Effect of Internet hon Social Skills and Communication Essay

Effect of Internet hon Social Skills and Communication - Essay Example Electronic communication is very popular because it helps to transmit information to the recipient and receive reply faster and easier in comparison with other types of human interaction at work. Also, the addressing of a message enables normal mail to be processed and delivered without need for the sender to inform the recipient that the message is to be dispatched. On the other hand, electronic mail systems store and then deliver to electronic 'mail boxes' which enable the recipient to retrieve the message when convenient. Following Dimaggio et al (2001): "Enthusiasts predicted that the Internet would reduce inequality by lowering the cost of information and thus enhancing the ability of low-income men and women to gain human capital, find and compete for good jobs, and otherwise enhance their life chances" (p. 38). The great layer of information and varieties of technology become available now for wide target audience. Internet has changed social interaction and patterns of communication between people "forcing" them to spend more time before their screens. Recent years, Internet chat rooms become the most popular channels of social interaction between computer users all over the world. Internet chat rooms have a great impact on personal identity and inner "self" of visitors. In recent years the understanding of "self" has been changed, because as a collective sentiment, it needs to be upheld and reaffirmed (Papacharissi and Rubin 2000). Cyberspace makes it possible for every person to create a unique identity according to personal expectations and desires, but it hides negative and even dangerous consequences for people he/she communicates with. "Cyberspace opens the possibility for identity play, but it is very serious play" (Turkle, 2004, p. 275). In this situation, stipulated gender identi ties exist only in cyberspace, which defines and organizes them. The search for identity includes the question of what is the proper relationship of the individual to society as a whole. Internet and chat rooms open new opportunities for people to change their identity and a social "self". It means that a man can communicates as a woman, or a child can identifies himself as an expert in particular field. For instance, the case of Marcus vividly portrays that a teenager can easily become a "legal expert" in a chat room. He deceived hundreds of people who needed professional help and advice. This case depicts that "in a few weeks Marcus had created a new identity for himself: legal wizard" (Lewis 2004, p. 289). The Internet communication facilitates dialogue, empowers people to make things happen rather than have things happen to them, and as a tool for creating new forms of solidarity and cooperation, yet internet technology does not do all these things in and of itself. Mobilizing the opportunities offered by the Internet will therefore always involve unacknowledged conditions, unintended consequences, and a dazzling array of interests which are not only contradictor y, but may also be contested by others. The Internet creates a new form of social interaction which affects and changes

The Destruction of the Berlin Wall Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

The Destruction of the Berlin Wall - Coursework Example The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 in an attempt to prevent the crà ¨me da crà ¨me of East Germany from going to West Germany. It was built post World War II and inaugurated on the 16th August of the same year. The eastern sector of Berlin was under the control of the Soviet Union and the western sector under United States, France and Great Britain. Technically and officially East Germany also known as German Democratic Republic (GDR) was a communist state. It existed for around forty one years under Soviet control spanning it through the 1949-1990 eras. Soviet sector constituted all the major hubs including Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg, and Lichtenberg; it was also the biggest o the spot and the whole idea was to prevent an imminent brain drain, departure of well educated talented elite from east Germany. It also aimed at keeping at bay various spy centers and other organizations from intruding.It was then when a threat of yet another Great Dep ression engulfed Europe and Germany constituted the league of those severely affected.   A majority of German city had been effaced while the transportation system remained shanty. Seldomly, refugees from the East would be seen moving to the west in search of a sound society ready to work for some measly money in this bid. In what many perceive as a rare move, the allied victors sought to rehabilitate and rebuild the destructed cities. The move aimed at assuaging the economic crisis and was popularly called the Marshall Plan.... It existed for around forty one years under Soviet control spanning it through the 1949-1990 eras. Soviet sector constituted all the major hubs including Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg, and Lichtenberg; it was also the biggest o the spot and the whole idea was to prevent an imminent brain drain, departure of well educated talented elite from east Germany. It also aimed at keeping at bay various spy centers and other organizations from intruding. It was then when a threat of yet another Great Depression engulfed Europe and Germany constituted the league of those severely affected. A majority of German city had been effaced while the transportation system remained shanty. Seldomly, refugees from the East would be seen moving to the west in search of a sound society ready to work for some measly money in this bid. In what many perceive as a rare move, the allied victors sought to rehabilitate and rebuild the destructed cities. The move aimed at assuaging the economic crisis and was popularly called the Marshall Plan. It was named after the then U.S Secretary of State George C. Marshall, the first one to make the call for the reconstruction of Europe apparently. His successful strategy later earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. (Harrison) In another move, on July 1958, the East Germany Congress announced all agricultural products be collected and distributed at whole sale prices. The move aimed at improving industrial output and formed the basis of the seven year economic stimulus which was originally meant to bring the PPC of East Germany at par with that of West Germany. The plan also severed trade and gas supply routes behind the Iron Curtain and the situation become even worse. The policies in the East could not

Leisure Management Essays Leisure Activity

Leisure Management Essays Leisure Activity The Development and significance of tennis as a Leisure Activity (Mainly in the UK). 1. The History and Development of tennis. (Mainly in the UK) According to The Cliff Richard Tennis Development Fund 2000, tennis is a world-class competitive sport captivating millions of players and fans all round the world. It was in France that the game tennis as we know it today really came into being. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries it became the highly fashionable sport of kings and noblemen a far cry from being played by the lower classes. The development fund 2000 describes how real tennis was actually very different to the game that we know today. The game was played indoors, in large galleries with jutting roofs and points were won according to how the ball was played off of the gallery walls, rather like squash. This concept is very different to todays Lawn Tennis, where the rectangular court is laid out on a grass surface and the play is within marked boundaries, not off of the walls. After its initial rise in popularity with the French nobility, tennis spread throughout Europe, becoming particularly popular in England. To day, Wimbledon and the UK are associated with lawn tennis. Cliff Richard’s Development fund describes how the changes in tennis have taken place over the years and how the shift has moved tennis from being associated with the upper classes to a sport which is played at all different levels and at every level of the social classes. During the 19th century when Victorian prosperity in England prompted a significant revival, courts were built in many famous country houses and the first tennis clubs providing facilities for members began to appear. The biggest boost for tennis however came in 1875. As said by the development Fund 2000, The All England Croquet Club, which had formed in 1869 had failed to attract enough visitors and in 1875 they decided to offer Lawn Tennis as an added attraction. The new game was an instant success, so much so that in 1877 the name of the club was changed to the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club. This highlights that the popularity of tennis has been growing for many decades thus gives us a good ind ication that it will continue to prosper. The Wimbledon Championship has been one of the most significant developments in the history of tennis. This event alone has contributed to a huge numbers of followers and participants throughout the UK and illustrates the development of tennis as we know it today. In the 1930s the game became highly fashionable in the UK, led by British stars such as Fred Perry and Don Budge and International Champions such as Henri Lacoste. Then, into the 1990s the championships became more popular than ever particularly as Great Britains hopes for a champion became rekindled with the likes of Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman. Now, entering 2006 we are witnessing the rise of young Andrew Murray who is taking the tennis circuit by storm and he will hopefully encourage and boost tennis numbers within the UK. The Lawn Tennis Association has outlined a number of ways in which it has attempted to translate the enthusiasm generated by the Wimbledon Championships each year into lasting benefits and continually develop tennis on a yearly basis. Some examples include; the sponsored campaign, ‘Play Tennis’, which is an initiative that offered free tennis lessons with the Lawn Tennis Association coaches in April and May 2004. The Lawn Tennis Association confirms that in 2004, 8,000 Londoners participated in the scheme and as a result around a third joined their local tennis clubs after playing. This highlights the significance of tennis within the UK and that the sport is held in high esteem. Perhaps now it is important to expand its target market and appeal to different socio-economic groups. Further, the Lawn Tennis Association launched an Ariel Tennis Ace campaign which was a ‘talent search’ for young players, the winner of which received coaching with John McEnroe du ring the Wimbledon Championships. It is important to note that tennis is such a significant sport within the UK that such competitions are respected and widely sought after. Other ways in which the Lawn Tennis Association has developed and increased the popularity in the UK include the introduction of a Tennis Show which has been running since April 2004 which was linked in with the Fitness Show and offered free coaching, access to clubs and information. Further, in order to establish a larger ratio of children who play tennis the organisation pioneered the Wimbledon Kid’s Zone; whilst the Championships were taking place, a children’s area is established to introduce children to tennis. Approximately 6,000 children attended in 2004 and lastly, ‘The Road to Wimbledon’ initiative was set up for young players to lure them into tennis and encourage promising young talent which will help boost tennis numbers. The incentive to entering this competition was that the winners were given the opportunity to play at Wimbledon in August. Nowadays, sporting events tend to be sponsored by major companies in order to generate more money. Last year, American Express sponsored a five-day event next to Tower Bridge with larges screens televising Wimbledon matches, tennis training and held a celebrity tennis night which raised money for the Sport Relief Charity. The Lawn Tennis Association supports any private sponsorship for these free public events because it helps develop the sport. Moreover, it is obvious that much is being done to develop tennis within the UK because Sport England has launched a website www.activeplaces.com – this Internet site has produced a list of facilities for all sports, including the locations of every tennis court in London. Sport England believes that the site’s usefulness could be enhanced if it keeps records of the condition of facilities to ensure the courts upkeep and increase the number of tennis players in the UK. The Lawn Tennis Association believes that currently a third of local authority tennis courts are in a state of disrepair, this information needs to be passed onto the local authorities to be addressed, otherwise tennis could cease to play a significant sporting role in the UK. Also, if information of facility conditions is recorded it will provide a more realistic picture of sports resources in London and may serve as a prompt to local authorities to improve their local facilities. 2. The Organisation of tennis.   The Lawn Tennis Association’s work and investment is based around three main priority areas, theses include tennis clubs, junior players and performance. The organisation has been trying to make British tennis more inclusive and available to a wide number for many years. The reasons for targeting the different areas and widening their target market are to attract more and better players. Nowadays, the Lawn Tennis Association is focusing on how and where tennis is played and organised in the UK. The reason for this is to establish where the best facilities are and to improve the areas which are in disrepair. In order to better organise tennis within the UK, the Lawn Tennis Association has introduced an initiative called ‘Club Vision’ which aims to provide progressive clubs with greater support and resources at both a national and county level and to ensure that clubs can play a greater part in making the UK into a stronger tennis nation and make it as popular and g enerate a following as great as that of football. ‘Club Vision’ is described by the Lawn Tennis Association as being a multi-million pound investment programme that puts clubs at the heart of British Tennis and also supports public pay and play indoor tennis centres, schools and local authority venues. The Lawn Tennis Association joined forces with the Sports Council and the All England Lawn Tennis Club in 1986 to launch the Indoor Tennis Initiative designed to develop indoor tennis centres around Britain. The main benefit of ‘Club Vision’ is that it is able to help any club throughout the UK regardless of size and therefore as facilities are better they can promote and attempt to attract many people. This shows that tennis is becoming more organised in the UK perhaps as a result of the increased availability of courts, the affordability of equipment and the increased media interest and coverage of tennis tournaments and championships. According to Sport England, the London Assembly’s Culture Sport and Tourism Committee met with them and the Lawn Tennis Association to discuss tennis in London in 2004. The aim of the meeting was to establish how the Wimbledon Championship could propel and promote tennis within London and the rest of the UK. Further, the bodies discussed and considered ease of access to tennis courts in London and deliberated over club organization and costs of using publicly owned tennis courts. Throughout the talks, certain projects were discussed which encourage young people to get involved in tennis (such as the Westway Tennis centre), and further they examined how the Mayor, Sport England and the Lawn Tennis Association could encourage more Londoners to pick up a racquet. There is more incentive for people to take up tennis due to the 2,600 tennis clubs which have affiliated with the Lawn Tennis Association via their local county office. The development and introduction of so many clubs h ighlights the improvement of tennis as a leisure activity. Currently, the Lawn Tennis Association estimates are that two-thirds of local authority courts nationally are in a state of disrepair and nevertheless the cost of hiring local authority courts stands between  £2- £6 per hour for adults. Most tennis activities are run through such organisations as the Lawn Tennis Association and All England Tennis Club. As a result of theses clubs it is possible for people to enquire as to their nearest club or courts and increase the probability of people playing tennis as knowledge is more readily available. 3. The Social Structure of Participation. In my opinion tennis has always been classified as a rich mans sport. This might be due to the fact that when tennis originated it was played by the Kings, Queens and nobility. This stigma has now shifted however, there are still certain socio-demographics who shy away from the sport. According to the Lawn Tennis Association, 2.9  million people aged four years and upwards played tennis in the UK in 2003. Further, this is reinforced by the British Embassy who suggests that around five million people play tennis in the UK. Either way, this is a large number but there does not compete with the number of people that play football. Of the 2.9 million tennis players the Lawn Tennis Association estimates that 441,000 of   these people play tennis in London; 137,000 of them playing regularly. In the UK many of the tennis campaigns and organisations aim to attract the younger generation to take up tennis. This it is no surprise that the younger generation in the UK are likely to play mor e tennis in the future than that of the current older generation. In contrast to the number of tennis players in the UK, American Tennis Life Magazine, which conducted a survey on tennis, illustrates that 23.5 million Americans play tennis annually. Of this, 52 per cent of players were men and 48 per cent were women with the average age of these players being 29. Further, the percentage of women players to men is reflected in the ratio of spectatorship. McNamee, (2001) illustrates that 48 per cent of women watch tennis compared to 52 per cent of men. I am surprised that women on average play less and watch less tennis. The abovementioned illustrates that tennis is indeed a thriving sport within the UK but simultaneously illustrate that there is scope for growth within these figures. So, it is important to establish the type of people who do not play tennis and the reasons for their lack of participation in the sport. The kind of people not playing tennis are those who are in the lower social classes who cannot afford to pay for a club membership, those in areas where facilities are in a state of disrepair and those from ethnic minorities, the latter will be discussed further. Moreover, Sport England and the Lawn Tennis Association have identified the following barriers to greater participation in tennis in London, some of which include; cost (however in reality this is more down to peoples perception of the sport – studies show that the actual cost of tennis membership is more than half what people estimate). Also, poor local authority facilities and a lack of investment in facilities has meant that people in certain areas are just unable to play tennis. Further, the weather plays a large role in determining the months of the year in which tennis is playe d. Those with no access to indoor courts are not likely to play tennis outside the summer months which results in lower numbers of people who play tennis. Moreover, Sport England has established that there is no co-ordinated approach to tennis for people with disabilities, thus limiting the development of tennis as a leisure activity. Lastly, due to the immense popularity and plugging of other sports such as football, competition with other leisure activities and sports creates a loss of interest in playing tennis once young people have left school. Furthermore, according to Gabriel, D from the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), black players are noticeably absent from tennis. Supposedly, poverty is cited as a major factor, with 57 per cent of people from ethnic minorities socially excluded from sports on the grounds of destitution. Gabriel, D believes that a white sporting establishment effectively excludes people from ethnic minorities  from getting involved in the organisation and governance of sport at every level. In other words, the lack of black people in decision-making roles within sports organisations means there is little opportunity for them to ascend to senior and more influential roles that could promote their wider involvement and influence in sport. McLean, L reinforces the fact that the ethnic minorities do not take part in sport, compared with the national average. Supposedly, people from ethnic minorities are keen to give sports such as tennis a go, but they do not have access to facilities. Thus in order to ensure that tennis remains a popular sport and continues to grow it is essential that every local government looks to improve facilities in their area and encourage ethnic minorities. Every year, Wimbledon is broadcast on television and in its own right is one of the UK’s major sporting events. According to the Lawn Tennis Association, Sport England spent approximately  £18.7 million on tennis facilities, coaching and promotion and outreach in London in 2003. This perhaps demonstrates that tennis in the UK is in fact on the increase. What we must ensure is that we have the infrastructure in place to cope with larger numbers. The Lawn Tennis Association believes that the most immediate benefit from the Wimbledon Championships is the revenue generated by the event.   The 2003 competition brought in  £25.8 million (net income) which was invested back into tennis initiatives nationally. However, in order to see tennis become more popular it is essential to promote all year round and eradicate the idea that it is a summer sport. There is of course little that the Lawn Tennis Association can do to change the weather but it should look to invest in indoor co urts and floodlighting through its Club Vision programme and Indoor Tennis Initiative.   In 2003, the Lawn Tennis Association committed  £2.28 million to facilities in London, 30 per cent of the organisations fund. Since 2001 it has invested over  £4.89 million in 16 major tennis projects in London. Further, Gabriel, D from the Commission for Racial Equality has reported that black people are very interested in tennis thus there is scope to increase the number of tennis players in the UK. In my opinion tennis is a growing sport. This is further emphasised by UK Sport (2001), which has explained how the management Board of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to engage with Sport England and the Lawn Tennis Association in an informal consortium to seek planning permission for the redevelopment of facilities at the Bisham Abbey Sports Centre, enabling it to become a Centre of Excellence for both sports. This illustrates that organisations believe that tennis is a worthy investment for the future. Further, Since September 2004, construction has been underway on the Lawn Tennis Association’s new National Tennis Centre (NTC) in Roehampton. If tennis was showing signs of decline there would not be so many initiatives or campaigns running to improve facilities throughout the UK. The site will provide a single site of national focus for tennis in Great Britain, and will open in late 2006. The reasons for a National Tennis Centre according to the Lawn Tennis Association are that in 1999 an extensive review of the sport was undertaken and it arose that tennis has effectively turned into a social leisure activity for a few, rather than a competitive sport to be enjoyed by many millions. In all, the evidence points to a rise in popularity of the game tennis. There is still plenty of scope for growth and the introduction of more ethnic minorities to the sport. Bibliography The Cliff Richard Tennis Development Fund (2000) The History of Tennis. (Internet), Available at http://www.cliffrichardtennis.org/planet_tennis/history.htm, cited 30/11/05 Bray, A. (2005) Tennis in London. (Internet), Available at http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/culture/tennis.rtf, cited 30/11/05 The Lawn Tennis Association. (2005) Building our Tennis Nation. (Internet), Available at http://www.lta.org.uk/InsideTheLta/AboutTheLta/BuildingOurTennisNation.htm, cited 30/11/05 British Embassy. Sport – One of the best things in life. (Internet), Available at http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate /ShowPagec=Pagecid=1065716130553, cited 30/11/05 Gabriel, D. Commission for Racial Equality (2005). Why black British tennis players are missing from Wimbledon. (Internet), Available at http://www.cre.gov.uk/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew070.RefLocID-0hg00k001.Lang-EN.htm, cited 30/11/05 UK Sport (2001) Cricket and Tennis seek Alliances. (Internet), Available at http://www.uksport.gov.uk/template.asp?id=376, cited 30/11/05 Tennis Life Magazine. Demographics. (Internet), Available at http://www.tennislifemagazine.com/advertising/advertising-demo.html, cited 01/12/05 McNamee, Dr (2001) Sporting Conduct: A survey of Sports spectators’ perceptions of the values and norms of selected professional sports. (Internet), Available at http://www.uksport.gov.uk/images/uploaded/sportingconduct.pdf, cited 01/12/05 McLean, L. Participation in Sport. (Internet), Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/participation_in_sport.stm, cited 01/12/05

THEME ON EMILY DICKINSON :: essays research papers

Poems of Emily Dickinson Thesis of my paper that I am trying to prove to the reader is that Emily Dickinson is a brilliant extraordinary writer. She talks about mortality and death within her life and on paper in her poem works. Although she lived a seemingly secluded life, Emily Dickinson's many encounters with death influenced many of her poems and letters. Perhaps one of the most ground breaking and inventive poets in American history, Dickinson has become as well known for her bizarre and eccentric life as for her incredible poems and letters. Numbering over 1,700, her poems highlight the many moments in a 19th century New England woman's life, including the deaths of some of her most beloved friends and family, most of which occurred in a short period of time (Introduction, Paragraph 2). In many short poems, several readers or critics of Dickinson point out her methods of exploring several topics in "circumference," as she says in her own words. Death is perhaps one of the best examples of this exploration and examination. Other than one trip to Washington and Philadelphia, several excursions to Boston to see a doctor and a few short years in school, Dickinson never left her hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts. In the latter part of her life she rarely left her large brick house, and communicated even to her beloved sister through a door often left "slightly ajar." This seclusion gave her a reputation for eccentricity to the local towns' people, and perhaps increased her interest in death (The Belle Of Amherst, Dickinson). Some knew Dickinson in Amherst as, "the New England mystic,". Her only contact to her few friends and correspondents was through a series of letters, seen as some authors and critics to be equal not only in number to her poetic works, but in literary genius as well (Introduction Dickinson). Explored thoroughly in her works, death seems to be a dominating theme through out Dickinson's life. Dickinson, although secluded and isolated, had a few encounters with love; two perhaps serious affairs were documented in her letters and poems. But, since Dickinson's life was so private the exact identity of these people remains unsure. What is known, is during the Civil War, worried for her friends and families' lives, death increased in frequency to be a dominant theme in her writings. After 1878, the year of her influential father's death, (a treasurer of Amherst College, and a member of the Congress), this theme increased with each passing of friend or family, peaking perhaps with the death of the two men she loved (The Belle of Amherst, Dickinson).

Global Communication Challenges: Cross-Cultural Essay

The world is becoming one global interconnected village. Because of compelling necessities in business and related matters, more and more companies are moving their operations offshore and expanding their footprint into new and unfamiliar geographies. A big challenge in managing this change is how to deal with a diverse workforce. This has to be managed well for the company to successfully achieve its business objectives. The company has to ensure that there is clear and transparent two way communication between the headquarters and the branches or subsidiaries, and also strong ties with the Leadership. (Lisbeth Clausen, â€Å"Corporate Communication Challenges: A ‘Negotiated’ Culture Perspective†). To make this happen, all staffs require a certain mastery of cross cultural communication skills. They have to be well trained to empathize with different cultural makers so as to keep communication open and effective without letting it affect business performance. Why are companies facing cross-cultural communication challenges? Companies become multi -national and move overseas for various reasons. With advancement in technology and a driving business need to stay competitive and ahead of competition, they set up operations and expand to newer geographies every day. It could be because they sell a product or service which they feel has potential to be marketed overseas. The company may perceive a big business opportunity in doing this and decide to set up a network on foreign shores. Or they may decide to off-shore their operations in order to leverage skills availability or even for labor arbitrage. Whichever the reason, once an office is set up overseas, this typically means that management and staff from the head office or flagship have to interact on a regular basis with local staff in the new countries. And if the business opens up in more than one country, it has to deal with multi cultural staff and or customers – a situation that calls for adroit handling of culture sensitive communications so that all business activities like decision-making and problem-solving take place without any gaps and in a way that is best suited to business needs. It is natural that people from different cultures to react differently to situations – for example, when the SHOE Company from Denmark entered the Japanese market, it found that many local business practices, like the hierarchical style of management, were creating barriers to quick brand penetration. The Japanese on the other hand felt that the Danish were not open for negotiation; that headquarters was ‘sending mixed messages’. (Lisbeth Clausen, â€Å"Corporate Communication Challenges: A ‘Negotiated’ Culture Perspective†). Leadership will have to patiently and successfully overcome the challenge of building the company culture amongst new staff in a foreign land. The new staff members have to embrace the company’s values and work style; this is critical for delivering good business results. Similarly, the Danish were impatient with Japan’s ceremonial approach to business; they just wanted to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible without partaking in social obligations. . How do these challenges affect an individual’s performance and effectiveness? Clear and lucid communication of business goals and corporate expectations of how staff can help achieve business goals is critical to the successful running of any business. Ineffective communication can lead to a lack of understanding of what is expected of a person in the company and how he or she should contribute towards achieving the business objectives. Many times a feeling of apathy sets in when staff feel left out and consequently their performance suffers, hurting the company’s business performance as well. When Jesus Ricardo was sent on a two year assignment from North America to South East Asia, she was one unhappy expat. It started with the very basics – her name; none of the people she worked with could say it right. It was simply a matter of her co-workers not being aware that in Spanish, the ‘J’ is pronounced like an ‘H’. She ended up having to explain this repeatedly and correct every person she met. This annoyed her tremendously although the locals did not think much of it. They did not understand that where Jesus came from, it was important to pronounce one’s name correctly. Then in the office, Jesus found her colleagues (all local), always spoke in Chinese. She felt terribly left out and sometimes even ignored. Often she wondered if they were talking about her, especially when the conversation was peppered with giggles. She consequently made no effort to get to know her team mates and insulated herself in her own world. At the end of three such trying months, she decided to quit her job if her company did not move her back to N America. Could the company have avoided such a situation? Yes, if it had been better prepared to handle a diverse workforce. As part of the relocation exercise, the company should have put both Jesus and the team in Taiwan through cross cultural sensitization. The host team should have been given a detailed briefing about the new member from N America and a ‘buddy’ could have been arranged to soft land Jesus into a completely new culture and living. How do these communication challenges affect the business objectives of the company? A person’s behavior – his attitudes, his beliefs, life style, his thinking, and his responsiveness are all influenced by his cultural background and markers. (Madelinde Daane-van der Houwen, â€Å"Understanding of culture optimizes a global communications strategy†). As companies start to do business with other countries, it becomes evident that there is a compelling need to understand local culture and habits. To persuade people to contribute fruitfully to business objectives, it is important to establish credibility and trust. This is best done by exhibiting an understanding of local habits and ways of life. To be able to recruit and retain the best employees and successfully achieve its business goals, an organization has to value the diversity of its employees and customers and communicate effectively to them. It is true that a diverse workforce helps to build respect for the company brand both internally and externally; through proper handling of cultural sensitivities, misunderstandings can be avoided and closer relationships can be cultivated between the company and customer. Such teams enhance productivity and spur creativity and innovation. And because of a variety of thinking styles and opinions they lead to effective problem resolutions and better decision outcomes. Organizations that believe in espousing cultural diversity and communicating effectively across differences of race, gender, religion, age, geographic background, education, economic and cultural background, and thinking and communication styles. will be committed to creating an inclusive organization where the differences of all people will be respected, valued and utilized towards achieving a common goal adding tremendous value to the way the company conducts its business. References: 1. http://www. thelatimergroup. com/aboutus/newsversions/spotlight_v5issue5. html, 2007 2. http://www. immi. gov. au/media/publications/multicultural/confer/01/speech5a. htm, 1995 3. http://perspectives. larryhollon. com/? p=414, 2006 4. http://journals. cambridge. org/action/displayAbstract? aid=1740740, 2008 (COSTAS M. CONSTANTINOU, OLIVER P. RICHMOND and ALISON M. S. WATSON (2008). International Relations and the challenges of global communication. Review of International Studies, 34 , pp 5-19 doi:10. 1017/S026021050800778X)

You Suck: A Love Story Chapter 14~15

Chapter Fourteen Powers for Good The Emperor was sitting on a black marble bench just around the corner from the great opera house, feeling small and ashamed, when he saw the striking redhead in jeans coming toward him. Bummer lapsed into a barking fit and the Emperor snatched the Boston terrier up by the scruff of the neck and stuffed him into the oversized pocket of his coat to quiet him. â€Å"Brave Bummer,† said the old man. â€Å"Would that I could still hold that kind of passion, even if it were fear. But my fear is weak and damp, I've barely the spine for a dignified surrender.† He'd felt like this since he'd seen Jody outside the secondhand store, where she'd warned him away from the owner. Yes, now he knew her to be one of the undead, a bloodsucking fiend – but then, not so much a fiend. She had been a friend, a good one, even after he had betrayed Tommy Iff to the Animals. He could feel the City's eye on him, could feel her disappointment in him. What does a man have, if not character? What is character, if not a man's measure of himself against his friends and enemies? The great city of San Francisco shook her head at him, ashamed. Her bridges slumped in the fog with disappointment. He remembered a house somewhere and that same look on the face of a dark-haired woman, but mercifully, in an instant that memory was a ghost, and Jody was bending to scratch behind the ears of the steadfast Lazarus, who had never been agitated by her like his bug-eyed brother, who even now squirmed furiously in the woolen pocket. â€Å"Your Majesty,† Jody said. â€Å"How are you?† â€Å"Worthless and weak,† said the Emperor. She really was a lovely girl. He'd never known her to hurt a soul. What a cad he was. â€Å"I'm sorry to hear that. You have plenty to eat? Staying warm?† â€Å"The men and I have this very hour vanquished a corned beef on a sourdough roll the size of a healthy infant, thank you.† â€Å"Tommy's Joynt?† Jody said with a smile. â€Å"Indeed. We are not worthy, yet my people provide.† â€Å"Don't be silly, you're worthy. Look, Emperor, have you seen William?† â€Å"William of the huge and recently shaven cat?† â€Å"That's the one.† â€Å"Why yes, we crossed his path not long ago. He was at the liquor store at Geary and Taylor. He seemed very enthusiastic about purchasing some scotch. More energetic than I've seen him in many years.† â€Å"That was how long ago?† She stopped petting Lazarus and stood. â€Å"Little more than an hour ago.† â€Å"Thank you, Your Majesty. You don't know where he was going?† â€Å"I should think to find a safe place to drink his dinner. Although I can't claim to know him well, I don't think William passes the evening in the Tenderloin often.† Jody patted the Emperor's shoulder, and he took her hand. â€Å"I'm so sorry, dear.† â€Å"Sorry? About what?† â€Å"When I saw you and Thomas the other night, I noticed. It's true, isn't it? Thomas has changed.† â€Å"No, he's still a doofus.† â€Å"I mean he is one of your kind now?† â€Å"Yes.† She looked up the street. â€Å"I was alone,† she said. The Emperor knew exactly how she felt. â€Å"I told one of his crew from the Safeway, Jody. I'm sorry, I was frightened.† â€Å"You told the Animals?† â€Å"The born-again one, yes.† â€Å"And how did he react?† â€Å"He was worried for Thomas's soul.† â€Å"Yeah, that would be Clint's reaction. You don't know if he told the other Animals?† â€Å"I would guess yes, by now.† â€Å"Okay, don't worry, then, Your Highness. It's okay. Just don't tell anyone else. Tommy and I are leaving the City just like we promised those police detectives. We just have to get things in order.† â€Å"And the other – the old vampire?† â€Å"Yes. Him, too.† She turned and strode away, heading into the Tenderloin, her boot heels clacking on the sidewalk as she kept her pace just below a run. The Emperor shook his head and rubbed Lazarus behind the ears. â€Å"I should have told her about the detectives. I know that, old friend.† There was only so much weakness he could confess to at one time – that, too, a fault. The Emperor resolved to sleep somewhere cold and damp tonight, perhaps in the park by the Maritime Museum, as penance for his weakness. There was no way she was going to remember his new mobile number. It was five in the morning before Tommy had finished moving all of the furniture, books, and clothes. Now the new loft looked almost exactly like the old loft had looked, except that it didn't have a working phone line. So Tommy sat on the counter of the old loft, looking at the three bronze statues and waiting for Jody to call. Just the three statues left to move: Jody, the old vampire, and the turtle. The old vampire looked fairly natural. He'd been unconscious when he'd been bronzed, but Tommy had the biker sculptors downstairs pose him as if he was in midstep, out for a stroll. Jody was posed with her hand on her hip, her head thrown back as if she'd just tossed her long hair over her shoulder, smiling. Tommy turned his head to the side, getting perspective. She didn't look skanky. What made Abby say the statue was skanky? Sexy, well yes. Jody had been wearing some very low-cut jeans and a crop top when he'd posed her for the electroplating, and the bikers had insisted upon exposing more of her cleavage than was probably decorous, but what could you expect from a couple of guys who specialized in making high-end garden gnomes acting out the Kama Sutra? Okay, she looked a little skanky, but he didn't see how that was a bad thing. He had actually been delighted when she came streaming out of the ear holes to materialize, stark naked, in front of him. If she hadn't killed him, it would have been the fulfillment of a sexual fantasy he'd nurtured for a long time. (There had been this old TV show he'd watched as a kid, about a beautiful genie who lived in a bottle – well, Tommy had done some serious bottle polishing over that one.) So the Jody statue stayed. But the old vampire, Elijah, that was a different story. There was a real creature in there. A real scary creature. Whatever bizarre events had brought them to this spot had been set off by Elijah Ben Sapir. He was a reminder that neither he – Tommy – nor Jody had chosen to be vampires. Neither had chosen to live out the rest of their days in the night. Elijah had taken their choices away from them, and replaced them with a whole new set of scarier, bigger choices. The first of which was how the hell do you deal with the fact that you have imprisoned a sentient, feeling being in a shell of bronze, even if he is an evil dick-weed from the Dark Ages? But they couldn't let him out. He'd kill them for sure if they did. Really kill them, too, a complete death, the kind with no nooky. Suddenly Tommy was angry. He'd had a future. He might have been a writer, a Nobel Prize winner, an adventurer, a spy. Now he was just a foul dead thing, and the furthest his ambition would reach was his next victim. Okay, that wasn't really true, but still, he was pissed off. So what if Elijah was trapped in bronze shell forever. He'd trapped them in these monstrous bodies. Maybe it was time to do something monstrous. Tommy picked up Jody's statue and threw it over his shoulder and, despite his great vampire strength, followed it over backward as it clanged against the floor. Okay, it had taken the two bikers and a refrigerator dolly to get the statues up here, maybe a little planning was in order. It turned out he could move the statue pretty efficiently if he slung it over his back and let one of her feet drag, and so he did, down the steps, half a block down the sidewalk, and back up the steps of the new loft. Bronze Jody looked happy in the new place, he thought. The turtle took half as long. She, too, looked pleased with the surroundings. As for Elijah, Tommy figured what was the point of being in a city on a peninsula if you didn't take advantage of the water now and then. And Elijah evidently liked the ocean, since he'd come to the City on his yacht, which Tommy and the Animals had managed to blow to smithereens. The vampire statue was even heavier that Jody's, but Tommy felt energized by the idea of getting rid of it. Just a short twelve blocks to the sea and that would be that. â€Å"From the sea ye came, and to the sea ye shall return,† Tommy said, thinking that he might be quoting Coleridge, or maybe a Godzilla movie. As Tommy dragged the bronzed vampire down Mission Street, he considered his future. What would he do? He had a lot of time to fill, and after a while, figuring out new ways to jump Jody would only fill up a part of his nights. He was going to have to find a purpose. They had money – cash the vampire had given Jody when he turned her – and what was left of the money from the sale of Elijah's art, but eventually that would run out. Maybe he should get a job. Or become a crime fighter. That's it, he would use his powers for good. Maybe get an outfit. After a few blocks Tommy noticed that Elijah's toe, the one that was dragging on the sidewalk, was starting to wear away. The bikers had warned Tommy that the bronze shell was pretty thin. It wouldn't do to unleash a claustrophobic and hungry ancient vampire when you were the guy who had imprisoned him, so Tommy stood the vampire on the corner for a minute while he dug through a trash bin until he found some heavy-duty plastic Big Gulp cups, which he fitted on the vampire's dragging foot as skid protection. â€Å"Ha!† Tommy said. â€Å"Thought you had me.† A couple of guys in hip-hop wear walked by as Tommy was fitting the cups on the vampire's feet. Tommy made the mistake of making eye contact and they paused. â€Å"Stole it from a building on Fourth,† Tommy said. The two nodded, as if they were saying, Of course, we were just wondering, and proceeded to move down the sidewalk. They must sense my superior strength and speed, Tommy thought, so they wouldn't dare mess with me. In fact, the two had confirmed that the white boy in the ghost makeup was crazy – and what would they do with a four-hundred-pound statue anyway? Tommy figured he'd drag the statue to the Embarcadero and toss it off the pier by the Ferry Building. If there was anyone around, he'd just stand at the rail like he was there with his gay lover, then shove the statue in when no one was looking. He felt enormously sophisticated about the plan. No one would ever think a guy from Indiana was pretending to be gay. That kind of thing just wasn't done. Tommy had known a kid once in high school who had gone up to Chicago to see the musical Rent and was never heard from again. Tommy reckoned he'd been disappeared by the local Kiwanis Club. When he got to the Embarcadero, which ran all along the waterfront, Tommy was tempted to just chuck Elijah in the Bay right there and call it a night, but he had a plan, so he dragged the vampire that last two blocks to the promenade at the end of Market Street, where the antique streetcars, the cable cars, and the cross-bay ferries all converged in a big paved park and sculpture garden. Here, away from the buildings, the night seemed to open up to his vampire senses, take on a new light. Tommy stopped for moment, stood Elijah by a fountain, and watched heat streaming out of some grates by the streetcar turnaround. Perfect. There was absolutely no one around. Then the beeping started. Tommy looked at his watch. Sunrise in ten minutes. The night hadn't opened up to him, it had been shutting him down. Ten minutes, and the loft was a good twenty blocks away. Jody was quickstepping along the alleyway that came out in front of their old loft. She still had twenty minutes until sunrise, but she could see the sky lightening, and twenty minutes was cutting it too close. Tommy would be freaked. She should have taken the cell phone with her. She shouldn't have left him alone with the new minion. She'd finally found William, passed out in a doorway in Chinatown, with Chet the huge cat sleeping on his chest. They'd have to remember not to leave William with any money from now on, if he was going to be their food source. Otherwise he'd go elsewhere for his alcohol, and that wasn't going to work. He was making his staggering way home on his own. Maybe she'd let him take a shower at the old loft – they weren't going to get their deposit back anyway. There was still a light on in the loft. Great, Tommy was home. She'd forgotten to get a key for the new place. She was about to step out of the alley when she smelled cigar smoke and heard a man's voice. She stopped and peeked around the corner. There was a brown Ford sedan parked across the street from their old loft, and in it sat two middle-aged men. Cavuto and Rivera, the homicide detectives that she'd made a deal with the night they'd blown up Elijah's yacht. They'd moved just in time, but then, maybe not quite. She couldn't get to the new place either. It was only a half a block away, and she'd have to cross in the open. And even then, what if it was locked? She jumped four feet straight up when the alarm on her watch went off. It was toward the end of their second shift after returning to the Safeway that the Animals sobered up. Lash was sitting by himself in the wide backseat of the Hummer limo, his head cradled in his hands, hoping desperately that the despair and self-loathing he was feeling was only the effect of a hangover, instead of what it really was, which was a big flaming enema of reality. The reality was, they had spent more than a half a million dollars on a blue hooker. He let the hugeness of it roll around in his head, and looked up at the other Animals, who were sitting around the perimeter of the limo, similarly posed, trying not to make eye contact with one another. They'd had nearly two semi trucks of stock to put up that night, and they'd known it was coming because they'd ordered it to make up for the time they'd been away and Clint had let the shelves get low. So they'd sobered up, put their heads down, and thrown stock like the Animals that they were. Now it was getting close to dawn and it was dawning on all of them that they might have severely fucked up. Lash risked a sideways glance at Blue, who was sitting between Barry and Troy Lee. She'd taken Lash's apartment on Northpoint, and made him sleep on the couch at Troy Lee's, where there were about seven hundred Chinese family members, including Troy's grandmother, who, every time she passed through the room during the day, when Lash was trying to sleep, would screech, â€Å"What's up, my nigga!† and try to get him to wake up and give her a pound or a high five. Lash had been explaining to her that it's impolite to refer to an African American as a nigga, unless one was another African-American, when Troy Lee came in and said, â€Å"She only speaks Cantonese.† â€Å"She does not. She keeps coming in and saying, ‘What's up, my nigga? â€Å" â€Å"Oh yeah. She does that to me, too. Did you give her a pound?† â€Å"No, I didn't give her a pound, motherfucker. She called me a nigga.† â€Å"Well, she's not going to quit unless you give her a pound. It's just the way she rolls.† â€Å"That's some bullshit, Troy.† â€Å"It's her couch.† Lash, exhausted and already hungover, gave the wizened old woman a pound. Granny turned to Troy Lee. â€Å"What's up, my nigga!† She offered and received a pound from her grandson. â€Å"That shit is not the same!† Lash said. â€Å"Get some sleep. We have a big load tonight.† Now half a million dollars was gone. His apartment was gone. The limo was costing them a thousand dollars a day. Lash looked out the blackout windows at the moving patchwork of shadows thrown by the streetlights, then turned to Blue. â€Å"Blue,† he said. â€Å"We have to get rid of the limo.† Everyone looked up, shocked. No one had said anything to her since they'd finished stocking. They'd brought her coffee and juice, but no one had said anything. Blue looked at him. â€Å"Get me what I want.† Not a hint of malice, not even a demand, really, just a statement of fact. â€Å"Okay,† Lash said. Then to the driver he said, â€Å"Take a right up here. Head back to that building where we went last night.† Lash crawled over the divider into the front passenger seat. He couldn't see shit out the blackened windows. They'd only gone about three blocks into the SOMA district when he saw someone running. Running way, way too fast for a jogger. Running – like he was on fire – running. â€Å"Pull up alongside of that guy.† The driver nodded. â€Å"Hey, guys, is that Flood?† â€Å"Yeah, it is,† Barry, the bald one, said. Lash rolled down the window. â€Å"Tommy, you need a ride, man?† Tommy, still running, nodded like a bobble-head on crack. Barry threw open the back door, and before the limo could even slow down, Tommy leapt in, landing across Drew and Gustavo's laps. â€Å"Man, am I glad you guys came along,† Tommy said. â€Å"In about a minute, I'm going to – â€Å" He passed out in their laps as the sun washed over the hills of San Francisco. Chapter Fifteen Broken Clowns Inspector Alphonse Rivera watched the broken clown girl – black-and-white-striped stockings and green sneakers – come out of Jody Stroud's apartment and head up the street, then turn and look back at their brown, unmarked sedan. â€Å"We're made,† said Nick Cavuto, Rivera's partner, a broad-shouldered bear of a man, who longed for the days of Dashiell Hammett, when cops talked tough and there were very few problems that couldn't be solved with your fists or a smack from a lead sap. â€Å"We're not made. She's just looking. Two middle-aged guys sitting in the car on the city street – it's unusual.† If Cavuto was a bear, then Rivera was a raven – a sharp-featured, lean Hispanic, with just a touch of gray at the temples. Lately he'd taken to wearing expensive Italian suits, in raw silk or linen when he could find them. His partner was in rumpled Men's Wearhouse. Rivera often wondered if Nick Cavuto might not be the only gay man on the planet who had no fashion sense whatsoever. The knock-kneed kid with the raccoon eye makeup was making her way across the street toward them. â€Å"Roll up your window,† Cavuto said. â€Å"Roll up your window. Pretend like you don't see her.† â€Å"I'm not going to hide from her,† Rivera said. â€Å"She's just a kid.† â€Å"Exactly. You can't hit her.† â€Å"Jesus, Nick. She's just a creepy kid. What's wrong with you?† Cavuto had been on edge since they'd pulled up an hour ago. They both had, really, since the guy named Clint, one of the night crew from the Marina Safeway, had left a message on Rivera's voice mail that Jody Stroud, the redheaded vampire, had not left town as she had promised, and that her boyfriend, Tommy Flood, was now also a vampire. It was a very bad turn of events for the two cops, both of whom had taken a share of the money from the old vampire's art collection in return for letting them all go. It had seemed like the only option, really. Neither of the cops wanted to explain how the serial killer they'd been chasing had been an ancient vampire, and how he'd been tracked down by a bunch of stoners from the Safeway. And when the Animals blew up the vampire's yacht – well, the case was solved, and if the vampires had left, it would have all been good. The cops had planned to retire early and open a rare-book store. Rivera thought he might learn to golf. Now he was feeling it all float away on an evil breeze. A cop for twenty years, without ever so much as fixing a traffic ticket, then the one time you take a hundred thousand dollars and let a vampire go, the whole world turns on you like you're some kind of bad guy. Rivera was raised a Catholic, but he was starting to believe in karma. â€Å"Pull out. Pull out,† Cavuto said. â€Å"Go around the block until she goes away.† â€Å"Hey,† said the broken clown girl. â€Å"You guys cops?† Cavuto hit the window button on his door but the ignition was off, so the window didn't budge. â€Å"Go away, kid. Why aren't you in school? Do we need to take you in?† â€Å"Winter break, brain trust,† said the kid. Rivera couldn't hold the laugh in and he snorted a little trying to. â€Å"Move along, kid. Go wash that shit off your face. You look like you fell asleep with a Magic Marker in your mouth.† â€Å"Yeah,† said the kid, examining a black fingernail, â€Å"well, you look like someone pumped about three hundred pounds of cat barf into a cheap suit and gave it a bad haircut.† Rivera slid down in his seat and turned his face toward the door. He couldn't look at his partner. He was sure that if it was possible for steam to come out of someone's ears, that might be happening to Cavuto, and if he looked, he'd lose it. â€Å"If you were a guy,† Cavuto said, â€Å"I'd have you in handcuffs already, kid.† â€Å"Oh God,† Rivera said under his breath. â€Å"If I were a guy, I'll bet you would. And I'll bet I'd have to send you to the S and M ATM, because the kinky shit is extra.† The kid leaned down so she was eye level with Cavuto, and winked. That was it. Rivera started giggling like a little girl – tears were creeping out the corners of his eyes. â€Å"You're a big fucking help,† Cavuto said. He reached over, flipped the ignition key to â€Å"accessory,† then rolled up his window. The kid came over to Rivera's side of the car. â€Å"So, have you seen Flood?† she asked. â€Å"Cop?† She added  «cop » with a high pop on the p, like it was punctuation mark, not a profession. â€Å"You just came out of his apartment,† Rivera said, trying to shake off the giggles. â€Å"You tell me.† â€Å"Place is empty. The douche nozzle owes me money,† said the kid. â€Å"For what?† â€Å"Stuff I did for him.† â€Å"Be specific, sweetheart. Unlike my partner, I don't threaten.† It was a threat, of course, but he thought he might have hit pay dirt, the kid's eyes opened wide enough to see light. â€Å"I helped him and that redheaded hag load their stuff into a truck.† Rivera looked her up and down. She couldn't have weighed ninety pounds. â€Å"He hired you to help him move?† â€Å"Just little crap. Lamps and stuff. They were like, in a hurry. I was walking by, he flagged me down. Said he'd give me a hundred bucks.† â€Å"But he didn't?† â€Å"He gave me eighty. He said it was all he had on him. To come back this morning for the rest.† â€Å"Did either of them say where they were going?† â€Å"Just that they were going to leave the City this morning, as soon as they paid me.† â€Å"You notice anything unusual about either of them – Flood or the redhead?† â€Å"Just day dwellers, like you. Bourgeois four-oh-fours.† â€Å"Four-oh-Fours?† â€Å"Clueless – Pottery Barn fucktards.† â€Å"Of course,† Rivera said. He could hear his partner snickering now. â€Å"So you haven't seen them?† the kid said. â€Å"They're not coming, kid.† â€Å"How do you know that?† â€Å"I know that. You're out twenty dollars. Cheap lesson. Go away and don't come back here, and if either of them contact you, or you see them, call me.† Rivera handed the kid a business card. â€Å"What's your name?† â€Å"My day-slave name?† â€Å"Sure, let's try that one.† â€Å"Allison. Allison Green. But on the street I'm known as Abby Normal.† â€Å"On the street?† â€Å"Shut up, I have street cred.† Then she added, â€Å"Cop!† like the chirp of a car alarm arming. â€Å"Good. Take your street cred and run along, Allison.† She shuffled off, trying to swivel nearly nonexistent hips as she went. â€Å"You think they left the City?† Cavuto asked. â€Å"I want to own a bookstore, Nick. I want to sell old books and learn to golf.† â€Å"So that would be no?† â€Å"Let's go talk to the born-again Safeway guy.† Four robots and one statue guy worked the Embarcadero by the Ferry Building. Not every day. Some days, when it was slow, there were only two robots and a statue guy, or on rainy days, none of them worked, because the silver or gold makeup they used to color their skin didn't hold up well in the rain, but as a rule, it was four robots and one statue guy. Monet was the statue guy – the ONLY statue guy. He'd staked his territory three years ago, and if some poseur ever showed up, he had to meet Monet on the field of stillness, where they would clash in the motion-free battle of doing absolutely nothing. Monet had always prevailed, but this guy – this new guy – was really good. The challenger had been there when Monet arrived in the late morning, and he hadn't even blinked for two hours. The guy's makeup was perfect, too. He looked as if he had really been bronzed, so it was beyond Monet why he would choose to get his collections in Big Gulp cups that he'd jammed his feet into. Monet carried a small portfolio case, with a hole cut in it where tourists could stuff their bills. He had primed his money hole with a five today, just to show the challenger that he wasn't intimidated, but the truth was, after two hours, he hadn't made half of what he saw the newcomer take in, and he was intimidated. And his nose itched. His nose itched and the new statue guy was kicking his ass. Normally Monet would change positions every half hour or so, then stand motionless while the tourists taunted him and tried to make him flinch, but with the new competition, he had to stay still as long as it took. The robots on the promenade had all assumed poses from which they could watch. They only had to hold still until someone dropped cash into their cup, then they would do the robot dance. It was boring work, but the hours were good and you were outside. It looked like Monet was going down. Sundown. He felt like his ass was on fire. Tommy came to to the sound of a riding crop being smacked against his bare butt and the rough bark of a woman's voice. â€Å"Say it! Say it! Say it!† He tried to pull away from the pain but couldn't move his arms or legs. He was having trouble focusing his vision – waves of light and heat were rocketing around his brain and all he could really see was a bright red spot with waves of heat coming off of it and a figure moving around the edges. It was like staring into the sun through a red filter. He could feel the heat on his face. â€Å"Ouch!† Tommy said. â€Å"Dammit!† He pulled against his bonds and heard a metallic rattling, but nothing gave. The red hot light went away and was replaced by the blurry form of a female face, a blue face, just inches away from his own. â€Å"Say it,† she whispered harshly, spitting a little on the â€Å"it.† â€Å"Say what?† â€Å"Say it, vampire!† she said. She whipped the riding crop across his stomach and he howled. Tommy squirmed against his bonds and heard the rattling again. With the spotlight moved away, he could see that he was suspended by very professional-looking nylon restraints to a brass, four-poster bed frame that had been stood on end. He was completely naked and evidently the blue woman, who was dressed in a black vinyl bustier, boots, and nothing else, had been whaling on him for some time. He could see welts across his stomach and thighs, and well, his ass felt like it was on fire. She wound up to smack him again. â€Å"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,† Tommy said, trying not to screech. He only realized then that his fangs were extended and he'd bitten his own lips. The blue woman held up. â€Å"Say it.† Tommy tried to keep his voice calm. â€Å"I know you've been doing this for a while now, but I've only been awake for about a minute of it, so I have no idea what you are asking me. If you slow down and repeat the whole question, I'll be happy to tell you whatever I know.† â€Å"Your safety word,† said the blue woman. â€Å"Which is?† Tommy said. He noticed for the first time that she had enormous boobs spilling out of that bustier and it occurred to him that he had never seen big blue boobs before. They were kind of mesmerizing. He wouldn't have been able to look away even if he weren't strapped down. â€Å"I told you,† she said, letting the riding crop fall to her side. â€Å"You told me what a safety word is?† â€Å"I just told you what it is.† â€Å"So you know it, then?† â€Å"Yes,† she said. â€Å"Then why are you asking?† â€Å"To see if you're at your breaking point.† She seemed to be pouting a little now. â€Å"Don't be a dick, this isn't my specialty.† â€Å"Where am I?† Tommy asked. â€Å"You're Lash's Smurf, aren't you? Are we at Lash's?† â€Å"I'm asking the questions here.† She snapped the riding crop against his thigh. â€Å"Ouch! Fuck! Stop that. You have issues, lady.† â€Å"Say it!† â€Å"What is it? I was asleep when you told me, you stupid bitch!† He was wrong, he was able to look away from the blue boobs. He snarled at her, something coming up from deep inside him that he didn't even recognize – something that felt wild and on the verge of out of control – like when he first made love with Jody as a vampire, only this felt – well, lethal. â€Å"It's Cheddar.† â€Å"Cheddar? Like the cheese?† He was getting beating because of cheese? â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"So I said it. Now what?† â€Å"You're broken.† â€Å"‘Kay,† Tommy said, straining against the heavy nylon straps, understanding now what he was feeling. He was going to kill her. He didn't know how yet, but he was as certain of it as of anything he had ever known. Grass was green, water was wet, and this bitch was dead. â€Å"So now you have to turn me,† she said. â€Å"Turn you?† he said. His fangs ached, like they were going to leap out of his mouth. â€Å"Make me like you,† she said. â€Å"You want to be orange? Is this another Cheddar thing? Because – â€Å" â€Å"Not orange, you nitwit, a vampire!† she said, and she snapped the riding crop across his chest. He bit his lips again and felt the blood running down his chin. â€Å"So for that you needed all the hitting?† He said. â€Å"Come over here.† She leaned up and kissed him, then pushed away hard and came away with his blood on her mouth. â€Å"I guess I'm going to have to get used to this,† she said, licking her lips. â€Å"Closer,† Tommy said.