->Wikipedia’s definition of the AWOL “The American way of life is an expression that refers to the "life style" of people living in the United States of America. It is an example of a behavioral modality, developed from the 17th century until today.” The AWOL can be interpreted in many different ways. When first asked what the AWOL is I never thought about it before or what I meant to my life style. Going around and asking people on the streets and some family members what the AWOL meant to them opened up my eyes. According to my data lots of people think differently when I asked what they thought the AWOL is, there was never one same answer. “The AWOL is so different and can be classified in different ways that you can’t have a typical AWOL.” –Katie Abdul I agree because I got such a variety of answer.

Several of the answers I got from asking what the AWOL is related to having to work to support your family. For instance when I spoke to interviewee #4 and my father the answers were the same. Both people expressed that working to support your family was a hassle. Interviewee #4 seemed to say that working everyday made where is his comfortable. Wile on the other hand my father replied “the AWOL … get up to go to work, to make a better life for your family. Aim for a piece of the pie.” Unlike interviewee #4 my father seemed to be trying to aim for more than just stay where he is. I wasn’t so sure how this related to the AWOL but I’m guessing that work became such a big part of their life that their AWOL got warped around work. This relates to another thing that people mentioned about the AWOL and that is opportunity.

When I interviewed Tim and George they both related the AWOL to having opportunity. Lots of people mentioned opportunity but they really had a lot to say. Even though both of them had the same topic they managed to be different. Tim a teacher said that America and opportunity go hand in hand. He also said a positive thing about the AWOL is that “people can change their situation; people can take advantage of opportunity.” Like him George had a similar but somewhat different. He is a working college student so his views are different. George said “AWOL is to take advantage of opportunity it helps your life style and makes you happy. Americans don’t take advantage of opportunity. Minorities and immigrants take advantage of that opportunity.” The difference in the answers is that Tim said Americans can take advantage of opportunity and George said that Americans should take advantage of opportunity but they don’t. Both answers make sense from there different points of view.

Whether the American Way Of Life is Working hard or taking advantage of the opportunities given to you there are many different ways that one person can classify the AWOL. The people around me on the streets and in my family all have different view of the AWOL.

->I never really have ever followed anything having to do with the presidential elections before because I know I don’t have a say in any of this, and I probably would not have followed it this year if it wasn’t for the big hype. I think this was the most popular presidential election that I have ever experienced because a woman and a black man ran and actually had a chance, which really surprised me. I didn’t think America was ready for such a big change, I thought it would probably be a really long time before someone broke the tradition. Having a black president makes me think that anything is possible in America now. With so many new open minded people there might be more of a chance for gay marriage to become accepted.

Watching the presidential election this year felt so historical. Since I’m not old enough to vote I didn’t feel like it was necessary to follow any of the debates or to learn more about the current arguments even though I knew it would affect me in some way. I don’t mean to sound mean or anything but I didn’t view Obama as what e had to offer or the good things that he could offer America but as being a potential black president. I know this is naive but knowing the little that I do know about the election I just viewed Obama as a really cool thing. Now that I he has one I looked into what he offers and I’m happy that he has won. He seems to be all about change and I look forward to seeing the progress that he makes changing America.

->Samantha Kaplan mentioned something along the lines of this: “American human behavior reflects covering up the lonely (crack-like) behavior with materialistic things.”
Some people got offended some people thought she was right but everyone had their own opinions. My opinion on her statement is that I sort of agree. I personally agree that some positions I have, do boost my confidence or make me happy. Most teenage kids pride themselves on being “fresh” and that means that having new sneakers could cover some emotions but not to the extreme as being lonely and crack-like. I think Americans love to be entertained and materialistic things just happen to do a wonderful job. Some might say we don’t need that stuff Americans are not like that and it is true we don’t need the materialistic things but we like them because it makes us happy. I think materialistic things and America goes hand in hand.

->Thanks to what exactly? Thanksgiving to me is just another reason for family to get together eat and have fun. No one really ever thinks about the history behind it the whole day. The stress of cooking and cleaning all day leaves me only being thankful that it’s finally over. I was not in school Wednesday so I missed the lecture on the true meaning of thanksgiving. My view of the truth of thanksgiving is that in not so surprised as some people are. Americans have done tons of shady things since day 1. There is always a catch to everything in my view and black Friday is a perfect example. Instead of losing many hours of sleep and spending hundreds of dollars on useless crap that no one really needs I stood in bed and woke up late. Black Friday is just a scam that companies can use to their advantage t gain profit. The discounts are the same as any other day and the hype of it all just sucks people in. I’m not going to act like I’m better than it though because I went out shopping last year and got a rude awakening when the sales didn’t help the amount I owe at the end of the day. Looking at the recent events that Americans have done just to get a good sale is crazy. A man dying because people are so greedy is a limit that never should have been crossed. It seems to me that the government does a good job of knowing how to turn a bunch of loving mothers one day into crazed out mob people fighting for the last pair of Prada shoes. Ignorant Americans do see how easily the government uses them to help the economic system.

->Christmas was not so upbeat this year not to be so grumpy but It seemed like the spirit was all gone and so were all the toys. Usually every Christmas I get tons and tons of gifts from my family but this year I barely got half of what I got last year. When I spoke to my dad before Christmas came, we were speaking about money situations and how hard it’s going to be for people to give gifts this year, although I completely agree because of the recession and stuff I didn’t think it was going to effect Christmas that much. So we made a bet that if I got more than 5 gifts from my family he would give me 20 bucks sadly I lost. To my surprise I didn’t get a lot of gifts at all. I know Christmas helps the economy a lot with all the shopping and spending of money but it seem like not a lot of that was going on this year. Christmas is such a big part of the American way of life that even with the recession and the hard times that the economy is going through its amazing to see how Christmas was celebrated even though money is an issue. I just think this proves how important Christmas is to Americans. The good thing is that Christmas will always keep coming year after year and can always get better. >if you wondering what the sign that Santa is holding it says “the sleigh broke down”<>

-> 2009 inauguration was historical. It’s sad to admit this but before this year I had no clue what an inauguration was and have never even seen one before. But since Obama was the some hosting it this year it was a must. It surprised me when the speech was about to start and I got excited to be watching it this time even though I had no prior knowledge of what it even was. I think it shows something about my America way of life or others at that in general. Obama has become somewhat trendy and if he wasn’t that big of a deal I probably would not have know about the inauguration again this year. I think it shows my own and some Americans values, that politics is not that significant to everyone. After watching Obamas speech it seemed to me like his focus was to tell people that he is just one person with a plan and not with magical powers. He briefly went over topics and seemed to state all the things that America needing some fixing, we understand that he knows what he has to do and will be pressured to fix those problems ASAP. Although I was listening to the inauguration it didn’t really stick because we all know that saying something is a lot easier than doing it. “well done is better than well said” –T.N.Y.C Another thing that everyone around me seemed to notice, was that Obama was being compared to Martin Luther King a lot and I didn’t think it was fair. MLK deserves recognition for the things that he has done and I understand that Obama has a wonderful plan to fix things but has not done anything yet. I feel like Americans are putting Obama on such a high pedestal that just in case if he falls, he’s going to fall hard. Overall this year’s inauguration was eye opening and I learned a lot. From what I heard and have seen it looks to me like Obama is going to have an extremely busy 4 years.>Im still an Obama fan!<