In 5th grade, I was at a friend’s birthday party, who served hot dogs for lunch. In that moment, I understood why hot dogs were such a commonly made and ubiquitous cuisine throughout America. They were convenient to make and to be frank — they were delicious; the combination of the sweetness and saltiness coupled with the spicy tang of the mustard complemented the savoriness of the hotdog. Obviously, I had known what a hot dog was but I’d have never actually had one due to my parents’ strict diet of which they imposed upon me. I went home that day and told my dad about my newfound love for hot dogs. Immediately he started a lecture on how dangerous processed foods were and how he has read stories about how the meat is processed in China. He …show more content…
His closed-mindedness was passed down to me and I often kept quiet during conversation, partly afraid to speak my mind and partly unwilling to listen. Over the years, I’ve had my share of hot dogs here and there and at one point I confronted my father about the issues of meat processing in America. I told him the food laws that are in place to protect the people, yet he refused to see through my perspective and continued to forbid hot dogs. Our debate demonstrated the two realities we must face in order to become better people. My father’s narrow focus on his beliefs prevented him from seeing my logic and inadvertently taught me that there are some people who will not expand their point of view. Their unwillingness to listen to others creates a polarizing film that separates society and leaves us broken, without a means to improve. But our talk also taught me the value of speaking out. No matter how unwilling some people may be, speaking one’s mind is the only way to change perspective. The most important place to change perspective is in our schools. While we develop our ideas with knowledge and wisdom, we must be able to speak and accept open discourse within our academic communities whose purpose is to learn and make the world better than they found