Josh Weckesser
Sammi Dawson
Sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
First comes love,
Then comes marriage,
Then comes Phil in a baby carriage!
(It was late, I was tired, and I had
to get started typing somehow.)
A word to the couch potato
By: That one guy 
I have recently finished my tour of the United State and I have noticed a few
discrepancies. I feel I must first begin my saying that any comment made it not meant to
insult or injure, merely to inform.
In Athens every man strives to excel in all things. This does not appear to be so
in the United States. In Athens every man tries to reach perfection in many different
fields of study. In the United States it appears that almost-perfection in one area is too
much to ask.
I have noticed a phenomenon in the United States and this is the phenomenon of
the couch potato. This couch potato will go into a job in which he does not excel; nor is
exception for him to even care. He will then return home and spend the rest of his
evening trying to forget about the events that occurred around him during the day and pay
no mind to the events that occurred in the surrounding community or world.
In Athens a man who in uninvolved in the running of the government in some
way is considered a worthless man, a burden upon society. The word democracy is
defined as a government with the power in the hands of the people. If the people do not
take the power then they will loose it.
It is a completely foreign idea to me to believe that a person could be apathetic
about their own government and who serves as their leaders. In Athens only the best in a
certain profession are able to serve in public office. It is only the best and the brightest
that we trust with our highest positions.
Another thing that confused me was this fascination with the ordinary. The
simple things in life happen here just as they do in Athens. A man wakes up and goes to
his work; same as he had the day before and will the day after. Here he is glorified as a
god for doing what he should be doing in the first place. In Athens everyone is expected
to do this, so it is not unordinary for them to do so. In Athens we celebrate the extraordinary.
The emphasis on the extra-ordinary is prevalent upon everything we do, the same
as your emphasis on the ordinary. The are in Athens is extra-ordinary, as it takes
sculptors and painters many years of hard work and dedication to study and practice to
become the excellent examples of artists that they are. They are constantly striving to
excel, you would never find them at home being a couch potato. Yet here in America I
find that most of your art is to hang in a bank wall, not to be studied for it’s lasting effect
on the human experience.
All is not without hope for the couch potato. There are possible things that could
be done, perhaps just a return to civility could motivate people to realize the degradation
around them. Perhaps if people were in less of a hurry, they could be so kind as to hold
open a door for someone.
In closing I would like to say that I have found my visit to the United States to be
quite enlightening. It will give me many things to think about once I return home.