Today, I was with some friends of mine in the library when a discussion broke out about where people were from. Of course, I got singled out as the only one being from a cushy suburb and going to a cushy public high school (Naperville/Oak Brook, Hinsdale Central). Everyone else either fit at least one of the following criteria: 1) black 2) latino 3) from the city 4) from the "ghetto." At one point, someone exclaimed "Ya see, we got to go up against all these people from the suburbs!"
I suppose if I was from a part of town where most kids couldn't read past a third-grade reading level and people got killed every week, I'd view my current situation in medical school with more than a little self-satisfaction. That being said, this whole exchnage reminded me of how there exists a certain degree of segregation in our M1 class based on socio-economic status, which isn't to say that people aren't friendly to one another. This makes sense. Sharing a similar background breeds a degree of comfort...I'm going to skip the related discussion about race and culture that would normally follow.
I decided over break that I would commit to writing more this semester on this blog or in my own journals about what I am thinking and the things I see. I fantasize that perhaps one day, I'll produce a collection of writings that will be publish-worthy but of course, the only way I see that happening anytime soon is if I go on a serial-killing rampage which ends with my suicide. And even if that were to happen, I'm sure my diaries would make for some maddening reads considering that they're often devoid of punctuation, grammar, and, well, sense.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
A warm way to usher in the new year
The following was reported by the BBC today:
Rajini Narayan, 44, is alleged to have doused her husband, Satish, with a flammable liquid while he was sleeping.
When she set him alight, Mr Narayan jumped out of bed and knocked over the substance, causing the fire to spread.
Mrs Narayan told the court she had not intended to kill her husband but to punish him for his alleged infidelity.
Prosecutor Lucy Boord said Mrs Narayan had confessed to her neighbours, telling them she was a "jealous wife" and believed her husband was having an affair.
"I just wanted to burn his penis so it belongs to me and no one else, I didn't mean this to happen," Ms Boord quoted Mrs Narayan as saying.
The fire, on 8 December 2008, caused damage to the couple's house estimated at 1m Australian dollars ($715,000, £490,000).
Mrs Narayan was initially charged with arson and endangering life - including the lives of her three children who were in the house at the time.
The charge was upgraded to murder after Mr Narayan died from his injuries last week.
She has been held in police custody pending the results of a psychological assessment.
Stories like these make me feel better about being single. Stories like these also make me hope that should I eventually marry that significant other, she won't be crazy enough to do something like this. This isn't exactly an isolated incident by any means. Just last year the following article was reported in Reuters:
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A woman set fire to her ex-husband's penis as he sat naked watching television and drinking vodka, Moscow police said Wednesday.
Asked if the man would make a full recovery, a police spokeswoman said it was "difficult to predict."
The attack climaxed three years of acrimonious enforced co-habitation. The couple divorced three years ago but continued to share a small flat, something common in Russia where property costs are very high.
"It was monstrously painful," the wounded ex-husband told Tvoi Den newspaper. "I was burning like a torch. I don't know what I did to deserve this."
Moral of the story: don't cheat, don't associate with crazy women, don't piss off your girlfriend/wife (no pun intended), and, for heavens sake, have some regard for human life.
Rajini Narayan, 44, is alleged to have doused her husband, Satish, with a flammable liquid while he was sleeping.
When she set him alight, Mr Narayan jumped out of bed and knocked over the substance, causing the fire to spread.
Mrs Narayan told the court she had not intended to kill her husband but to punish him for his alleged infidelity.
Prosecutor Lucy Boord said Mrs Narayan had confessed to her neighbours, telling them she was a "jealous wife" and believed her husband was having an affair.
"I just wanted to burn his penis so it belongs to me and no one else, I didn't mean this to happen," Ms Boord quoted Mrs Narayan as saying.
The fire, on 8 December 2008, caused damage to the couple's house estimated at 1m Australian dollars ($715,000, £490,000).
Mrs Narayan was initially charged with arson and endangering life - including the lives of her three children who were in the house at the time.
The charge was upgraded to murder after Mr Narayan died from his injuries last week.
She has been held in police custody pending the results of a psychological assessment.
Stories like these make me feel better about being single. Stories like these also make me hope that should I eventually marry that significant other, she won't be crazy enough to do something like this. This isn't exactly an isolated incident by any means. Just last year the following article was reported in Reuters:
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A woman set fire to her ex-husband's penis as he sat naked watching television and drinking vodka, Moscow police said Wednesday.
Asked if the man would make a full recovery, a police spokeswoman said it was "difficult to predict."
The attack climaxed three years of acrimonious enforced co-habitation. The couple divorced three years ago but continued to share a small flat, something common in Russia where property costs are very high.
"It was monstrously painful," the wounded ex-husband told Tvoi Den newspaper. "I was burning like a torch. I don't know what I did to deserve this."
Moral of the story: don't cheat, don't associate with crazy women, don't piss off your girlfriend/wife (no pun intended), and, for heavens sake, have some regard for human life.
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