No Free Lunch
American Government/ POLS 1000
Northeast Community College
March 21, 2013
Reaction Paper-“No Free Lunch” by Rodney Carroll
“No Free Lunch” begins with memories of Rodney’s childhood growing up in Philadelphia. Rodney had numerous obstacles he had to face. His mother was an alcoholic and very abusive towards him and his brother and sister. His father was not involved in his life so instead of having a role model at home, he considered gang members, hustlers and drug dealers as role models. However, his grandmother had a huge impact of his life because she offered him wisdom and guidance that steered him away from all the bad influences that were constantly there. She helped guide him in more ways than one. As Rodney became a teenager, he was finding it difficult to say no to the gang and drug dealers. When Rodney did not participate with the requests of them, they would retaliate against him. They would actually spray paint messages that evoked the rival gang members to attack him. After many attacks, he amazingly survived and spent a lot of his time perusing his education and other goals. Rodney also faced some obstacles at school by teachers and other important instructors who would tell him he would never amount to anything and that he would never attend college. Rodney could have easily given up, but he didn’t. He kept moving on. After overcoming the obstacles of his family, outside sources, and his school, Rodney takes a part time job at UPS. Rodney showed his great work ethics and motivated his fellow co workers. After demonstrating to UPS how hard of a worker he was, he eventually excels and climbs up the ladder. Just as Rodney felt like he was finally getting on the right path, he was finding it hard to balance his work and family life. His younger brother started getting involved with street life and his grandmother became ill, too ill for him to take care of by himself but she refused to go to a nursing home. All of
Northeast Community College
March 21, 2013
Reaction Paper-“No Free Lunch” by Rodney Carroll
“No Free Lunch” begins with memories of Rodney’s childhood growing up in Philadelphia. Rodney had numerous obstacles he had to face. His mother was an alcoholic and very abusive towards him and his brother and sister. His father was not involved in his life so instead of having a role model at home, he considered gang members, hustlers and drug dealers as role models. However, his grandmother had a huge impact of his life because she offered him wisdom and guidance that steered him away from all the bad influences that were constantly there. She helped guide him in more ways than one. As Rodney became a teenager, he was finding it difficult to say no to the gang and drug dealers. When Rodney did not participate with the requests of them, they would retaliate against him. They would actually spray paint messages that evoked the rival gang members to attack him. After many attacks, he amazingly survived and spent a lot of his time perusing his education and other goals. Rodney also faced some obstacles at school by teachers and other important instructors who would tell him he would never amount to anything and that he would never attend college. Rodney could have easily given up, but he didn’t. He kept moving on. After overcoming the obstacles of his family, outside sources, and his school, Rodney takes a part time job at UPS. Rodney showed his great work ethics and motivated his fellow co workers. After demonstrating to UPS how hard of a worker he was, he eventually excels and climbs up the ladder. Just as Rodney felt like he was finally getting on the right path, he was finding it hard to balance his work and family life. His younger brother started getting involved with street life and his grandmother became ill, too ill for him to take care of by himself but she refused to go to a nursing home. All of