Dinner for the Privileged

Pictured above: dolsot bibimbap. This is one of two dishes I often get at a Korean restaurant. It's essentially white rice topped with veggies, choice of protein, dried seaweed, and spicy bean paste sauce.

My parents set a tradition to ensure the best of grades for my sisters and I.  At the end of each grading semester, my sisters or I gets to choose where to eat out for dinner.  Whoever has the best grades has the privilege to choose a place to eat out for dinner.  This way, the whole family gets rewarded for eighteen weeks of hard work.  My parents reinforced the behavior to motivate my sisters and I to compete for the best grades.  Factor in me as the eldest child, a senior in high school, and compare it with my sisters in the seventh grade; my job as a student gets that much harder.  Their use of positive reinforcement increases the likelihood of top notch grades with the reward of a family dinner outing.

In my recent years, I found grades go beyond choosing where to go for dinner. Rather, I motivate myself with colleges and scholarships.  I grew up accepting life as a student as my career.  It requires the dedication and diligence equivalent, if not higher, than any job accessible to a high school student.  I may not get paid for studying, but that will come with scholarships and college acceptances.

Curse of the Chair

It's Coming for You...

A dad loved to take his car to the car wash. The dad loved to take his daughters to the car wash and watch the whole cleaning process. One daughter was especially intrigued by an employee cleaning the car's rubber matts. The sun was out and shining brightly over a pleasant Sunday afternoon. As the girl watched from a her chair, she leaned forward. Wham! The girl started wailing for her dad. The result? A scraped elbow, a bump on the head, and a childhood trauma.

The girl only went back to the car wash place three times over the next several years. Even then, she refused to sit down outside and watch the men clean the different cars. The other customers sat peacefully in their patio chairs as they waited for the employees to clean their car. Yet this girl knew what caused her accident. She refused to sit in a patio chair and only clung to her father. The lawn chair that tipped would never look the same. Sitting in another one could do more damage.

One traumatic event for the young child stimulated a chain of extensive cautioned actions. Years later, the girl learned she fell because the lawn chair was perched on the edge of the parking lot curb (CS). With age as a factor, the use of classical conditioning taught her how to fear lawn chairs. An event that lasted only seconds created fear (CR). Reverse conditioning and the child's maturity helped her get over her fear of sitting in plastic patio chairs.