Book writing 3/19

1. In this scene, the setting is a gymnasium. The gym is old, dated maybe to the 1950's and it doesn't look like it has changed much since then. The gym is covered in people: people in the bleachers, people on the floor, people watching from the sidelines. I am among the people on the floor, participating in the basketball game, the same as the athletes. The informants and I are friends, but blocked by barriers such as wealth, ability, and communication. 

2. The words that I remember don't give a lot of meaning up front. If you look at the literal words, they are broken, joined to make few complete thoughts. However, if you observe the meaning behind what you are being told, there is more. The informants share their lives with me, the good experiences in their days, the bad ones, what they are excited about, what they like. In the relationship, I socially have the power. My fixed positions, such as not having a disability, prevents me from fully understanding what they are saying and how they are feeling. Their positions also keep them from understanding what I sometime may say, and it also may keep me from understanding what they are saying. Although the Special Olympics is about maintaining equality, my positions still give me a slight advantage. I am more physically able to play the sports, at least I should be. I can communicate my thoughts better and I feel as thought that is the greatest reason I hold more social power than they do. 

3. The informants speak with their own thoughts and rhythms. They tend to care little for what is "supposed" to be talked about and often skip the pleasantries with me. Instead, they will tell me about all the good things, the bad things, what they are excited about and make fun of me for how awful I am at basketball. Because of their own communication patterns, there are large holes in their speech, and their rhythm doesn't flow, but it doesn't seem to bother them. They put an emphasis on their feelings and how certain situations appear to them, and so I do the same. I try to share their feelings for their experiences to build them up.