Thursday, February 19, 2009

Meaningful conversation - who would of thought?

I had planned to write an angst filled post.  I was majorly and very un-productively frustrated, so I started writing.  I didn’t get around to finishing it.  And then a couple of days went by and something a lot more interesting and a lot less depressing came up.  I figured it would make a much better post.

The context for this is a team project I’m doing with 3 classmates that involves extensive market research concerning immigrants to Canada.  In thinking about questions to ask for our survey, I had suggested the question “How do you define your identity?” (or something along those lines).  One team member who is black said she doesn’t think it’s a good question because people wouldn’t necessarily reply with a cultural identification and gave herself as an example.  She would not think of saying “I’m black, I’m American, I’m a woman”, but would most likely give character traits.  My initial reply was to say that if that was the answer someone would give, it would certainly tell us something about his cultural identity as an immigrant.  She at that time insisted we phrase the question as “What is your cultural identity?”.  At the time I didn’t see the point of continuing the discussion about it and standing my ground (though I will when we actually come to the final version of the questionnaire), but back to the point – even when we had finished up, I was still pondering her response and how it was completely opposite of what I expected it to be.  Obviously some of my surprise was due to stigmas that I have about American-educated-black-women (I wonder now if that is the right order to describe this group) but part of it was because she is part of both the Women’s Management Council and the Black Students’ Association. 

So today I talked with her about it.  It was really interesting.  I had wondered if it’s an effect of growing up in a multi-cultural society, or maybe just the opposite.  I don’t think we really got down to the bottom of it (it was after all a Sage Social), but part of what she said I really related to: She said that it had always really bothered her to be automatically associated with the “African American” group.  As though she had to be friends with them despite not really having anything in common with them.  And added that while she is for the general cause, on a personal level of interaction, it was something she chose not to do.  She also said that on those same lines she didn’t like the term “African American” because it forced her into a cultural connection that she didn’t really have (neither she, her parents or her grandparents have ever been to Africa), and it’s not as though white people recognize themselves as Irish American or German American.  

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Read the fine print => Listen to what is said quickly

One of the freaky differences between Israel and the USA are the commercials for pharmaceuticals.  Israel has its share of commercials for over the counter drugs (Head ache medication, strep throat drops, etc.).  In the US there are also commercials for prescription only drugs.  But one of the reasons these drugs are prescription only, is because they have a lot of side effects.  It turns out that drug companies have to say those side effects during the commercial.  This makes for some very, very strange text.  I think my favorite is a recent anti-psoriases drug that in some cases can cause death.  Here, for your pleasure is the text:

Man voiceover: I hate psoriases
Woman voiceover: Love Clearer skin
Man voiceover: Forget the embarrassment
Woman voiceover: And the flaking
Man voiceover: Humira can help clear you moderate to severe psoriases.   In one clinical trial for psoriases 7 out of 10 patients taking Humira saw 75% skin clearness and 6 out of 10 patients had clear or almost clear skin16 weeks.
Woman2 voiceover: Humira can lower your body’s ability to fight infections.  Some people have had serious infections including tuberculosis and infections that spread throughout the body.  Some of these serious infections have been fatal, so tell your doctor right away if you’ve had tuberculosis or hepatitis B, if you are prone to infection or if you get an infection.  Do not start Humira if you have an infection such as an open sore or flu.  Certain type of cancer – non- melanoma skin and  lymphoma, and blood disorders, nervous system disorders, serious allergic reactions and new or worsening heart failure have occurred.  
Woman voiceover: Hate covering up?
Man voiceover: Love seeing a difference!
Woman voiceover: Talk to your doctor about psoriasis treatment options.  Ask whether Humira may be right for you.  Today!

You can check it out for yourself here.  You’ll also find there multiple testimonials about the drug (the one I randomly selected wasn’t very positive to say the least).