eat more fruits and vegetables because they take their health into account. TECHNOLOGICAL: †¢The EU is funding a project for pesticide free fruits and vegetables by removing the threat of fruit flies. Helping farmers meet customers’ demands for safe fruits while being environmentally conscious. oThe project pretend to use an insect attractant to draw insects and pathogens such as: infectious micro-organisms, virus, fungus that cause diseases in fungus. oThis attractant will be applied in the form of an insect trap near plantations to take bugs away from plantations, this will be a long-lasting and biodegradable baiting station. †¢Europe is becoming more conscious about maintaining a cleaner environment, the EU is committed to providing a better future for the next generations. So they specialize on clean energy, from turbines in Germany to solar panels in Spain, and countries across the EU are using natural resources of sustainable energy bringing investment to businesses and citizens. LEGAL: †¢With the birth of the Single European Market in 1993 the Common Market Organization for Bananas was put into effect (COMB). COMB is concerned on the importation, sale and distribution of bananas. †¢A policy was set in motion allowing EU suppliers to export duty free bananas to all EU states. Also quotas were set for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) imposing import licenses for a fixed rate of volume of bananas, and limited imports through excessively high tariffs. oA quota of 857,000 tons for duty free access from ACP countries †¢Three types of licenses were issued in order to regulate this quota to ACP countries †¢Third countries that were not considered in the quota are subject to a tariff of Ecu 850 per ton. †¢In order to prevent any loss of income by EU banana producers a compensation of payments for 850,000 tons were granted in case the prices fell below the production costs. ENVIRONMENTAL: †¢Flat-free water chargers are common in some countries in Europe. This does not encourage efficient behavior to households and agriculture according to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). †¢The EEA is considering water pricing in the following countries: Croatia, England and wales, France, Germany, Netherlands, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain. †¢In most countries, farmers are allowed to use as much water as they want  for a flat rate. By charging the amount of water used in Europe it prognosticated to cut down on water used by agriculture for about 10 – 20 %. This will push farmers to not only cut down on their water consumption but to invest on better irrigation system as well as fixing water leaks. †¢The general population in the European Union seem to support this motion to cut down water overuse, about 84% of the population agree with this principle. Marketing Mix In order to better penetrate the European market we have to better understand our own products, so a marketing mix was created to see what we can offer to the market and this will help us to better oversee our operations in the European market. PRODUCT: Chiquita banana takes pride in their first class bananas. But banana consumption vary from country to country so they have other products to fulfill the change in each countries demand. They always keep in mind the environment and consumer’s health, so they have products that meet these two qualifications, products such as: readymade salads, fruit snacks. An independent survey was conducted about people’s preferences and attitudes about bananas, and the poll indicated that the taste of Chiquita bananas was better than competing brands and people preferred it 2 to 1 to the leading brand. The bananas by Chiquita banana are 100% organic approved and certified by the USDA which means that they adhere to the requirements and meet the organic standards of growing bananas. PRICE: These are the prices for bananas per metric ton for the last few months. Bananas prices vary depending on the location where they are being sold. In France the average price for a kg is about $2.00 dollars. In Spain is about $1.00 per kg. But these prices tend to fluctuate with the seasons as well, and some variables take place to why this happens. One of the reasons is that bananas grow in tropical areas so they need hot weather to grow, but it’s harder to maintain them fresh during summer. PLACE: Chiquita banana sells its products internationally to about 70 countries worldwide. The majority of the products grown come from South America and the Caribbean which are then sent to distribution centers. Europe is the largest consumer and importer of bananas in the world, so this would be the best place for the largest banana producer in the world to invest and tap into this gold mine. In the year 2011 people living in the European Union consumed an estimate of 5 million tons of bananas and about 4.6 million tons were imported. Europe would be the best market to try to penetrate and take market share from. Sweden, UK, Denmark, Finland and Portugal are the main consumers of bananas in Europe (see Appendix A). These are the countries within the EU for Chiquita banana to penetrate first. PROMOTION: The way that Chiquita banana promotes their product is very innovative. They have sticker contests and they encourage people to send drawings for possible logos for their stickers. But their latest promotion is endorsing the charismatic minion characters from the movie Despicable Me, they have even worked on an app game available for apple and droid. The point of this game is to run and get as many bananas as possible without running into any obstacles. There is no record for the increase in sales of Chiquita bananas yet because the game is recent, but it’s safe to say that this gamification strategy will work well for the company. Also, as a part of their promotion they attend school lunches, celebrate major anniversaries and sponsor Olympics. They use the slogan â€Å"quite possibly, The World’s Perfect Food† SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS: †¢Chiquita Banana is number one in the fruit market in the world and sells its products to more than 70 countries worldwide. †¢The company had a $3 billion dollar revenue last year. †¢Its net income is about $405 million dollars. †¢The company is committed to being socially responsible A decade ago they implemented social accountability 8000 which has helped improve their practices to better serve the community. â€Å"SA 8000 provides standards based on national laws, international human rights norms and the conventions of the International Labor Organization. Management system  requirements ensure that these standards are consistently implemented over time, and independent audits and certification help measure progress and identify areas for improvement.† WEAKNESSES: †¢The company has not been able to reach out to consumers in Europe, they had a $2 million profit during the last quarter, better compared to the previews year where there was an $11 million loss. †¢Sales fell 2% from $793 million to $774 million in one year. †¢There was an 18 an article was published of ‘Chiquita secrets revealed’ by the enquirer, where the company had been accused of mistreating workers in Central America, polluting the environment and allowing cocaine to be brought to the US in its ships. OPPORTUNITIES: †¢With the new regulations from 1993 the European market has opened for banana companies that do not belong to the ACP countries and Latin America. †¢Our opportunities go hand in hand with the highest consumers of bananas in the EU. According to appendix A, they are: oSweden UK Denmark Finland Portugal †¢These are the first countries that we must try to focus our internationalization efforts into, since they are the highest consumers of our product. †¢Even with the new regulations by COMB Chiquita banana has no real competition from European banana growers, European countries are not optimal for banana growth. Chiquita banana can bring larger quantities at competing prices. THREATS: †¢Some of the threats come from competing companies like: Dole, Del Monte and Fyffes. †¢The analysis of this figure shows Chiquita’s market share shrinking from 1966 to 1995 and then remaining constant at 25% market share. †¢We can also observe that for the year 2007 Dole Company had a bigger market share than Chiquita. †¢Chiquita has to be attentive of the existing competing brands but also the new incoming brands that are stealing market share from the company. Internationalization Strategy and Viability As already stated before, the European Market is the biggest consumer and importer of bananas. Which is why we are interested in creating an internationalization strategy in order to visualize which cities in the European market target more specifically. There is a map in appendix A portraying the European Countries and an estimate of banana consumption, we can see that the northern countries together with Portugal enjoy eating bananas the most. Then we can see a ranking list with the countries that consume the most bananas in Europe, with Sweden being on top of the list. Chiquita banana Co. gets their product from the countries with a yellow dot. Since these are countries that have hot and humid temperature, adequate for banana growth. This map shows us that that in order for the bananas to be shipped from this countries to the EU they have to be shipped in a boat that has to travel the Atlantic for about 6,000 miles. These bananas are stored and refrigerated. This crossing of the A tlantic takes an average of 5 days and the bananas are refrigerated to a temperature between 13.5 and 15 C stalling ripening. Even though flavor and consistency remain virtually intact, this voyage shortens the shelf life to be 7-10 days. Portugal would be a strategic point for the company’s internationalization strategy. A logistics platform could be set up in Porto, a northern city in Portugal, this way we can kill two birds with one rock. We re-fuel the ships and get them ready for their journey to Sweden (our top priority in terms of distribution) and unload some containers to distribute Portugal’s banana demand. Aside from Portugal the countries with the highest consumption of bananas per capita is in Northern Europe, so another logistic platform would be convenient as a final stop before the final destination in each country. Le Havre, France would be a convenient location since it is south of the UK and it is cheaper to have a distribution center there because the euro is not as strong as the sterling pound. Once we have our logistics platform set up in Le Havre we can make accommodatio ns and agreements with companies and retailers that handle fruits and vegetables belonging to the countries that have the highest banana consumption. We would deliver to the following  terminal or ports: †¢Gothenburg, Sweden †¢Brighton, UK †¢Skagen, Denmark †¢Finland is a little more inaccessible through the Baltic Sea, so we would ship Finland’s required bananas to Gothenburg, Sweden as well. From Sweden we could work another logistic route to get to Finland by truck. †¢Porto, Portugal †¢Le Havre, France CHANCE: Iceland is Europe’s top producer of bananas with their world of the art greenhouse installations, even though they rely on their technology they have to constantly monitor their products and create the proper environment for the bananas. This is where Chiquita banana has an opportunity since they don’t have to worry about creating the right conditions for banana growth, the company looks for a convenient location for banana growth and plants the fruit. This enables the company to worry solely on cropping and shipping. Another advantage that the company has over the biggest European banana producer is that, Chiquita banana can acquire bananas in massive quantities while Iceland’s producers have to create the environment to grow more bananas. This is unless the COMB sets a tighter quota. Incoterm An incoterm is a made up word composed of three words. ‘in’ means international, ‘co’ commerce and ‘term’ means term. Incoterms are used to describe the type of relationship between buyer and supplier and they type of contract they use to deliver and receive a product. POSSIBLE INCOTERMS FOR THE COMPANY As a seller the most optimal incoterm for the company would be to agree with the buyer of working with ‘Ex Works’ since the buyer would have to assume the transportation costs and the risks of brining the goods to their stores. I believe this to be very one sided and not efficient, since in order to maximize profits a business deal has to be long-term. Sooner or later one of  the competing brands could offer our buyers a better agreement and we would be out of business, so I would call this a ‘lose-lose situation’. Another option would be the exact opposite from ‘Ex works’ where the seller mantains most of the obligations and expenses while there is minimum for the buyere. This would be a DDP, here the â€Å"seller is responsible for delivering the goods to the named place in the country of the buyer, and pas all costs in bringing the goods to the destination including import duties and taxes. Seller is not responsible for unloading.† t his is also very one sided. My belief is that if we are going to have a long lasting relationship with our business partner we have to compromise, and here we would be taking all most of the bourden of the business deal. Solution As already stated before, in order to create a long lasting relationship with our business partners and maximize profits we have to compromize. Chiquita Banana is trying to gain marketshare in Europe, so the best thing we can do with our business partners is to share the transportation burden and costs. Deliverd at Terminal (DAT) incoterm would be the best viable solution for Chiquita and our buyers. We can promise to deliver the product fresh, safe and sound to the following city ports: Gothenburg, Brighton, Skagen, Porto and Le Havre. We can accept all costs and risks (except for import clearance costs) and from each terminal they can send the bananas to their respective distribution centers or directly to the retailers. That is up to our business partners to decide. It is safe to say that we are taking most of the costs, since it is expensive to cross the atlantic with ships and maintain the fruit at a certain temperature to keep it fresh. But in order to have our buyers support, we have to go the extra mile. This strategy at the same time will speed up the process of internationalization and market share gain for Chiquita Banana. Works Cited â€Å"European Union.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013 â€Å"Economy of the European Union.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013 â€Å"Economy of the European Union.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Intelligent Approaches to Achieving Pesticide-free Produce.† N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. â€Å"CHAPTER 3 BANANA IMPORTING COUNTRIES AND TRADE POLICIES.† The World Banana Economy, 1985-2002. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Water: Charging Full Cost Can Encourage More Efficient Use.† —. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Chiquita.com – Chiquita Organic Bananas: Organic Food.† Chiquita.com – Chiquita Organic Bananas: Organic Food. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Europe Largest Banana Importer Worldwide.† Europe Largest Banana Importer Worldwide. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Chiquita.com – Social Responsibility Is How We Conduct Business.† Chiquita.com – Social Responsibility Is How We Conduct Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Chiquita Banana Sales Remain Weak in Europe.† Chiquita Banana Sales Remain Weak in Europe. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013 â€Å"Chiquita Brands International.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Banana.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Martin Stott.† Iceland: Europe’s Biggest Producer of Bananas. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Economy of the European Union.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.

Creepy Craig

Creepy Craig It was almost like lying in a boiling rubber blowup pool. The air was thick and Zara couldn’t manage to fall asleep. The strange noises from across the hall filled the silence of her apartment again. Zara always felt suspicious of the man who lived there, because when she waited for the lift to go to the floor of her unit, he would stand there at least four times a week and watch her as the doors closed. The creepy thing about that was, when the lift reached the sixth floor, he would be there as she stepped out.She always thought of him as her own personal stalker. Creepy Craig. Maybe he was harmless? Who cares! Zara wanted out. The last time she got out of the lift at her own floor, Creepy Craig was standing there leering at her offering ANZAC cookies. Enough was enough. She needed to get out of his apartment now. Even Ben, her boyfriend thought the guy was a creep. He wanted to sort him out but Zara didn’t want him to do that. Right now, she wished Ben wa s at home instead of playing Rugby with the local club in Southport. She reached for her mobile phone and called him.Zara was pleased to hear that Ben was on his way home. Even better, he had already been searching and had found a nice new apartment. He wanted her to see the next day. Their new place was amazing, right on the Broadwater overlooking water which glistened like diamonds in the sunlight as the squeals of the kids with their families echoed into the distance. Having a new unit was great. Just what Zara and Ben wanted. The relief of not worrying about Creepy Craig any more made her feel relaxed for the first time in months.Sitting on the balcony with the blistering Australian twelve o’clock sun hovering above, Zara and Ben relaxed with a refreshing icy cold glass of beer. They talked about their plans for tomorrow afternoon’s family picnic at the Broadwater and how Australia Day this year was going to be amazing. Ben would make the waterslide for the kids; a unty Sue would take the name out of the hat to see who was going to cook the barbeque this year. Zara and Ben both hoped it wasn’t going to be Gazza again. Last time he cooked he burnt all the sausages and set fire to his own shirt.Zara thought he had one too many beers that day. Aside from the disaster last year, they were both getting excited. As the afternoon wore on and the heat of the sun dissipated, Zara and Ben were feeling very relaxed. Out of nowhere, loud crashes resonated as if pots and pans were being hurtled across a room. From the unit above, the crash was accompanied by a girl yelling and a man swearing. Unsettled by the noise and wondering if the girl was okay, Ben left their unit and got the elevator to the eleventh floor. He followed the sound like a detective finding clues to a murder scene.Zara waited anxiously on the balcony on the floor below, worrying about what was actually happening up there and if Ben really should have gone to investigate. Everythin g went strangely silent. An ear-piercing scream split through the air. There, in a single second, but seeming like slow motion, a beautiful young girl glided past her balcony like a feather. Zara met her eyes and in a heartbeat she felt like she saw the girl’s whole life in a flash. She was gone. Zara froze like a statue. Ben burst through the door, demanding to know what had happened as he couldn’t get anyone to open to his knocking at the unit above.Zara couldn’t get any words out. All she could manage to do was point to the balcony repeatedly. When Ben returned, he looked pale and sick. They stood looking at each other for a few seconds; they both seemed to come out of their stupor after Ben called the police. People were out on their balconies all over the building, gazing in shock at the terrible sight below. Police and ambulance sirens blared towards their building. The afternoon ended in a haze of uniforms all over the place. Because Zara and Ben’s unit was directly below where the girl fell, they had to be questioned by the police.They told their stories and signed statements. Their fantastic day had ended in tragedy. They felt quite sick as they went to bed that night. When the brightness of the morning woke Zara and Ben, they discussed whether they should cancel their plans but both really wanted to get out of the unit and be with their family and friends. So it was decided that Ben would take the esky down to the basement, pack the car, drive up to reception and pick Zara up from there. After bed Ben phoned to say he was on the way, Zara waited at the reception.She felt uneasy about being on her own but it was only a few minutes until she would be out of the building and with Ben. She shared the lift with the manager of the building, Steve. They briefly discussed the sad and frightening event of yesterday. Steve couldn’t say very much because it was still a police matter. When the lift doors opened a t the ground f loor, Zara looked up and standing in the foyer was Creepy Craig. â€Å"That’s the poor man who lost his girlfriend over the balcony yesterday. † Steve said to Zara whispering the news.

Cherished dreams essays

Cherished dreams essays Generally, insecure and passive people feel an inner turmoil coming from a lack of direction as to where they are going, what their goals are and what responses are appropriate for events in life. In addition, they are often fearful of standing up for what they believe, have difficulties in establishing long-lasting relationships and tend to be over controlled emotionally, not letting others in on their emotions. These behaviours are often seen in people who are raised in a chaotic, unpredictable or volatile environment in which they are kept off balance. However, when they finally find a direction or a goal to follow, all their insecurity and passivity is left aside. Probably, for the first time in their lives they stop feeling scared and confused and they finally stand up for what they believe. This seems to be the case of Ezra Tull, one of the main characters of Anne Tylers book Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. Ezra experienced a difficult childhood due to an absent father and an abusive and domineering mother. As a result, he became an insecure and rather passive young man. Nevertheless, he unwaveringly pursued his dreams of owning and shaping the restaurant according to his personal style and of keeping his family together. It must be acknowledged that Ezra spent most of his life feeling insecure and in resigned acceptance of everything that happened to him. As a child, he would never try to defend himself when he was unfairly blamed for something he had not done. As an adult, he lost Ruth, the only woman he ever loved, to his brother and did absolutely nothing about it. Moreover, he had difficulties in establishing relationships with others. And he tended to be over-controlled emotionally, finding it hard to show his emotions and to open himself up to others. Certainly, it is clear that Ezras lack of confidence and zest became constant features of his personality that were expected to be seen in the ...

Language Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Language Discussion - Essay Example Greater cognitive and logistic skills may be picked up by the child through this technique while at home before joining school. This may give the child a sense of achievement as they enter kindergarten (pre-school), and face other children from well-off backgrounds (Jensen 67). One may beg to differ especially when it comes to the term equality, but the truth is, if parents use greater quantity and variety in their language, the inequality gap may be reduced drastically. Trying to eliminate the presence of inequality may be impossible because of the low-resource schools that most children will attend due to the poverty, but it is vital to note that these children may be able to compete if there is motivation from every angle. It is my believe-or rather hope- that the experiences children pick up while at home may work toward influencing or affecting their cognitive skills positively in a bid to try and level the playing field on which every child is exposed after joining school (Jensen 79). This can be done if parents take up the mantle and elevate their children’s skills through the assortment of language used at

Civilization by Bernard Lewis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Civilization by Bernard Lewis - Essay Example Meanwhile, religion plays a crucial role in the definition of civilization. Two of the most popular religions defining civilizations are Christianity and Islam, which interestingly display some similarities while manifesting some differences from each other. In most of the languages in the world, we have two words: "Christianity" and "Christendom." The word "Christianity" would refer to the system of religion itself while "Christendom" would refer to a civilization that basically incorporates both non-Christian and anti-Christian on it. And we also have "Islam" and "Islamdom." Those civilizations are mainly bounded by religious practices that are known all throughout the world. On the other hand, those civilizations defined by region and ethnicity may include perhaps Buddhism and Communism. Buddhism, although, once known as religion, cannot be defined by religion since it was not actually successful in the proliferation in the world unlike Islam and Christianity.