The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy essays

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy essays One theme presented in Pat Conroy's "The Prince of Tides," is that people have difficulty dealing with problems, so they run from them. People handle problems in different ways. Some people try to fix their problems but others don't know what to do and therefore run from them. Running from their problems seems like the right thing to do but in the end it just makes things worst because you can't run from them your entire life. In The Prince of Tides, Tolitha, Savannah and Tom had family problems and tried several things to escape them. Tolitha is Tom and Savannah's grandmother who runs from her family in order to find adventure and happiness. "Her iconoclastic attitudes and behavior make her to some extent an even more amusing figure, though that in no way detracts from Amos's unique stature" (Burns 22). Tolitha leaves her husband Amos and her son Henry during the Depression because of a shortage of money. Amos was a barber and during the Depression he quit his job to preach the Lor ds word in front of a pharmacy. Amos was getting paid less than working at the barbershop. "'We were starving or close to it'" (Conroy 314). That is when Tolitha left Amos and Henry. Tolitha went to Atlanta and got a job at a department store, which is where she met Papa John. Not long after meeting Papa John, she married him. After five years of being married to Papa John, Tolitha took Henry to Atlanta where she was living. Tolitha was married to Papa John about as long as she was married to Amos. Later Papa John died and Tolith a went crazy. "She was the kind of woman who knew instinctively that extreme happiness could not be duplicated; she knew how to shut a door properly on the past" (Conroy 147). Tolitha left Atlanta and went to Hong Kong, Africa, and India after Papa John died. Once again Tolitha was escaping the pain she had from Papa John dying. Tolitha went around the world by ship from port to port. She met a couple of guys here and there and she...

6 Powerful Reasons to Quit Your Job

6 Powerful Reasons to Quit Your Job In any job, there will be things you need to put up with. Personality differences, questionable lunch choices in an open-plan cubicle environment, the coworker who clips his nails at his desk- all are things that likely need to be endured (or at least ignored) in the interest of workplace harmony. However, there are definitely some serious workplace issues where you shouldn’t adopt the â€Å"suck it up† policy. Here are 6 powerful reasons you should quit your job.1. Being asked to do something morally or ethically wrongWe all have core personal morals and values, no matter what job we’re doing. If your job asks you to do something you know is wrong, or that you believe to be wrong, this is not a job you should keep. The request may be something small, something you could push through and look the other way, but that small thing could grow into a larger ask or a series of requests that make you feel uncomfortable. Very few jobs are worth having panic attacks- even fewer are worth sacrificing your core values.2. Being asked to do anything illegalThis is even less of a gray area. It’s not just you thinking this is wrong, it’s the law. In real life, illegal activity isn’t always caught like it is in the Hollywood-ized version- but if your company (or your boss) is ever caught and scrutinized, do you really want to be the one holding the bag? â€Å"I was just doing my job† sounds awfully weak in court, so why put yourself in that position? If your job is asking you to do things that are illegal, that opens up a whole host of consequences that you need to consider carefully. Unless you’re ready to deal with those consequences, it’s time to hand in your notice.3. Harassment or bullyingBullying is something that happens only in kids’ lives, right? Surely professional adults would never stoop to that kind of behavior. Sadly, no. Verbal abuse is never okay, whether it’s from senior employees to junior ones, or colleagues who think it’s funny to belittle others. Basically, you should never be made to feel uncomfortable in a work situation- and if you are, it’s okay to speak up and say so. All of you are professionals, and deserving of respect- no matter if you’re the CEO or the assistant. You shouldn’t assume by default that you’re just being thin-skinned; Human Resource departments are trained in how to handle situations like this effectively and discreetly. If that doesn’t work and it becomes a pattern, it’s time to move on.4. Giving up a personal life.This is a pretty common refrain, ‘cause it’s true: no one gets to the end of a career and wishes that he or she’d worked more hours instead of spending time with friends and family. Many jobs, especially ones outside the 9-to-5 template or ones that work on deadlines, make it challenging to balance work and personal life.If you find that your personal life is being crowded out altogether due to your long hours or answering emails 24/7, it’s definitely time for a priority re-evaluation. If you don’t see the situation getting better, then don’t wait for the Ghost of Christmas Past to come along and remind you of everything you missed by staying at your job. Start looking for a new job (or even a different career path) that works with your personal goals as well as your professional ones.5. Jobs that hurt you physicallyMost jobs are up front about physical demands†¦must be able to lift 50 pounds or more, must be able to stand for hours at a time. If you find yourself performing physically demanding tasks that you didn’t know you were signing on to do, you don’t have to suck it up and pop painkillers to get through your day. Or even if you knew ahead of time, but you’re less able to cope with the heavy lifting and standing than you used to be, it’s time to think hard about what youâ⠂¬â„¢re doing. Your health is not worth losing for one job.6. Sexual harassmentThis can be one of the toughest dealbreakers to handle, because often it’s not the job itself that is the problem- it’s a person in your workplace. Again, you should never be made to feel uncomfortable at work. However, in reality, identifying it and doing something about it can turn into a complicated mess of â€Å"he said/she said,† and the person reporting it can be made to feel like they’d have negative career repercussions for doing so. If someone at your job (any gender, any seniority level) is making you feel uncomfortable by making inappropriate comments or advances, that’s just not acceptable. The stress of the situation may well undo any positive career progress you’d get by staying, so it’s important to take a serious look at other job options and opportunities. You should never, ever feel obligated to stay in a role where you’re treated s o unprofessionally. And more importantly, you should never feel like you need to hide it and keep going for the sake of the job.There are always other jobs out there. That can be tough to imagine in a tight job market, but a job that asks you to violate any number of personal boundaries is likely not a job that would make you proud and fulfilled later on in your career. Sometimes it’s best to walk away, with your best self intact, and search for the next opportunity.