Holidays on Ice

This week, I started reading a new book, also by David Sedaris, called "Holidays on Ice."  The essays in this book revolve around the comical holiday experiences of David Sedaris.  The first essay, "Santaland Diaries," is about Sedaris's job as a Macy's elf.  Sedaris applies for several unsatisfying and low-pay jobs, such as a U.P.S truck driver and of course, a position as a Macy's elf.  Sedaris, who is 33 at the time, obtains the elf position despite failing the drug test.  Sedaris describes several hilarious instances while working at Macy's, like the time when he saw a mother instruct her son to urinate on an artificial mound of snow.  This essay provides a great example of why you should get a thorough and legitimate education, so you don't end up being a 33 year old elf at Macy's.

Me Talk Pretty One Day.

This week, I finished reading "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris.  One particularly amusing essay in the last 40 pages of the book was titled "Picka Pocketoni."  This essay is mainly about the stereotypes of the typical American against the different cultures of the world.  Sedaris is on a Paris subway with his boyfriend when a middle-aged American couple get on the subway.  The American man rudely declares Sedaris as a "ripe froggy."  The couple, however, does not know that Sedaris speaks English, so they keep shouting rude and stereotypical remarks against French culture.  The American man misunderstands a gesture from Sedaris and claims that Sedaris tried to pit-pocket him.  Sedaris is quite amused by the whole scene, realizing how vulgar and stupid Americans are at times.  As Sedaris walks off of the train, he seems to be quite upbeat about the American couple's remarks, considering himself to be a cunning "pit-pocket."

Me Talk Pretty One Day.

This week I continued to read "Me Talk Pretty One Day."  One particularly humorous essay in the book is about Sedaris's trip to France.  Sedaris only knows a few vulgar French words at first, so he decides to enroll in French classes.  The class that Sedaris takes is filled with people from many different cultures who have at least some French knowledge.  The teacher continuously embarrasses and punishes Sedaris for his lack of knowledge and effort.  Sedaris seems to think that his teacher would still hate him even if he had a full vocabulary of French words, but Sedaris's teacher only punishes Sedaris for his awful French speaking skills.