Ramage

John Horvath

1/30/08

Dr. Mahoney

ENG230

"Here I Come New York”

As I awake on this rainy morning, I got ready to go to New York, hoping to have some fun celebrating the Giants Superbowl victory. I have been to New York so many times that I lost count. And when I go, I usually see and hear the same things. I see people of all walks of life, propaganda, the steady hum of car engines and car horns, and of course, the occasional F bomb, all too common for me. To make the trip more interesting I decided to take along my rambling annoying friend John Ramage. John is not like your ordinary guy. He looks at life and people in a different way. For instance, he doesn’t see humans merely as people, he sees us as a class separated by serious people and rhetorical people. Serious people reach noble heights through self-reliance, and rhetorical people reach compromises by talking among themselves. He often says I possess a large amount of gravitas, meaning that I’m steadfast in my beliefs. I usually block him out when he starts to talk like this.

I decided to test out my new GPS system for the ride to New York. Anything that makes my life easier is worth the money. This however upset John. John told me that rather than using a silly device I should “find my way by going where I have to go.” He continued by saying, “Too many people live to work, I however, work to live.” I proceeded to tell John that without money we would all be hopeless. I agreed, “Maybe we do need to live more. I wish I could but I have to pay for college, gasoline, food, and all the necessary things to live. Unlike you John Ramage, I have to live to work.”

After an hour ride and what felt like a two hour ride with John, we finally arrived in uptown Manhattan. We began to debate and quarrel over our perceptions of the world around us. I for instance take the serious thinking approach and believe we are a product of our environment. The world around us speaks, and we the people listen. John however, more of a rhetorician, wants to make the environment a product of him. He wants to make his own choices in life. In simple terms, I believe our identity if formed on the basis of what our environment says. For example, as I walk along New York City today, I see a business oriented city where people have a set agenda. People know where and why they need to go at a certain time. Rarely do I see people walking just to walk. Not even the tourists seem to wander as they check out historic places; everyone has an agenda. Business people have their smart phones with up to up-to-date email alerts of stocks and business oriented news. “Why?” asked John, “Because we all want to make our lives simple,” I responded quickly with a direct tone. Of course John responded, “Simplicity is a horrible thing to experience, it severely limits the mind to think.”

John and I continued to walk to uptown New York looking to stop and get something to eat. Eventually we came across Panera bread and decided to get a bight to eat. John being the wordy guy he is, was fascinated by the use of language on the menu. He said to me that all the words and phrases were all connotations appealing to our emotions. I was hungry and just wanted to eat so I attempted to block him out. Maybe I am hard headed and just don’t care. However, over lunch he made a good point. Menus are made to appeal to our emotions. I looked over at the menu and began to read some of the catch phrases, “Ice Cold Drinks,” “Soup of The Day,” “Non-Fat Yogurt,” and my favorite “Hand Tossed Salads.” For once John was making some sense. Words have specific meanings when they stand alone; however, when put together with other words, they create a new language and persuasion that appeal to our emotions. “Are salads really hand tossed, and why would you want someone running their nasty gloves through your food?” I asked humorously to John. John replied, of course in great detail, “Well no, if you were to describe each word separately, it would be quite hard to link the words together. However when you use hand tossed it gives the customer the feeling of their salad being picked with hand selected fresh lettuce. Businesses then have the customer believe that their food was carefully constructed with as much love as the food in the commercials and the visual prompts they show on billboards.”

For once I felt John made a good point. Language does shape our perception of the world. After lunch we continued toward the parade. However, this time I was a keener of my surroundings. I noticed all the humongous words on billboards and propaganda trying to appeal to our emotions. I looked over at John; he looked back with a studious look while taking notes as if he was a terrorist planning his next attack. I said to him “You know John, you are goofy, weird, strange, too wordy, but this time you are making some sense. It is amazing to me how language is used to appeal to our senses. I’m looking at all the billboards and a funny thing is, despite all the fancy colors and different celebrities they have on them, they all have one key thing, the use of language.” “Well yes Johnny, all of these billboards are carefully construed by using rhetoric. Not only are they appealing to the senses, but they persuade you to buy their product. Just like those telemarketers that call you at dinner with there catch phrases wanting you to be the first out of the thousands to buy there product.”

It was almost 10:00am when we entered the subway to catch the W train uptown to the Giants parade. After leaving the subway, we were in an ocean of red white and blue Giants apparel. “Hey John isn’t this great,” I asked. “What the parade or the crisis of identity.” I looked at John and asked what he could possibly be talking about now. “Well,” replied John “this reminds me of how Harley-Davidson uses their image and history to appeal to the masses. In this case it is Giants fans who are displaying their team pride by wearing the apparel.” “John, we are here to celebrate the Giants, how does this create the image of Harley-Davidson in your wild delusional world,” I screamed. John, attempted to yell over the screaming fans, “Harley-Davidson created an image, the tough All-American bad boys that were always living life on the edge. Harley-Davidson however turned themselves into more than just a motorcycle seller, they became a culture. They started selling apparel to the consumer so we could identify and feel part of the Harley-Davidson culture. Do you really think anyone who wears a Harley-Davidson shirt lives life on the edge, or even owns a Harley motorcycle?”

I was amazed at his way of thinking. To me it made perfect sense. Looking around I saw nothing but New York Giants jerseys, shirts, and hats. I began to think we were just like those Harley guys John mentioned. Chances are we probably have normal lives. There are probably lawyers, teachers, police officers and parents here today. Some parents probably have with them their children. Funny thing is they may be screaming more than their own kids. For one day I guess it’s ok to act unprofessionally. However, today we’re all here standing in the rain screaming at grown men as if they were Gods. They get paid millions of dollars to work around eight months out of the year. As fans, just like the Harley guys, we buy all the Giants jerseys so we can feel like we are actually part of the team. We even put a jersey of another man’s last name on our own. It’s weird if you think about it. Despite it, so many people do it, so it must not be too bad. Like I said to John earlier, we are a product of our environment. After a brief moment of thinking like my friend John, I forgot about rhetoric and screamed and took pictures just like the other fans in attendance. I was in fact “working to live, and I was enjoying every moment.

Following the parade we got back to the car and proceeded home. I felt it was a great day and great experience. However, it was strange how John had made me think more about the use of words and language, and even identity. Language controlled our emotions, how we are persuaded, and even how we act. From restaurant menus to billboards, and even team apparel, we are controlled by what others want us to see and think. Rhetorical if given thought.

On the trip back John and I talked mainly about the parade and how great of an experience it truly was. John rarely visited his disillusioned state of mind the whole ride back. Instead of going strait home I decided to stop by Dick’s Sporting Goods. I said to John, “You know John, you made perfect sense today at the parade, you know, about how today people were part of a larger culture, the Giants fan culture.” “Indeed you have started to join the force. I am assuming we are here to warn others about the dangers of losing their identity by wearing Giants apparel,” expressed John with a determined look. I could only laugh in his face. “No John, I heard they just got in all the latest Superbowl jerseys and memorabilia. Angrily, John expressed, “You can’t mean you are actually going to buy another man’s name and wear it on your own.” I could only simply answer “Yes, and I will wear it with great Giants pride and love every moment of it.” At that very instant, John Ramage did something unpredictable and unforgettable. He dashed out of the car, ran around the parking lot and then ran home waving a book he was working on called “Rhetoric.”

Last I heard he had literally tried to beat some sense into a poor elderly lady who was crossing the street and not giving her undivided attention to his wild ideas. I guess John took the serious people approach to things. Cops picked him up for assault in which he pleaded insanity; I highly doubt there was any disagreement there. I read in the paper he now lives in Greystone Mental Institution where he writes books upon books attempting to “liberate the minds of serious people.” Even better, I heard he likes to write about his made up dog, named P-dog. Well, I guess it is time to cut off John Ramage. He has become a prime example of someone who is the product of their environment.