General Irritation

A lesson in sociology.

Labeling Theory essentially states that an indvidual will take on the traits of a certain stereotype if they are labeled as such. For instance, if a student is told that they're not very bright and won't make it very far, generally the student does poorly in school. The self-fulfilling prophecy is related to this theory.

Now, let us look at a real world example. At work, I am constantly told that I suck at my job or that this person or that person is better than I am. Granted, all of these comments are in jest and for the most part I take them in stride and fire back my own put-downs. However, depending on my state of mind, I take these comments to heart and eventually I start actually sucking at my job. I feel worthless and unappreciated and stop caring about whether this or that job get done. It's very frustrating and the sole reason I have been looking for a new job. I am not worthless. I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me.

In other news, Mark is in the studio this month recording his grand vision of an album. As far as I know he doesn't have a band and while a lot of people know who he is, I have a feeling that not many people are going to buy his album considering a vast majority of Austin has no idea who he is; in addition to the fact that he's played very few venues. Mark is an amazing musician, don't get me wrong. He's very talented and creative. However, without proper motivation and people skills, unfortunately he won't go anywhere. It remains to be seen if he will succeed. And if he does, that's wonderful. If he doesn't, he's going to owe an arm and a leg to his parents.

On a side note, it really hurts to read about what he's doing in the studio and see pictures of the whole undertaking because although I'm pretty much over it, somewhere deep inside I feel like I should be there too. But unfortunately, I'm not a "serious musician."

Oh well