Free Essays on Jacksonville Shipyards

Jacksonville Shipyards 1. The conduct of Lois Robinson’s collaborators isn't worthy. The conduct isn't satisfactory in light of the fact that it is a demonstration of segregation and inappropriate behavior. The â€Å"sexually unequivocal pictures, the explicitly interesting and mortifying remarks of her male collaborators, and the ‘Men Only’ sign in the boat fitters trailer† are illegitimate acts that deny Robinson from her entitlement to be dealt with similarly (Jacksonville Shipyards 1). As an individual she is qualified for be treated in a similar way as the men she works with. â€Å"Rights are incredible gadgets whose fundamental reason for existing is to empower the person to pick openly whether to seek after specific interests or exercises and to ensure those choices† (Velasquez 91). Lamentably, Robinson was not given this chance, or decision, when others cautioned her â€Å"to ‘take cover’ or leave with the goal that men could trade jokes out of her he aring† (Jacksonville Shipyards 2). Also, as per the article a sign perusing â€Å"Men Only† was posted outside the boat fitters trailer where Robinson, alongside other female colleagues, expected to answer to get guidelines. Since the Jacksonville Shipyard was a business that worked with male and female laborers, a sign, for example, that posted, communicated a preference towards ladies. As an individual she not just has a legitimate option to be dealt with reasonably, yet the ethical right too. â€Å"First, moral rights are firmly associated with duties† (Velasquez 92). Robinson has the ethical option to work in any field she wants, along these lines the individuals whom she works with can't meddle with her type of work, nor her satisfying her obligations. Furthermore, â€Å"moral rights give people self-sufficiency and equity in the free quest for their interests† (92). The men she worked with reserved no privilege to reveal to her where she was allowed, nor when to go back and forth from discussions. Robinson couldn't be driven away from a region since m... Free Essays on Jacksonville Shipyards Free Essays on Jacksonville Shipyards Jacksonville Shipyards 1. The conduct of Lois Robinson’s associates isn't adequate. The conduct isn't satisfactory on the grounds that it is a demonstration of separation and inappropriate behavior. The â€Å"sexually unequivocal pictures, the explicitly intriguing and mortifying remarks of her male associates, and the ‘Men Only’ sign in the boat fitters trailer† are illegitimate acts that deny Robinson from her entitlement to be dealt with similarly (Jacksonville Shipyards 1). As an individual she is qualified for be treated in a similar way as the men she works with. â€Å"Rights are incredible gadgets whose principle reason for existing is to empower the person to pick unreservedly whether to seek after specific interests or exercises and to ensure those choices† (Velasquez 91). Tragically, Robinson was not given this chance, or decision, when others cautioned her â€Å"to ‘take cover’ or leave so men could trade jokes out of her hearing† (Jacksonvil le Shipyards 2). Also, as indicated by the article a sign perusing â€Å"Men Only† was posted outside the boat fitters trailer where Robinson, alongside other female collaborators, expected to answer to get directions. Since the Jacksonville Shipyard was a business that worked with male and female specialists, a sign, for example, that posted, communicated a partiality towards ladies. As an individual she not just has a lawful option to be dealt with reasonably, yet the ethical right too. â€Å"First, moral rights are firmly related with duties† (Velasquez 92). Robinson has the ethical option to work in any field she wants, hence the individuals whom she works with can't meddle with her type of work, nor her satisfying her obligations. Besides, â€Å"moral rights give people self-sufficiency and correspondence in the free quest for their interests† (92). The men she worked with reserved no privilege to reveal to her where she was allowed, nor when to travel ever y which way from discussions. Robinson couldn't be driven away from a territory since m...

Wolf v. Colorado & Terry v. Ohio Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wolf v. Colorado and Terry v. Ohio - Case Study Example tate policing policies,sometimes proclaiming them unlawful while different occasions strangely utilizing them as a complete source in the extent of Federal assurance (Schulhofer,2012). Fact.Thus the principle of consolidation is the point at which a court specifically and broadly joins the Bill of Rights by its development of the Due procedure Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,by so announcing that government procedural shields applies to state’s criminal procedures. Issue.In wolf,the Court applied the Fourth Amendment to the states,as contradicted to the administrative exclusionary rule in which case banishing the legislature from utilizing unlawfully held onto proof for its situation in boss to demonstrate blame. The issues for this situation included fuse of the Fourth Amendment and the absence of the requirement for a standard of rejection. Reasoning.The choice of the Court in Wolf and Colorado in 1949 held that the Fourth Amendment applied to the states, and the exclusionary rule didn't. By pronouncing that the Fourth Amendment applied to the states,relied on the joining standard enunciated in Palko V. Connecticut,a standard moreover refered to in the advanced Court to choose whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment secures a recently attested freedom (Schulhofer,2012). Case significance.The Wolf’s Court firmly characterized the Fourth Amendment’s essentials as securing a person’s â€Å"privacy against interruption by police,† a fundamental right of free society.Unanimously it held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment consolidated the Fourth Amendment. Brief Case Summary.The Petitioner,John W. Terry was halted by a cop after the official saw that the solicitor was ‘ causing’ a store for potential burglary. The applicant was drawn nearer by the official for addressing and the official chose to look through him first.Acceptably as per the standard of law; a cop may play out a quest for weapons without a warrant,without a reasonable justification when the

Sweet Are the Fruits. Through Pablo Nerudas Prism

Tasting the Fruits: The Poem, the Images, and the Ideas It is black as night. Despite the fact that the lights are on, the United Fruit Co. throws the shadow that doesn't give the sun access the lives of a large number of individuals. In his striking sonnet, The United Fruit Co., Pablo Neruda draws the sketch of a beast named foul play †the beast that ate up an incredible number of individuals, and held onto the control over the whole universe.Advertising We will compose a custom exposition test on Sweet Are the Fruits. Through Pablo Neruda’s Prism explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More Despite the artist realizes that the battle is now lost, for the beast is unreasonably compelling, and his face is under an ideal camouflage, Neruda despite everything delineates the violations of those predisposing power. Each word a boisterous cry, the sonnet is loaded up with pain and wrath. In each line, the fierceness is constructing increasingly more until it arrives at the top pitch, to die down then gradually into a dismal consummation. The extraordinary pressure punctures the novel directly through, as the artist adjusts between the resentment for those demolishing the lives of many individuals, and the pain for these lives broken. Wry and pitiful, the sonnet shapes the picture of The United Fruit Co. as the savages who came to break the remainder of the individuals down, to cause them to submit and follow the sets of the organization. The sonnet seems like a rhythm of pictures †it appears as though Neruda was stringing globules to make a string of the saddest story ever. Listening all the more cautiously to the sonnet, one can hear the unmistakable regret of the individuals, their requests for kindness †however the beast they are calling to is hard of hearing and visually impaired, with no heart to get them. Neruda’s cartridges are clear, and he realizes that all around ok. Neruda’s Life Path: A Long Way to Heaven One of the individuals who formed the writing of XX century Chile and added to the world writing as the man who saw troubles and hopelessness, Neruda followed explicit life track that foreordained his innovative work. Becoming under the blistering Chile sun and realizing what the changes of life can be, the artist to-be was bound to turn into a world-perceived character. With assistance of his interesting experience and the particular way of seeing and understanding the occasions that happened on the planet and in his own life, Neruda was destined to turn into a writer †or, it is smarter to state, he was brought into the world an artist, actually (Urrutia).Advertising Looking for article on writing dialects? We should check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More One of the subtleties that strike most about the poet’s account is the strain in his associations with the family. Neftali (the poet’s genuine name) was a lot of like a mediu m between the earth and the black market, with his fantastic capacity to feel the world at the tip of his fingers: He heard strides. Was it Father? He had been away, dealing with the railroad for seven days, and was expected home today. Neftali’s heart beat and his round earthy colored eyes developed enormous with alarm. The strides came nearer [†¦] (Ryan 5) Each of us encounters when the youth fears and thoughts blur away like the morning dew. That is the inescapable expense of growing up and turning into the piece of the world. However that didn't occur to Neruda †he never was the piece of this world; the artist could be somewhat depicted as an animal tossed into the core of the Earth to test the mankind for humankind. This unbelievable capacity of his †the capacity to comprehend and give the bit of his without requesting anything back †zenith as the kid developed into a writer. In any case, the visionary inside his was not gone. There was as yet a bit o f the young man whom he used to be: Nefati sat, scoured his eyes, and checked out the room. The words were no longer there. He slid from the bed, pussyfooted to the cabinet, and opened it. The entirety of the words were dozing (Ryan 23). The words were still there. It was only that he needed to pass on them to the grown-ups this time, being a grown-up himself. Truth be told, this demonstrated harder than he anticipated. Together with the points of interest of the grown-up life, the political issues and the worry fro the local land came, which truly destroyed Neruda. When the head of Chile consented to the arrangement with the U.S. what's more, for all intents and purposes offered the nation to the business people from the United States, Neruda felt that he was unable to take the silly choices of the administration any more. Because of this dependable clash, The United Fruit Co., the lovely magnum opus in Neruda’s money box, appeared:Advertising We will compose a custom paper test on Sweet Are the Fruits. Through Pablo Neruda’s Prism explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More There was impressive political strain, by the by, emerging from the United States’ business association in the nation, especially through the United Fruit Company. In the blink of an eye before Neruda’s appearance, the district in Barranquilla had passed a goals to confiscate the American firm that worked its open utilities (Feinstein 171). Neruda’s special brainchild, this sonnet is ridden with the dread for the fate of the nation, and the outrage for the intruders. The â€Å"flies† held onto control over the whole nation, which Neruda couldn't bear †and he never did. Adjusting Between Scylla and Charybdis: Where the Truth Lurks Like numerous other incredible artists, Neruda is seen as either the man who announced Latin opportunity from the Western development, or the Communist operator that would sabotage the most dynamic and unm istakable exercises of the United Sattes; yet none of the pundits preclude the amicableness from securing the writer. It merits referencing that there are two essential perspectives concerning Neruda’s sonnet; the remainder of the contemplations either name the current ones, or contact upon the issues that were not topical for the creator. Therefore, it would be a smart thought to consider the two key thoughts that pundits had about the United Fruit Co., the two restricting perspectives that were spoken to by Marc Mascia and Jeffrey Gray. Considering one of the most ordinary perspectives offered by Jeffrey Gray, one must note that, somewhat, this is a tribute to the late artist. Without a doubt his significance can't be questioned, which triggers the particular mentality to the sonnet. Seized by the dread for his country and the longing to shield individuals from the risk of being oppressed, Neruda did everything conceivable to keep the industrialism from eating up the genera l public. Such energetic objectives are worth gratefulness, regardless of whether they were right or mistaken. In reality, it is difficult to preclude that the effect from claiming the company’s tasks failed to impress anyone, which implied that the writer was guided by the noblest thoughts. As indicated by Jeffrey Gray, United Fruit Co. is â€Å"depicting a dictator’s selling out of progressive goals, and underlining the expectation that lay, for Neruda, in socialism† (201-202). Thusly, it was not just the extension o the Americans in the nation, yet in addition the home strategy of the political pioneers that upset Neruda and that he communicated in his sonnet, Gray emphasizes.Advertising Searching for exposition on writing dialects? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More Could the well known essayist fail? As opposed to Gray, acclaimed Mark Mascia censures the sonnet in very extraordinary way, proposing another method for deciphering it. As indicated by his article, the artist depended on the thoughts that were absolutely Utopian from the earliest starting point, picking the way of communism to mend the injuries of the nation: His longing to vanquish is, as referenced over, one to defeated sorrow (both individual, as a banished essayist, and group, as a self-proclaimed â€Å"man of the people†) and to â€Å"conquer happiness.† But is this victory of a superior world not itself an all inclusive idealistic dream? (Mascia 74) Despite the believability of Mascia’s contention, it is still progressively sensible to consider the sonnet from the perspective that Gray offers. Despite the fact that Mascia sounds rather great, it despite everything appears that his thoughts are jumbled with the partiality for the Socialism. All things consi dered, it must be conceded that the Socialism hypothesis was the final retreat for the crumbling state and the chance to battle the unshakable endeavors of the United States to build up the consumerist way of life in the nation. In any case, each paper permits to consider crafted by the writer more profound. Knowing the thoughts that caused Neruda to compose United Fruit Co., one can assess the work all the more impartially and appreciate the vision of the words increasing capricious shades of importance. Despite the fact that the perspectives of every pundit can be considered fairly emotional, their papers despite everything add to the general comprehension of the sonnet. Two and Two, Put Together: Picking the Fruits Summarizing the formation of Neruda, one can guarantee with assurance that the mind boggling intensity of the [poet’s words drove the consideration of the whole state. With assistance of his ability, Neruda figured out how to break new grounds in people’s vision of the USA intrusion. Clarifying that the affordable hostility of the outsiders will bring only the difficulties for the state, Neruda attempted to disclose his plans to the individuals, yet †nobody would tune in. A lamentable and noteworthy sonnet, it was a cry of gloom and an endeavor to bring the nation and the individuals together, making them a bound together substance. With various illustrations for the nation investigated by the outsiders, Neruda figured out how to portray the stun and the weakness of the country, make the regret of those in despair arrive at everybody. Be that as it may, it merits referencing too that the sonnet was about the approach of the trespassers, yet additionally about the publicity that they seeded. To te

How to Make Your Ccot Essay Topics More Impressive

How to Make Your Ccot Essay Topics More ImpressiveWhat makes a Ccot essay topic better than any other, is its ability to effectively communicate what you really mean to say. The answer to the question 'What will your parents say?' lies in the content of your Ccot essay topics.To make your Ccot essay topics stand out, you must write in a dynamic manner. Choose your topic with the aim of making it entertaining. Your mind is no longer immersed in the content of your topic, but is encouraged to think and have fun with the content of your topic. The aim is to make the reader turn into the subject of your essay.To make your Ccot essay topics more interesting, you can even improve the key terms of your topic by starting your topic with the use of simple and brief terms. Your readers are to use these short and precise terms as guides while selecting the right and appropriate information for the topic of your essay. These short and precise terms are intended to lure them to the content of you r topic and make them excited about the topic. Even though they may not be able to pronounce your words, they are encouraged to think about the topic and get the maximum benefit from your essay topic.The use of clear concise language is another way of making your Ccot essay topics more captivating. Your topic should always be interesting and has to leave the reader with the impression that your topic is relevant and worth knowing. You should make your topic captivating by being imaginative and making use of words which are not commonly used in English. Using words that are not commonly used, is another way of making your topic more captivating.Do not leave anything out in your Ccot essay topics. Although you may not be able to utilize all the useful and original terms of your topic, if you incorporate every piece of information that you can use from the topic, your essay will be complete. Your readers are not able to absorb the entire subject matter, but they can absorb an important piece of it. When your Ccot essay topics are incomplete, your readers do not know what is missing from your essay. Therefore, do not leave anything out.Do not limit your topic in its scope. Although your topic will concentrate on only one thing, you can still incorporate a large amount of information into your topic. Make it interesting by including a few parts of your topic that are not about your topic. Even though they may not be in the correct form of your topic, they are valuable and interesting.In order to make your Ccot essay topics more appealing, you need to learn how to use your creativity and creative skills. The way to achieve this is to be witty with your ideas and thoughts. Do not hide your ideas and thoughts when you are presenting your essay topic. Show your readers your ideas and thoughts and do not allow them to withhold.

Speech Language and Communication Needs - 3936 Words

Introduction Communication is a two way process which allows us to express our thoughts and feelings to others, while allowing us in turn to understand what others are trying to convey to us. Communication involves speech and language (verbal) as well as facial expression, gesture and body language (non-verbal). Communication is an essential life skill for children and young people and it underpins their social, emotional and educational development. (Bercow 2008) To communicate effectively we must understand and ‘apply’ the ‘rules’ of the structure used in language and be able to vocalise this through speech. We must also hear and understand the speech of others through our ability to listen and to interpret body language and facial†¦show more content†¦2004) SECTION THREE Being able to communicate through speech and language, but more importantly understand and use communication effectively is critical in supporting and developing the behavioural, emotional and social needs of a child or young person. But â€Å"if there is a difficulty understanding what people say, difficulty speaking or forming sounds or words and using language in appropriate social contexts then this can affect a child’s behaviour and emotional development†. (Speech, Language Communication Action Plan 2011) In the short term it can result in low confidence, frustration, anger, difficulty in making friends and difficulty in processing new information and low academic achievement. In the longer term it can seriously affect interpersonal relationships with peers and family with problems tending to increase with age.(Botting et al 2000). It has also been noted that a third of children with communication problems will go on to develop mental illness if untreated. (Clegg et al 1999). For example, a child with a speech and language impairment such as a stammer will find that their SLCN will impact heavily on their BESD. It can have a negative impact on their academic performance and relationships with their peers and teachers. There is also a growing link between being bullied and having emotional, academic and even physical difficulties. (Communication Trust 2008) A stammer can be very debilitating for children in a socialShow MoreRelatedMeeting the Needs of a Childs Speech, Communication, and Language2002 Words   |  8 Pageschildren’s speech, language communication Introduction There are many needs that need to be met by children and one of them is speech, language and communication. LO1 1.1 Speech- To talk out loud, to express themselves and how they are feeling, such as in my placement when the older ones in he under two’s say â€Å"help please† to put their shoes on. â€Å"Verbal communication: the act of speaking. 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The act of expressing or describing thoughts, feelings or ideas by articulate sounds or words. †¢ Language – Method of communication either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured or conventional way. A recognised structured system of gestures, signs and symbols used to communicate. Body of words and the systems for theirRead MoreLanguage and Communication Needs1105 Words   |  5 Pageslearning disabilities and needs support at school. The child has language and communication needs. Describe the methods and strategies you might use to enable him to communicate with you. How to use specific methods of communication? Some children need particular help in order to communicate and interact. Speech alone may be difficult for them and they may require special methods of communication. 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Analysis Of Joe Painter, A Political Geographer, And The...

The definition of ‘state’ is ambiguous. The meaning can change depending on the context. For instance, it could relate to agencies within the state such as government bodies, or the practices carried out by individuals. Furthermore, the state is part of everyday life and manifests itself through the combination of institutions, practices, people and discourses. This creates social order (Blakeley and Saward, 2009, p. 360). We encounter the state through people such as police officers or doctors; people we may recognise as professionals. These people work for government bodies such as the police force or the National Health Service. Joe Painter, a political geographer, mentions â€Å"every day discourses of state actors† (Painter, cited in Blakeley and Saward, 2009, p. 354). By this he means that the people representing the government bodies are ‘state actors’ and the actions they carry out as part of the role are the ‘every day discourses’. These people are physical examples of the state in action but it is possible for the state to operate in invisible ways. Jill’s story illustrates both of these aspects. Firstly, the presence of the school inspectors and health visitor are examples of the visible presence of the state. There are also examples of state institutions – namely the post office and school. Additionally, the requirement for Jill to have an MOT certificate for her car is evidence of the state operating in invisible ways. The state also dictates Jill’s routine atShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesHistory of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in Recent America Joanne Meyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds., The New Left Revisited David M. Scobey, Empire City: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape Gerda Lerner, Fireweed: A Political Autobiography Allida M. Black, ed., Modern American Queer

Zappos free essay sample

Tony Hsieh is an online internet entrepreneur who co-founded the internet advertising network LinkExchange but eventually sold the company to Microsoft. Before Tony Hsieh became famous he grew in San Francisco Bay Area of California with both his parents. Tony graduated from Harvard University in 1995 where he graduated with a Computer Science Degree. While Tony was attending school he also worked at a pizza parlor where he managed and sold pizza to students in his dorm. Tony Hsieh who is now the CEO of Zappos, helped out the online shoe and clothing company grow to more than one billion in gross merchandise sales over a period of ten years. Amazon. com bought Zappos in a deal in the fall of 2009 and it valued over one billion dollars. ? Objective 2: Analyze the CEO’s leadership style and philosophy, and how the CEO’s leadership aligns with the culture. The leadership style stated by Tony Hsieh is the best leader is those who lead by example and they are both team followers as well as team leaders. We will write a custom essay sample on Zappos or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The CEO of Zappos believes that most of their best ideas came from the employees who are not managers or supervisors but the people who start from the bottom up. The people who started from the bottom helped the consumers before anyone because they deal with the orders and purchasing of merchandise from the company. Tony Hsieh philosophy at Zappos is different. The company tends to not focusing on individuals as assets; they instead focus on building as our asset a pipeline of people in every single department with varying levels of skills and experience, ranging from entry level all the way up through senior management and leadership positions (Hsieh, 2011). Vision for Zappos is for most of all of the hires to be entry level, but for the company to provide all the training and mentorship necessary so that any employee has the opportunity to become a senior leader within the company within five to seven years. So following Hsieh leadership style and philosophy, the employees at Zappos are doing a great job by providing good customer services, ideas, sales, and other things that is making the company more successful. The leadership style also aligns with the company culture because the entire organization is around one mission: to provide the best customer service possible. Zappos, internally, call this our WOW philosophy. Objective 3: Examine the CEO’s personal and organizational values. Tony personal values consist of the company core values because all the core values came from some of the employees personality traits. As the company Zappos grow and becomes more and more important to explicitly define the core values from which we develop our culture, our brand, and our business strategies. These are the ten core values that we live by: Deliver WOW Through Service, Embrace and Drive Change, Create Fun and A Little Weirdness, Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded, Pursue Growth and Learning, Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication, Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit, Do More With Less, Be Passionate and Determined, Be Humble. Objective 4: Evaluate how the values of the CEO are likely to influence ethical behavior within the organization. Zappos has one way or another; the concepts of integrity, honesty and commitment contained in this Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (the â€Å"Code of Conduct†) are already touched on in our Core Values and currently exist in our company culture. The code of conduct applies to all employees and consultants of Zappos. com, Inc. and its subsidiaries (â€Å"Zappos†), and to all officers and directors of Zappos who are also Zappos employees. Officers and directors who are employees of our parent, Amazon. com, Inc. , must comply with the Amazon. com, Inc. Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. The purpose of this Code of Conduct is to explain in a more detailed and clear way our high standards of conduct and our expectations of each and every Zappos employee and consultant. Please take this Code of Conduct seriously. It represents a collaborative effort of numerous Zapponians across the Company, and has been officially adopted by the Company (Zappos. com, 2011). Each employee has to follow all guidelines of the company guidelines, state regulations. Letting the employees know about the guidelines and following them are a high priority to keep their job. The ten core values of the company are likely to influence the code because the support all the guideline in the code of ethics. Objective 5: Determine the CEO three (3) greatest strengths and three (3) greatest weaknesses. Tony is a very smart man who graduated from Harvard University, so his strengths can be very broad but the three that has been chosen for the CEO of Zappos are computer literate, decision making, and being very hardworking at what he doing with the companies he is working for. Being very computer literate can be a strength for anyone who is owning their own business due to technology is taking over. The decision making process have not always been great but he have been making the right decision about leaving companies, selling companies and staying and making companies one of the most profitable online shoe shop on the Internet. Tony Hsieh have been working hard for the company Zappos the past thirteen years and earned the company the highest gross sell any other CEO has done for the company. Everyone have their weakness and Tony weakness is that he is very shy and he really does not like talking in front of people. Objective 6: Select the quality that you believe contributes most of the leader success. The first and most important characteristic, of a leader is the decision to become a leader. Many CEO’s decide that they want to provide others with an idea to direct the course of future dealings and inspire others to success. Leadership requires the individual to carry out dominance and take charge in what they do as a leader. If you choose to become a leader, whether in your workplace, community or during an emergency, the discussion of these characteristics will help you formulate the appropriate mix of traits, skills and ambition. Successful leaders choose to lead. True leaders are rare and that is what Tony Hsieh is. Tony had to find what made him happy and he did just that with selling his own company to invest in another company and become CEO after two months. Objective 7: Assess how communication and collaboration, and power and politics influence group dynamics. The group dynamics are the influential interpersonal process to take place in groups (Wadsworth, 2006). The course of collaboration is rarely easy and straight-forward. It typically moves through several different phases, some of which can be time-consuming and fraught with challenges. Groups have two definite patterns of movement, one approximating a life cycle and the other involving the decision-making process. Despite variations from group to group, successful groups demonstrate similar progression through phases of interaction and through the process of making decisions. Group characteristics and group dynamics influence the communication process indirectly, depending on the reasons for the group’s existence and the personalities of its members. Three factors that directly influence the communication process can be selected and controlled to achieve a good flow of communication structures, communication climate, and group leadership. ?

Love, Fear an The Time Machine by Riverside free essay sample

If you dont know know I have covered a Riverside album album previously and I do recommend you check out the review and the album its linked to before this. That aside, Riverside is a progressive rock/metal band coming from Poland and has many influences on bands like Marillion. A fairly underrated group in the world of metal and even progressive metal but part of the reason why I review things like this is to share good music to the world that you may not otherwise know much about. Lets get this started already shall we? Despite not being a concept album, it has book-end styled tracks much like Dream Theaters Sytematic Chaos or Pink Floyds Wish You Were Here, although this time it isnt the same title with two parts, instead the two tracks(Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened by a Hat?) and Found (The Unexpected Flaw of Searching)) are more like how it began and how it ended. We will write a custom essay sample on Love, Fear an The Time Machine by Riverside or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page With that in mind, the first half of the album is more dark and kind of moody while the second half is more atmospheric and almost alludes some Porcupine Tree or Steven Wilson influence as well. Tracks like #Addicted are note worthy in their lyricism and how they decide to present it. In case youre wondering, its basically them telling us how many of us in todays world are found to be very used to using electronic devices and other sources of internet and media and can seemingly rely too much on this matter. It is very relatable too and makes you wonder how much you really do spend on your phones, computer, consoles, etc. when compared to the amount of time you actually tried to experience the world and all of its glory. We also get the single Discard Your Fears which some might say sounds a little too happy or simple in nature, well I can see where those people are coming from but in all honesty, with comparison to what Ive heard prior to it, it seems to fit in pretty well. Tracks like the epic Towards The Blue Horizon and Time Travelers also make for some great moments on the album that should be cherished and if nothing else, the reason you keep coming back to this album. I just love them. Afloat provides a nice transition into the next half of the album too by the way. (Just throwing that out there.) As is the case with Opeth and maybe Pink Floyd, repetition is very hard to perfect and make sound great, Riverside manages to do that and more in a manor that can rival the likes of the bands I just stated above. I cant see many flaws with this album and is by far, one of the best progressive rock albums of the year. Now, onto Amorphis and Spocks Beard how about it? I give this a 9.5/10. I am the Grim Reaper, signing off.

BA 488 first section Essays

BA 488 first section Essays BA 488 first section Essay BA 488 first section Essay Essential Questions BA 488 1) What is personal selling? Relationship based selling 2) Explain the difference between traditional transaction focused selling and trust- based relationship selling. transaction based ends after the sale 3) How does personal selling contribute to society, businesses, and customers? Strengthens relationships leading to increased sales and productivity 4) Briefly describe the five alternative approaches to personal selling. Which are more transaction based and which are more trust-based? Stimilus Response-scripted Mental States- Curiosity_sales Need satisfaction Problem Solving consultative 5) Briefly describe the three major phases of the trust-based sales process. Understanding customer value -creating and communicating value and delivering value CH2 1) Trust is a very complex concept. What five questions that are commonly asked by customers are answered when the salesperson is trusted? 2) Identify and describe the five characteristics of a salesperson that help that salesperson to earn a customers trust. How can a salesperson demonstrate each of the characteristics? . Expertise, compatibility, customer orientation, dependability and candor ) In order for salespeople to earn customers trust, they must be knowledgeable in several different areas. Identify and briefly describe the various types of knowledge a good salesperson should possess. Why is it important for salespeople to have a good knowledge base in each of these different areas? a. Industry, company, produ ct, service, price,market,competitor, tech 4) Assume you get a Job as a sales representative. How can you determine which sales practices are ethical and which are unethical? Company laws and guidelines 5) American society clearly defines some practices, such as deception, as unethical. Identify three practices that qualify as deception. a. Exagerating benefits, unfounded answers withholding information 6) Some sales practices are deemed so unethical by our society that engaging in them has legal consequences. Describe four things you as a salesperson should not do to avoid any legal problems for yourself and your company. a. Bribery, Product liability, negligence, basis of the bargain CH3 1) Briefly describe six ways that business markets differ from consumer markets. a. Trained purchasing professionals, ritualized, buying teams, chasing demand, larger ccounts, more buyer power, concentrated demand 2) Outline the steps of the business buying process. What does the buyer do in each step? What opportunities for involvement and/or influence does the seller have in each step? a. Recognition of b. Determining quality needed c. Quantity of item needed d. Qualification of potential sources e. Acquisition andAnalysis of proposals f. Evaluation of proposals and selection of suppliers Selection of order routine g. h. Performance feedback 3) Some salespeople find it useful to categorize buyers various needs. How can this be helpful toa salesperson? Describe five types of needs that buyers may possess. a. Functional Needs- Features and prupose desired b. Situational Needs- Ability to meet demands-timely-capacity c. Social Needs- Benefits of associations d. Psychological Needs- Assurance and strong appeal e. Knowledge needs-How something is made/upkept 4) Many business buyers use a compensatory multiattribute model to make buying decisions. When you, as a salesperson, think that your potential customer is using this type of model, what can you do to give your company the best chance of coming out on top (that is, of being chosen as the provider)? Ask what they hold in high regards 1) Satisfying buyers is extremely important in sales because satisfied buyers become repeat buyers. Identify and describe the two types of attributes that influence buyer satisfaction. Which have the greater influence on satisfaction? What can you as a salesperson do to ensure that your customers are satisfied? 2 ) Describe the three types of business buying decisions. Assuming you are the salesperson, how will your involvement in the purchasing process differ for each type? Straight Rebuy, electronic data interschange Low Modified Rebuy Moderate New Task High ) Your text describes four different communication styles based on the communicators degrees of assertiveness and responsiveness. Briefly describe each of these communication styles. How can you identify each of the styles? What should you do to communicate effectively with people exhibiting each of the styles? High Responsive Low Low Assertive Amiables-Relationship oriented, slow paced. Low R, Low A Analyticals-Task oriented, Slow Pased High R high A Expressives, Relationship oriented and fast paced Drivers Task oriented and fast paced buying center). What is a buying team? Describe the different roles of buying team embers. What are some of the things that you as a salesperson must do to effectively sell to a buying team? Initiators†find the need Influencers†Engineering Users†evaluate how it will affect their Job users serve as both AA DECIDERS-Make the call Purchasers†Negotiate terms Gatekeepers†le secretaries CH4 1) One of the most important, if not the most important thing for a salesperson to do is to ask the customer relevant, timely, and well crafted questions. Describe the different types of questions you could use as a salesperson and the purpose(s) that each type of question serve(s). . Open ended, Closed ended, Multiple choice, probing, evaluative, tactical, Reactive 2) There are so many different types of questions and objectives you may want to accomplish that it is helpful to organize questions into an easy to remember system. One system you could use is the SPIN system. Describe the steps of SPIN. What is your goal (as the salesperson) in each step? What characteristics should your question(s) possess in each step? Provide an example of a question that you would ask in each step. SPIN Situational Question- ascertain who the supplier is, purchase decisions Problem Questions- current problems with suppliers products etc Implication Questions- Help buyer reach decision†IE how does this affect profitability Need-payoff Questions- Solutions†would increased deliveries increased productivity? 3) ADAPT is another questioning system that you could use. Describe the steps of ADAPT and answer the same questions for ADAPT as you did above for SPIN. ADAPT logic based funneling system Assesment†open ended general assessments Discovery†Probe into assessment discoverys to uncover potential gaps Activation† Show the negatives of the problem from previous steps to pique interest Projection† Speculate as to what life would be like if problem would be solved Transiton, Segway †so having a supplier who is on time is important to you? If I can show you how we can be that would you be interested in purchasing.. 1. In order to successfully sell products, services, ideas, or yourself, you need to listen well. By the way, listening well will also help you to succeed in other aspects of your life, including being a student, an employee, a boss, a partner, a spouse, a parent. the list goes on and on! ) Although we seem to listen all the time, most of us dont listen well very often ecause listening effectively takes effort and dedication. Describe six things that you need to do while listening in order to listen ef fectively. Pay attention, Monitor Nonvervals, Paraphrase and repeat, make no assumptions ask clarifying questions. Encourage buyer to talk. Visualize. 2. Now lets think about what is going on in your brain as you listen. The SIER model breaks down active listening into four steps that must be carried out thoroughly and in the proper order to achieve active listening. thoroughly complete each step before moving on to the next. SIER Sensing- Actually listening Interpreting† summarizing key points and asking questions Evaluating†seeing if you agree Respondingparalinguistic 3. Weve all heard the phrase, A picture is worth a thousand words. Studies in cognitive psychology seem to support this statement. People remember pictures far better than they remember words. Identify some ways that you as a salesperson can leverage buyers bias towards remembering images to engage in more effective sales dialogue. Abstract words and phrases, be graphic, bursting with flavor, concrete descriptions 4. Much of our communication is nonverbal. What percentage of the meaning contained in communication is co nveyed through nonverbal behavior? How might a buyer express particular meanings through nonverbal behavior? You should know a couple of behaviors that are warning signs that the sales call is not going well, and a couple that indicate that the buyer is interested. ) How can you as a salesperson express positive messages through your own nonverbal cues? 50 percent, Facial expressions, eye movements, body language, posture and orientations, proxemics CH5 1. What is prospecting? Why is it important for salespeople to prospect? The finding of new customers 2. Strategic prospecting involves generating, qualifying, and prioritizing sales opportunities. Describe the characteristics that distinguish a suspect from a prospect. (Hint: the acronym MAD is useful for remembering these characteristics. ) Why is qualifying and prioritizing prospects important? 3. Describe the four main sources of prospects outlined in your book. What is a referral? Who could you ask for a referral? How could noncompeting salespeople be helpful to you in your prospecting? Where can you look within your own company to find new prospects? Which sources are likely to produce the most promising prospects? Cold canvasing†cold calls referrals introductions Networking†centers of influence, non-competing sales people Company Sources† records, advertising inquiries trade shows seminars Published sources†directories commercial lead lists 4. Describe the five elements of a strategic prospecting plan. Explain why each is important for effective prospecting. Allocating time Keep records Stay positive Evaluate Set Goals 5. What preliminary information should you gather before contacting a prospect? Where could you look for this information? Internet

Innovative Culture and Innovative Competencies Assignment

Innovative Culture and Innovative Competencies - Assignment Example Alliances are, thus, useful avenues of not only gaining access to the skills and capabilities of partners, but also serve to strengthen the core competencies within organizations. Indeed with the globalized competition, it is no longer possible to compete in the traditional sense of self-sufficiency, which, in a sense, is untenable as markets increasingly become highly volatile, rapidly rendering techniques and products obsolete almost as fast as they are invented. Though innovation has been pushed to the center of production dynamics, the hurdles to its realization have more than doubled, complicating its management and making it even more elusive. As such, firms committed to breaking new grounds begin from the very foundation of harnessing the requisite competencies, with speed given precedence both in terms of resources and organizational support (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990). It is more of a common knowledge that entrepreneurship is but an adventure that carries with it several unknow ns that demands creativity to achieve the preset objectives. Noteworthy, the link between innovation and growth has long been a subject of theoretical research right from the days of Adam Smith (1776). In his â€Å"Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,† Smith (1776) articulates gains in productivity as a factor of specialization, division of labor as well as the technological advances in capital equipments and processes employed. Besides the role of Research and Development being a key determinant of competitive advantage, Smith also recognizes Technological Transfer via a web of network that incorporates suppliers and product end-users in that very analysis: â€Å"All the improvements in machinery, however, have by no means been the inventions of those who had occasion to use the machines. Many improvements have been made by the ingenuity of the makers of the machines, when to make them became the business of a peculiar trade; and some by that of thos e who are called philosophers or men of speculation, whose trade it is not to do anything, but to observe everything; and who, upon that account, are often capable of combining together the powers of the most distant and dissimilar objects. In the progress of society, philosophy or speculation becomes, like every other employment, the principal or sole trade and occupation of a particular class of citizens†¦ and the quantity of science is considerably increased by it † (Smith, 1776). Buoyed by the assumption that there is no heterogeneous formula of acquiring innovation capability, structured theories have been proposed to explain the differences between the nearly excellent and the poor innovators. The Resource-Based Approach (RBA), for instance, explains the differences as a reflection of the capacity [resources and capabilities] within a given organization to confront challenges; resources and capabilities which are somehow unique and very difficult to reproduce and/or substitute by other players in the market (Hamel & Prahalad, 1994). Teece & Pisano’s (1994) dynamic capabilities theory deviates from the RBA, explaining

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 6

Research Paper Example This created a wave of fear among the other airlines. South west airline continued to top the list of best airlines in America. The success story does not end with these factors. South west airline followed its own corporate culture that imposed certain policies and regulations. The case study aims at exploring the problems faced by the airline. It analyzes and provides a better option to improve the existing situation of the organization. The company that has been serving the people was voted the best airline of the year many a times. This was due to the dedicated service and continuous improvement in all the departments of the organization. (Dess, 2009) The company had the capability to manage any sort of problem and could resolve immediately with the help of highly qualified and trained professionals. Since airline industry involves a lot of risks, Kellinger made sure that none of the problems were left unattended. This added to the company’s status in the market and from then there was no looking back. The company improved at a very fast pace, and it was the most preferred airline among the Americans. This in turn motivated the employees to work in a better manner to serve the customers. A company’s success and reputation is not only decided by its situation in market place. It is based on the company’s management plans and strategies that decide the place of the company in the market. Though the company has gone through various bad patches, it manages to place itself in the list of best airlines. It remains as the most profitable airline in the world. South west airline has faced many problems during the last few years. The fluctuation in the price of the fuel drastically affected the airline industry. (Hill, 2008) South west airline followed unique set of principles and strategies that help them during crisis. One among them is the idea of purchasing fuel well in advance and storing it for future

A Rose for Emily essay Essay Example for Free

A Rose for Emily essay Essay Sometimes in life, the suppression of one’s ambitions combined with the fear of loneliness can lead to a clinging of the familiar. This is evident in William Faulkner’s short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† in which an emotionally unstable Emily Grierson poisons her lover, Homer Barron, to prevent him from deserting her. Because of the Griersons’ high social status, the townspeople keep up with Emily’s every move although she had become a recluse in the years following her oppressive father’s death. With an overall forthright tone, Faulkner creates a surprise ending by using an unconventional plot structure and conveys the dangerous extremes  one may resort to in order for love. At first glance, the ending of â€Å"A Rose for Emily† may come as a shock due to the unchronological plot, but in hindsight there are many clues that Faulkner uses to suggest an unfortunate resolution. The surprise, of course, is the revelation of Emily’s necrophilic tendency to embrace the corpse of Homer. The first ominous hint toward Emily’s crime is when a â€Å"smell developed† two years â€Å"after her father’s death and a short time after her sweetheart†¦deserted her. † This evokes a feeling of curiosity as to what could be causing such a stench in Emily’s home that would attract the neighbors’ attention. Later, when her father died, the doctors had to â€Å"[try] to persuade her to let them dispose of the body. † Even though her selfish father drove away all of her suitors just so he could keep Emily as a maid, â€Å"with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her. † Because her father was all she had known, Emily refused to let him go even though he robbed her of any opportunity at love. Her clinging to Mr. Grierson after his death strongly foreshadows her future clinging to Homer after she murders him. The next clue involves Emily’s purchasing of arsenic from a druggist. When he informs her that the law requires a reason for the purchase, â€Å"Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye†Ã¢â‚¬â€daring him to try forcing the reason from her. This suspicious action evokes a feeling of suspense as Miss Emily’s intentions are still unclear but obviously harmful. Had she planned to use the arsenic only â€Å"for rats,† why would she withhold her reason from the druggist? One final hint is given after Emily’s visiting relatives leave the town and â€Å"within three days Homer Barron was back in town. † He is admitted into Emily’s house and the narrator remarks â€Å"that was the last we saw of Homer Barron. † Once more, apprehensiveness is apparent as the narrator’s statement is usually uttered only when a person is presumed to have died. These hints would certainly reveal the surprise prematurely had they been told in a conventional, chronological plot. If Faulkner presented them in order—first Emily’s clinging to Mr. Grierson after his death, her purchasing of arsenic, Homer’s disappearance into Emily’s home, and then the acrid smell emanating from her home—the conclusion would be far more predictable. ` Through the use of an unchronological, unorthodox plot structure, Faulkner is able to  astound the reader with an appalling resolution. Although many ominous hints add to the suspense, the resolution remains unknown. Had the events unfolded in consecutive time, the surprise factor of the conclusion would not have been as effective. Emily’s embracing of the corpse of her dead lover shows her mental instability as she resists letting go of what is familiar to her, just as she did with her father. A morbid story with an unconventional plot structure, â€Å"A Rose for Emily† provides insight into how a fear of loneliness can drastically affect one’s actions and mental state.

Destiny, Fate and Free Will in Homers Odyssey - Odysseus’s Fulfills Hi

Odysseus’s Fulfills his Destiny in The Odyssey During Odysseus’s journey in The Odyssey, his own guile, the gods’ obstacles and their assistance for him affected his destiny. Odysseus uses his crafty sense of trickery and guile to get out of situations, which allow him to reach his destiny of returning home. Many times in The Odyssey the gods who dislike Odysseus set obstacles to try to stop him from returning home. However, there are gods who favor him and give him assistance to reach his homeland of Ithaca. Odysseus found himself in some dangerous situations during his journey but he was clever enough to think of ways to escape them. For example, when he encountered Polyphemus, Odysseus tricked him when he told the Cyclops his name was "Noman." After Polyphemus believed him and was stabbed in the eye, not knowing any better called out to his friends, "Noman is murdering me by craft. Force there is none" (87). Odysseus’ power over his enemy is once again confirmed by his wit more than by physical force. Although this sense of guile is at his enemy’s expense, there exists a touch of dramatic irony that helps the reader to take part in knowing something that Odysseus’ enemy doesn’t know. To get his way with Calypso, Odysseus flatters her to persuade her to free him from captivity. Odysseus sweet-talks Calypso and then states his destiny when he says, "Powerful goddess, do not be wroth at what I say. Full well I know that heedful Penelope, compared with you, is poor to look upon in height and beauty; for she is human, but you are an immortal, young forever. Yet even so, I wish-yes, every day I long-to travel home and see my day of coming" (49). Odysseus’ day of coming stands for hi... ...other of this Scylla, who bore her a bane to humankind; she will restrain her from a second onset" (116). Odysseus has to stop thinking that fighting always works. It is best to run and take the easy and safe way out when he is fighting a more powerful being than himself. Odysseus’ own guile, the gods’ obstacles, and their assistance for him are all factors that affected his fate during his journey. His guile to make difficult situations seem simple became very handy in escaping the dangerous times and allowed him to move further in his odyssey. The gods who dislike him sent storms or traps in their attempts to cease and stop Odysseus’ journey home. The gods who approve of Odysseus’ return home, for instance Athena, Hermes, and Circe, assisted him in many ways to ease his way home to his home in Ithaca and to fulfill his destiny.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 19

Chapter 19 Another day spent wandering the city with the angel, another dream of the woman standing at the foot of my bed, and I awoke finally – after all these years – to understand what Joshua must have felt, at least at times, as the only one of his kind. I know he said again and again that he was the son of man, born of a woman, one of us, but it was the paternal part of his heritage that made him different. Now, since I'm fairly sure I am the only person walking the earth who was doing so two thousand years ago, I have an acute sense of what it is to be unique, to be the one and only. It's lonely. That's why Joshua went into those mountains so often, and stayed so long in the company of the creature. Last night I dreamed that the angel was talking to someone in the room while I slept. In the dream I heard him say, â€Å"Maybe it would be best just to kill him when he finishes. Snap his neck, shove him into a storm sewer.† Strange, though, there wasn't the least bit of malice in the angel's voice. On the contrary, he sounded very forlorn. That's how I know it was a dream. I never thought I'd be happy to get back to the monastery, but after trudging through the snow for half the day, the dank stone walls and dark hallways were as welcoming as a warmly lit hearth. Half of the rice we had collected as alms was immediately boiled, then packed into bamboo cylinders about a hand wide and as long as a man's leg, then half of the root vegetables were stored away while the rest were packed into satchels along with some salt and more bamboo cylinders filled with cold tea. We had just enough time to chase the chill out of our limbs by the cook fires, then Gaspar had us take up the cylinders and the satchels and he led us out into the mountains. I had never noticed when the other monks left on the pilgrimage of secret meditation that they were carrying so much food. And with all this food, much more than we could eat in the four or five days we were gone, why had Joshua and I been training for this by fasting? Traveling higher into the mountains was actually easier for a while, as the snow had been blown off the trail. It was when we came to the high plateaus where the yak grazed and the snow drifted that the going became difficult. We took turns at the head of the line, plowing a trail through the snow. As we climbed, the air became so thin that even the highly conditioned monks had to stop frequently to catch their breaths. At the same time, the wind bit through our robes and leggings as if they weren't there. That there was not enough air to breathe, yet the movement of the air would chill our bones, I suppose is ironic, yet I was having a hard time appreciating it even then. I said, â€Å"Why couldn't you just go to the rabbis and learn to be the Messiah like everyone else? Do you remember any snow in the story of Moses? No. Did the Lord appear to Moses in the form of a snow bank? I don't think so. Did Elijah ascend to heaven on a chariot of ice? Nope. Did Daniel come forth unharmed from a blizzard? No. Our people are about fire, Joshua, not ice. I don't remember any snow in all of the Torah. The Lord probably doesn't even go to places where it snows. This is a huge mistake, we never should have come, we should go home as soon as this is over, and in conclusion, I can't feel my feet.† I was out of breath and wheezing. â€Å"Daniel didn't come forth from the fire,† Joshua said calmly. â€Å"Well, who can blame him, it was probably warm in there.† â€Å"He came forth unharmed from the lion's den,† said Josh. â€Å"Here,† said Gaspar, stopping any further discussion. He put down his parcels and sat down. â€Å"Where?† I said. We were under a low overhang, out of the wind, and mostly out of the snow, but it was hardly what you could call shelter. Still, the other monks, including Joshua, shed their packs and sat, affecting the meditation posture and holding their hands in the mudra of all-giving compassion (which, strangely enough, is the same hand gesture that modern people use for â€Å"okay.† Makes you think). â€Å"We can't be here. There's no here here,† I said. â€Å"Exactly,† said Gaspar. â€Å"Contemplate that.† So I sat. Joshua and the others seemed impervious to the cold and as frost formed on my eyelashes and clothing, the light dusting of ice crystals that covered the ground and rocks around each of them began to melt, as if there was a flame burning inside of them. Whenever the wind died, I noticed steam rising off of Gaspar as his damp robe gave up its moisture to the chill air. When Joshua and I first learned to meditate, we had been taught to be hyperaware of everything around us, connected, but the state that my fellow monks were in now was one of trance, of separation, of exclusion. They had each constructed some sort of mental shelter in which they were happily sitting, while I, quite literally, was freezing to death. â€Å"Joshua, I need a little help here,† I said, but my friend didn't move a muscle. If it weren't for the steady stream of his breath I would have thought him frozen himself. I tapped him on the shoulder, but received no response whatsoever. I tried to get the attention of each of the other four monks, but they too gave no reaction to my prodding. I even pushed Gaspar hard enough to knock him over, yet he stayed in the sitting position, looking like a statue of the Buddha that had tumbled from its pedestal. Still, as I touched each of my companions I could feel the heat coming off of him. Since it was obvious that I wasn't going to learn how to reach this trance state in time to save my own life, my only alternative was to take advantage of theirs. At first I arranged the monks in a large pile, trying to keep the elbows and knees out of the eyes and yarbles, out of respect and in the spirit of the infinitely compassionate Buddha and stuff. Although the warmth coming off them was impressive, I found that I could only keep one side of me warm at a time. Soon, by arranging my friends in a circle facing outward, and sitting in the middle, I was able to construct an envelope of comfort that kept the chill at bay. Ideally, I could have used a couple of more monks to stretch over the top of my hut to block the wind, but as the Buddha said, life is suffering and all, so I suffered. After I heated some tea on Number Seven monk's head and tucked one of the cylinders of rice under Gaspar's arm until it was warm, I was able to enjoy a pleasant repast and dropped off to sleep with a full belly. I awoke to what sounded like the entire Roman army trying to slurp the anchovies out of the Mediterranean Sea. When I opened my eyes I saw the source of the noise and nearly tumbled over backward trying to back away. A huge, furry creature, half again as tall as any man I had ever seen was trying to slurp the tea out of one of the bamboo cylinders, but the tea had frozen to slush and the creature looked as if he might suck the top of his head in if he continued. Yes, he looked sort of like a man, except his entire body was covered with a long white fur. His eyes were as large as a cow's, with crystal blue irises and pinpoint pupils. Thick black eyelashes knitted together when he blinked. He had long black nails on his hands, which were similar to a man's except twice the size, and the only clothing he wore at all were some sort of boots that looked to be made of yak skin. The impressive array of tackle swinging between the creature's legs tipped me off to his maleness. I looked around at the circle of monks to see if anyone had noticed that our supplies were being raided by a woolly beast, but they were all deeply entranced. The creature slurped again from the cylinder, then pounded on the side of it with his hand, as if to dislodge the contents, then looked at me as if asking for help. Whatever terror I felt melted away the second I looked into the creature's eyes. There wasn't the hint of aggression there, not a glint of violence or threat. I picked up the cylinder of tea that I had heated on Number Three's head. It sloshed in my hand, indicating that it hadn't frozen during my nap, so I held it out to the creature. He reached over Joshua's head and took the cylinder, pulled the cork from the end, and drank greedily. I took the moment to kick my friend in the kidney. â€Å"Josh, snap out of it. You need to see this.† I got no response, so I reached around and pinched my friend's nostrils shut. To master meditation the student must first master his breath. The savior made a snorting sound and came out of his trance gasping and twisting in my grip. He was facing me when I finally let go. â€Å"What?† Josh said. I pointed behind him and Joshua turned around to witness the full glory of the big furry white guy. â€Å"Holy moly!† Big Furry jumped back cradling his tea like a threatened infant and made some vocalization which wasn't quite language. (But if it had been, it would probably have translated as â€Å"Holy Moly,† as well.) It was nice to see Joshua's masterful control slip to reveal a vulnerable underbelly of confusion. â€Å"What†¦I mean who†¦I mean, what is that?† â€Å"Not a Jew,† I said helpfully, pointing to about a yard of foreskin. â€Å"Well, I can see it's not a Jew, but that doesn't narrow it down much, does it?† Strangely, I seemed to be enjoying this much more than my two semi-terrified cohorts. â€Å"Well, do you remember when Gaspar gave us the rules of the monastery, and we wondered about the one that said we were not to kill a human or someone like a human?† â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"Well, he's someone like a human, I guess.† â€Å"Okay.† Joshua climbed to his feet and looked at Big Furry. Big Furry straightened up and looked at Joshua, tilting his head from side to side. Joshua smiled. Big Furry smiled back. Black lips, really long sharp canines. â€Å"Big teeth,† I said. â€Å"Very big teeth.† Joshua held his hand out to the creature. The creature reached out to Joshua and ever so gently took the Messiah's smaller hand in his great paw†¦and wrenched Joshua off his feet, catching him in a hug and squeezing him so hard that his beatific eyes started to bug out. â€Å"Help,† squeaked Joshua. The creature licked the top of Joshua's head with a long blue tongue. â€Å"He likes you,† I said. â€Å"He's tasting me,† Joshua said. I thought of how my friend had fearlessly yanked the tail of the demon Catch, of how he had faced so many dangers with total calm. I thought of the times he had saved me, both from outside dangers and from myself, and I thought of the kindness in his eyes that ran deeper than sea, and I said: â€Å"Naw, he likes you.† I thought I'd try another language to see if the creature might better comprehend my meaning: â€Å"You like Joshua, don't you? Yes you do. Yes you do. He wuvs his widdle Joshua. Yes he does.† Baby talk is the universal language. The words are different, but the meaning and sound is the same. The creature nuzzled Joshua up under its chin, then licked his head again, this time leaving a steaming trail of green-tea-stained saliva behind on my friend's scalp. â€Å"Yuck,† said Joshua. â€Å"What is this thing?† â€Å"It's a yeti,† said Gaspar from behind me, obviously having been roused from his trance. â€Å"An abominable snowman.† â€Å"This is what happens when you fuck a sheep!?† I exclaimed. â€Å"Not an abomination,† Josh said, â€Å"abominable.† The yeti licked him on the cheek. Joshua tried to push away. To Gaspar he said, â€Å"Am I in danger?† Gaspar shrugged. â€Å"Does a dog have a Buddha nature?† â€Å"Please, Gaspar,† Joshua said. â€Å"This is a question of practical application, not spiritual growth.† The yeti sighed and licked Josh's cheek again. I guessed that the creature must have a tongue as rough as a cat's, as Joshua's cheek was going pink with abrasion. â€Å"Turn the other cheek, Josh,† I said. â€Å"Let him wear the other one out.† â€Å"I'm going to remember this,† Joshua said. â€Å"Gaspar, will he harm me?† â€Å"I don't know. No one has ever gotten that close to him before. Usually he comes while we are in trance and disappears with the food. We are lucky to even get a glimpse of him.† â€Å"Put me down, please,† said Josh to the creature. â€Å"Please put me down.† The yeti set Joshua back on his feet on the ground. By this time the other monks were coming out of their trances. Number Seventeen squealed like a frying squirrel when he saw the yeti so close. The yeti crouched and bared his teeth. â€Å"Stop that!† barked Joshua to Seventeen. â€Å"You're scaring him.† â€Å"Give him some rice,† said Gaspar. I took the cylinder I had warmed and handed it to the yeti. He popped off the top and began scooping out rice with a long finger, licking the grains off his fingers like they were termites about to make their escape. Meanwhile Joshua backed away from the yeti so that he stood beside Gaspar. â€Å"This is why you come here? Why after alms you carry so much food up the mountain?† Gaspar nodded. â€Å"He's the last of his kind. He has no one to help him gather food. No one to talk to.† â€Å"But what is he? What is a yeti?† â€Å"We like to think of him as a gift. He is a vision of one of the many lives a man might live before he reaches nirvana. We believe he is as close to a perfect being as can be achieved on this plane of existence.† â€Å"How do you know he is the only one?† â€Å"He told me.† â€Å"He talks?† â€Å"No, he sings. Wait.† As we watched the yeti eat, each of the monks came forward and put his cylinders of food and tea in front of the creature. The yeti looked up from his eating only occasionally, as if his whole universe resided in that bamboo pipe full of rice, yet I could tell that behind those ice-blue eyes the creature was counting, figuring, rationing the supplies we had brought. â€Å"Where does he live?† I asked Gaspar. â€Å"We don't know. A cave somewhere, I suppose. He has never taken us there, and we don't look for it.† Once all the food was put before the yeti, Gaspar signaled to the other monks and they started backing out from under the overhang into the snow, bowing to the yeti as they went. â€Å"It is time for us to go,† Gaspar said. â€Å"He doesn't want our company.† Joshua and I followed our fellow monks back into the snow, following a path they were blazing back the way we had come. The yeti watched us leave, and every time I looked back he was still watching, until we were far enough away that he became little more than an outline against the white of the mountain. When at last we climbed out of the valley, and even the great sheltering overhang was out of sight, we heard the yeti's song. Nothing, not even the blowing of the ram's horn back home, not the war cries of bandits, not the singing of mourners, nothing I had ever heard had reached inside of me the way the yeti's song did. It was a high wailing, but with stops and pulses like the muted sound of a heart beating, and it carried all through the valley. The yeti held his keening notes far longer than any human breath could sustain. The effect was as if someone was emptying a huge cask of sadness down my throat until I thought I'd collapse or explode with the grief. It was the sound of a t housand hungry children crying, ten thousand widows tearing their hair over their husbands' graves, a chorus of angels singing the last dirge on the day of God's death. I covered my ears and fell to my knees in the snow. I looked at Joshua and tears were streaming down his cheeks. The other monks were hunched over as if shielding themselves from a hailstorm. Gaspar cringed as he looked at us, and I could see then that he was, indeed, a very old man. Not as old as Balthasar, perhaps, but the face of suffering was upon him. â€Å"So you see,† the abbot said, â€Å"he is the only one of his kind. Alone.† You didn't have to understand the yeti's language, if he had one, to know that Gaspar was right. â€Å"No he's not,† said Joshua. â€Å"I'm going to him.† Gaspar took Joshua's arm to stop him. â€Å"Everything is as it should be.† â€Å"No,† said Joshua. â€Å"It is not.† Gaspar pulled his hand back as if he had plunged it into a flame – a strange reaction, as I had actually seen the monk put his hand in flame with less reaction as part of the kung fu regimen. â€Å"Let him be,† I said to Gaspar, not sure at the time why I was doing it. Joshua headed back into the valley by himself, having not said another word to us. â€Å"He'll be back when it's time,† I said. â€Å"What do you know?† snapped Gaspar in a distinctly unenlightened way. â€Å"You'll be working off your karma for a thousand years as a dung beetle just to evolve to the point of being dense.† I didn't say anything. I simply bowed, then turned and followed my brother monks back to the monastery. It was a week before Joshua returned to us, and it was another day before he and I actually had time to speak. We were in the dining hall, and Joshua had eaten his own rice as well as mine. In the meantime, I had applied a lot of thought to the plight of the abominable snowman and, more important, to his origins. â€Å"Do you think there were a lot of them, Josh?† â€Å"Yes. Never as many as there are men, but there were many more.† â€Å"What happened to them?† â€Å"I'm not sure. When the yeti sings I see pictures in my head. I saw that men came to these mountains and killed the yeti. They had no instinct to fight. Most just stood in place and watched as they were slaughtered. Perplexed by man's evil. Others ran higher and higher into the mountains. I think that this one had a mate and a family. They starved or died of some slow sickness. I can't tell.† â€Å"Is he a man?† â€Å"I don't think he is a man,† said Joshua. â€Å"Is he an animal?† â€Å"No, I don't think he's an animal either. He knows who he is. He knows he is the only one.† â€Å"I think I know what he is.† Joshua regarded me over the rim of his bowl. â€Å"Well?† â€Å"Well, do you remember the monkey feet Balthasar bought from the old woman in Antioch, how they looked like little human feet?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"And you have to admit that the yeti looks very much like a man. More like a man than he does any other creature, right? Well, what if he is a creature who is becoming a man? What if he isn't really the last of his kind, but the first of ours? What made me think of it was how Gaspar talks about how we work off our karma in different incarnations, as different creatures. As we learn more in each lifetime we may become a higher creature as we go. Well, maybe creatures do that too. Maybe as the yeti needs to live where it is warmer he loses his fur. Or as the monkeys need to, I don't know, run cattle and sheep, they become bigger. Not all at once, but through many incarnations. Maybe creatures evolve the way Gaspar believes the soul evolves. What do you think?† Joshua stroked his chin for a moment and stared at me as if he was deep in thought, while at the same time I thought he might burst out laughing any second. I'd spent a whole week thinking about this. This theory had vexed me through all of my training, all of my meditations since we'd made the pilgrimage to the yeti's valley. I wanted some sort of acknowledgment from Joshua for my effort, if nothing else. â€Å"Biff,† he said, â€Å"that may be the dumbest idea you've ever had.† â€Å"So you don't think it's possible?† â€Å"Why would the Lord create a creature only to have it die out? Why would the Lord allow that?† Joshua said. â€Å"What about the flood? All but Noah and his family were killed.† â€Å"But that was because people had become wicked. The yeti isn't wicked. If anything, his kind have died out because they have no capacity for wickedness.† â€Å"So, you're the Son of God, you explain it to me.† â€Å"It is God's will,† said Joshua, â€Å"that the yeti disappear.† â€Å"Because they had no trace of wickedness?† I said sarcastically. â€Å"If the yeti isn't a man, then he's not a sinner either. He's innocent.† Joshua nodded, staring into his now-empty bowl. â€Å"Yes. He's innocent.† He stood and bowed to me, which was something he almost never did unless we were training. â€Å"I'm tired now, Biff. I have to sleep and pray.† â€Å"Sorry, Josh, I didn't mean to make you sad. I thought it was an interesting theory.† He smiled weakly at me, then bowed his head and shuffled off to his cell. Over the next few years Joshua spent at least a week out of every month in the mountains with the yeti, going up not only with every group after alms, but often going up into the mountains by himself for days or, in the summer, weeks at a time. He never talked about what he did while in the mountains, except, he told me, that the yeti had taken him to the cave where he lived and had shown him the bones of his people. My friend had found something with the yeti, and although I didn't have the courage to ask him, I suspect the bond he shared with the snowman was the knowledge that they were both unique creatures, nothing like either of them walked the face of the earth, and regardless of the connection each might feel with God and the universe, at that time, in that place, but for each other, they were utterly alone. Gaspar didn't forbid Joshua's pilgrimages, and indeed, he went out of his way to act as if he didn't notice when Twenty-Two Monk was gone, yet I could tell there was some unease in the abbot whenever Joshua was away. We both continued to drill on the posts, and after two years of leaping and balancing, dancing and the use of weapons were added to our routine. Joshua refused to take up any of the weapons; in fact, he refused to practice any art that would bring harm to another being. He wouldn't even mimic the action of fighting with swords and spears with a bamboo substitute. At first Gaspar bristled at Joshua's refusal, and threatened to banish him from the monastery, but when I took the abbot aside and told him the story of the archer Joshua had blinded on the way to Balthasar's fortress, the abbot relented. He and two of the older monks who had been soldiers devised for Joshua a regimen of weaponless fighting that involved no offense or striking at all, but instead channeled the energy of an attacker away from oneself. Since the new art was practiced only by Joshua (and sometimes myself), the monks called it Jew-d;, meaning the way of the Jew. In addition to learning kung fu and Jew-d;, Gaspar set us to learning to speak and write Sanskrit. Most of the holy books of Buddhism had been written in that language and had yet to be translated into Chinese, which Joshua and I had become fluent in. â€Å"This is the language of my boyhood,† Gaspar said before beginning our lessons. â€Å"You need to know this to learn the words of Gautama Buddha, but you will also need this language when you follow your dharma to your next destination.† Joshua and I looked at each other. It had been a long time since we had talked about leaving the monastery and the mention of it put us on edge. Routine feeds the illusion of safety, and if nothing else, there was routine at the monastery. â€Å"When will we leave, master?† I asked. â€Å"When it is time,† said Gaspar. â€Å"And how will we know it is time to leave?† â€Å"When the time for staying has come to an end.† â€Å"And we will know this because you will finally give us a straight and concrete answer to a question instead of being obtuse and spooky?† I asked. â€Å"Does the unhatched tadpole know the universe of the full-grown frog?† â€Å"Evidently not,† Joshua said. â€Å"Correct,† said the master. â€Å"Meditate upon it.† As Joshua and I entered the temple to begin our meditation I said, â€Å"When the time comes, and we know that the time has come for us to leave, I am going to lump up his shiny little head with a fighting staff.† â€Å"Meditate upon it,† said Josh. â€Å"I mean it. He's going to be sorry he taught me how to fight,† I said. â€Å"I'm sure of it. I'm sorry already.† â€Å"You know, he doesn't have to be the only one bopped in the noggin when noggin-boppin' time rolls around,† I said. Joshua looked at me as if I'd just awakened him from a nap. â€Å"All the time we spend meditating, what are you really doing, Biff?† â€Å"I'm meditating – sometimes – listening to the sound of the universe and stuff.† â€Å"But mostly you're just sitting there.† â€Å"I've learned to sleep with my eyes open.† â€Å"That won't help your enlightenment.† â€Å"Look, when I get to nirvana I want to be well rested.† â€Å"Don't spend a lot of time worrying about it.† â€Å"Hey, I have discipline. Through practice I've learned to cause spontaneous nocturnal emissions.† â€Å"That's an accomplishment,† the Messiah said sarcastically. â€Å"Okay, you can be snotty if you want to, but when we get back to Galilee, you walk around trying to sell your ‘love your neighbor because he is you' claptrap, and I'll offer the ‘wet dreams at will' program and we'll see who gets more followers.† Joshua grinned: â€Å"I think we'll both do better than my cousin John and his ‘hold them underwater until they agree with you' sermon.† â€Å"I haven't thought about him in years. Do you think he's still doing that?† Just then, Number Two Monk, looking very stern and unenlightened, stood and started across the temple toward us, his bamboo rod in hand. â€Å"Sorry, Josh, I'm going no-mind.† I dropped to the lotus position, formed the mudra of the compassionate Buddha with my fingers, and lickity-split was on the sitting-still road to oneness with allthatness. Despite Gaspar's veiled warning about our moving on, we again settled into a routine, this one including learning to read and write the sutras in Sanskrit, but also Joshua's time with the yeti. I had gotten so proficient in the martial arts that I could break a flagstone as thick as my hand with my head, and I could sneak up on even the most wary of the other monks, flick him on the ear, and be back in lotus position before he could spin to snatch the still-beating heart from my chest. (Actually, no one was really sure if anyone could do that. Every day Number Three Monk would declare it time for the â€Å"snatching the still-beating heart from the chest† drill, and every day he would ask for volunteers. After a brief wait, when no one volunteered, we'd move onto the next drill, usually the â€Å"maiming a guy with a fan† drill. Everyone wondered if Number Three could really do it, but no one wanted to ask. We knew how Buddhist monks liked to teach. One minute you're cu rious, the next a bald guy is holding a bloody piece of pulsating meat in your face and you're wondering why the sudden draft in the thorax area of your robe. No thanks, we didn't need to know that badly.) Meanwhile, Joshua became so adept at avoiding blows that it was as if he'd become invisible again. Even the best fighting monks, of whom I was not one, had trouble laying a hand on my friend, and often they ended up flat on their backs on the flagstones for their trouble. Joshua seemed his happiest during these exercises, often laughing out loud as he narrowly dodged the thrust of a sword that would have taken his eye. Sometimes he would take the spear away from Number Three, only to bow and present it to him with a grin, as if the grizzled old soldier had dropped it instead of having it finessed from his grip. When Gaspar witnessed these displays he would leave the courtyard shaking his head and mumbling something about ego, leaving the rest of us to collapse into paroxysms of laughter at the abbot's expense. Even Numbers Two and Three, who were normally the strict disciplinarians, managed to mine a few smiles from their ever-so furrowed brows. It was a good time for Joshua. Meditat ion, prayer, exercise, and time with the yeti seemed to have helped him to let go of the colossal burden he'd been given to carry. For the first time he seemed truly happy, so I was stunned the day my friend entered the courtyard with tears streaming down his cheeks. I dropped the spear I was drilling with and ran to him. â€Å"Joshua?† â€Å"He's dead,† Joshua said. I embraced him and he collapsed into my arms sobbing. He was wearing wool leggings and boots, so I knew immediately that he'd just returned from one of his visits into the mountains. â€Å"A piece of ice fell from over his cave. I found him under it. Crushed. He was frozen solid.† â€Å"So you couldn't†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Joshua pushed me back and held me by the shoulders. â€Å"That's just it. I wasn't there in time. I not only couldn't save him, I wasn't even there to comfort him.† â€Å"Yes you were,† I said. Joshua dug his fingers into my shoulders and shook me as if I was hysterical and he was trying to get my attention, then suddenly he let go of me and shrugged. â€Å"I'm going to the temple to pray.† â€Å"I'll join you soon. Fifteen and I have three more movements to practice.† My sparring partner waited patiently at the edge of the courtyard, spear in hand, watching. Joshua got almost to the doors before he turned. â€Å"Do you know the difference between praying and meditating, Biff?† I shook my head. â€Å"Praying is talking to God. Meditating is listening. I've spent most of these last six years listening. Do you know what I've heard?† Again I said nothing. â€Å"Not a single thing, Biff. Now I have some things I want to say.† â€Å"I'm sorry about your friend,† I said. â€Å"I know.† He turned and started inside. â€Å"Josh,† I called. He paused and looked over his shoulder at me. â€Å"I won't let that happen to you, you know that, right?† â€Å"I know,† he said, then he went inside to give his father a divine ass-chewing. The next morning Gaspar summoned us to the tea room. The abbot looked as if he had not slept in days and whatever his age, he was carrying a century of misery in his eyes. â€Å"Sit,† he said, and we did. â€Å"The old man of the mountain is dead.† â€Å"Who?† â€Å"That's what I called the yeti, the old man of the mountain. He has passed on to his next life and it is time for you to go.† Joshua said nothing, but sat with his hands folded in his lap, staring at the table. â€Å"What does one have to do with the other?† I asked. â€Å"Why should we leave because the yeti has died? We didn't know he even existed until we had been here for two years.† â€Å"But I did,† said Gaspar. I felt a heat rising in my face – I'm sure that my scalp and ears must have flushed, because Gaspar scoffed at me. â€Å"There is nothing else here for you. There was nothing here for you from the beginning. I would not have allowed you to stay if you weren't Joshua's friend.† It was the first time he'd used either of our names since we'd arrived at the monastery. â€Å"Number Four will meet you at the gate. He has the possessions you arrived with, as well as some food for your journey.† â€Å"We can't go home,† Joshua said at last. â€Å"I don't know enough yet.† â€Å"No,† said Gaspar, â€Å"I suspect that you don't. But you know all that you will learn here. If you come to a river and find a boat at the edge, you will use that boat to cross and it will serve you well, but once across the river, do you put the boat on your shoulders and carry it with you on the rest of your journey?† â€Å"How big is the boat?† I asked. â€Å"What color is the boat?† asked Joshua. â€Å"How far is the rest of the journey?† I queried. â€Å"Is Biff there to carry the oars, or do I have to carry everything?† asked Josh. â€Å"No!† screamed Gaspar. â€Å"No, you don't take the boat along on the journey. It has been useful but now it's simply a burden. It's a parable, you cretins!† Joshua and I bowed our heads under Gaspar's anger. As the abbot railed, Joshua smiled at me and winked. When I saw the smile I knew that he'd be okay. Gaspar finished his tirade, then caught his breath and resumed in the tone of the tolerant monk that we were used to. â€Å"As I was saying, there is no more for you to learn. Joshua, go be a bodhisattva for your people, and Biff, try not to kill anyone with what we have taught you here.† â€Å"So do we get our boat now?† Joshua asked. Gaspar looked as if he were about to explode, then Joshua held his hand up and the old man remained silent. â€Å"We are grateful for our time here, Gaspar. These monks are noble and honorable men, and we have learned much from them. But you, honorable abbot, are a pretender. You have mastered a few tricks of the body, and you can reach a trance state, but you are not an enlightened being, though I think you have glimpsed enlightenment. You look everywhere for answers but where they lie. Nevertheless, your deception hasn't stopped you from teaching us. We thank you, Gaspar. Hypocrite. Wise man. Bodhisattva.† Gaspar sat staring at Joshua, who had spoken as if he were talking to a child. The old man went about fixing the tea, more feebly now, I thought, but maybe that was my imagination. â€Å"And you knew this?† Gaspar asked me. I shrugged. â€Å"What enlightened being travels halfway around the world following a star on the rumor that a Messiah has been born?† â€Å"He means across the world,† said Josh. â€Å"I mean around the world.† I elbowed Joshua in the ribs because it was easier than explaining my theory of universal stickiness to Gaspar. The old guy was having a rough day as it was. Gaspar poured tea for all of us, then sat down with a sigh. â€Å"You were not a disappointment, Joshua. The three of us knew as soon as we saw you that you were a being unlike any other. Brahman born to flesh, my brother said.† â€Å"What gave it away,† I said, â€Å"the angels on the roof of the stable?† Gaspar ignored me. â€Å"But you were still an infant, and whatever it was that we were looking for, you were not it – not yet, anyway. We could have stayed, I suppose, and helped to raise you, protect you, but we were all dense. Balthasar wanted to find the key to immortality, and there was no way that you could give him that, and my brother and I wanted the keys to the universe, and those were not to be found in Bethlehem either. So we warned your father of Herod's intent to have you killed, we gave him gold to get you out of the country, and we returned to the East.† â€Å"Melchior is your brother?† Gaspar nodded. â€Å"We were princes of Tamil. Melchior is the oldest, so he would have inherited our lands, but I would have received a small fiefdom as well. Like Siddhartha, we eschewed worldly pleasures to pursue enlightenment.† â€Å"How did you end up here, in these mountains?† I asked. â€Å"Chasing Buddhas.† Gaspar smiled. â€Å"I had heard that there lived a sage in these mountains. The locals called him the old man of the mountain. I came looking for the sage, and what I found was the yeti. Who knows how old he really was, or how long he'd been here? What I did know was that he was the last of his kind and that he would die before long without help. I stayed here and I built this monastery. Along with the monks who came here to study, I have been taking care of the yeti since you two were just infants. Now he is gone. I have no purpose, and I have learned nothing. Whatever there was to know here died under that lump of ice.† Joshua reached across the table and took the old man's hand. â€Å"You drill us every day in the same movements, we practice the same brush strokes over and over, we chant the same mantras, why? So that these actions will become natural, spontaneous, without being diluted by thought, right?† â€Å"Yes,† said Gaspar. â€Å"Compassion is the same way,† said Joshua. â€Å"That's what the yeti knew. He loved constantly, instantly, spontaneously, without thought or words. That's what he taught me. Love is not something you think about, it is a state in which you dwell. That was his gift.† â€Å"Wow,† I said. â€Å"I came here to learn that,† said Josh. â€Å"You taught it to me as much as the yeti.† â€Å"Me?† Gaspar had been pouring the tea as Joshua spoke and now he noticed that he'd overfilled his cup and the tea was running all over the table. â€Å"Who took care of him? Fed him? Looked after him? Did you have to think about that before you did it?† â€Å"No,† said Gaspar. Joshua stood. â€Å"Thanks for the boat.† Gaspar didn't accompany us to the front gate. As he promised, Number Four was waiting for us with our clothes and the money we had when we arrived six years before. I picked up the ying-yang vial of poison that Joy had given me and slipped the lanyard over my head, then I pushed the sheathed black glass dagger into the belt of my robe and tucked my clothes under my arm. â€Å"You will go to find Gaspar's brother?† Number Four asked. Number Four was one of the older monks, one of the ones who had served the emperor as a soldier, and a long white scar marked his head from the middle of his shaved scalp to his right ear, which had healed to a forked shape. â€Å"Tamil, right?† Joshua said. â€Å"Go south. It is very far. There are many dangers along the way. Remember your training.† â€Å"We will.† â€Å"Good.† Number Four turned on his heel and walked into the monastery, then shut the heavy wooden gate. â€Å"No, no, Four, don't embarrass yourself with a sappy good-bye,† I said to the gate. â€Å"No, really, please, no scenes.† Joshua was counting our money out of a small leather purse. â€Å"It's just what we left with them.† â€Å"Good.† â€Å"No, that's not good. We've been here six years, Biff. This money should have doubled or tripled during that time.† â€Å"What, by magic?† â€Å"No, they should have invested it.† He turned and looked back at the gate. â€Å"You dumb bastards, maybe you should spend a little less time studying how to beat each other up and a little more time on managing your money.† â€Å"Spontaneous love?† I said. â€Å"Yeah, Gaspar'll never get that one either. That's why they killed the yeti, you know that, don't you?† â€Å"Who?† â€Å"The mountain people. They killed the yeti because they couldn't understand a creature who wasn't as evil as they were.† â€Å"The mountain people were evil?† â€Å"All men are evil, that's what I was talking to my father about.† â€Å"What did he say?† â€Å"Fuck 'em.† â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"At least he answered you.† â€Å"I got the feeling that he thinks it's my problem now.† â€Å"Makes you wonder why he didn't burn that on one of the tablets. ‘HERE, MOSES, HERE'S THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, AND HERE'S AN EXTRA ONE THAT SAYS FUCK ‘EM.'† â€Å"He doesn't sound like that.† â€Å"FOR EMERGENCIES,† I continued in my perfect impression-of-God voice. â€Å"I hope it's warm in India,† Joshua said. And so, at the age of twenty-four, Joshua of Nazareth did go down into India.