My Sociological Perspective

My Sociological Perspective

Sociology is a part of everyday life. People experience sociological changes when they get married, get a new job, or get discriminated against. All of these things can alter a person’s perspective on a group of people or even the world. Since the beginning of this class, I have personally endured several sociological changes in my life. I recently started a new job. I’m meeting new and wonderful people and I no longer dread having to go to work. I have also begun setting plans for my wedding to the one girl who I know will make everyday better than the one before. But, perhaps the one instance that has affected me the most and the deepest was when my parents got a divorce.

This is something that occurred over ten years ago but it still plagues me to this day. One moment I thought that we had a perfect family unit. Everyone was happy and everyone got along great. Then, the next thing I knew, my parents were in court everyday trying to get custody of my older sister and myself. This left me hurt and confused. The worst part was after the divorce was over. My father got custody of us- which I preferred because it meant I didn’t have to move away and I didn’t have to live with my mother’s new boyfriend (her boyfriend while she was married). My mother got visitation rights two days of the week and every Sunday. So, instead of seeing my mother everyday when she would come home from work and having her tuck me in at

night, I now saw her only three times a week. This was the hardest part about the divorce. Because my mother (whom I love very dearly, don’t get me wrong) could not be loyal to her husband, the one thing that made me feel like the richest boy in the world had slightly dwindled away. If there was anything that I valued as a child, it was the togetherness of my mother and father.

Due to the fact that my father was now on his own and trying to raise three children (my older brother from my father’s first marriage), he had to take a different position at his work. Although he was getting a raise it wasn’t necessarily a good thing. He had to start working the night shift so he could get the raise. He didn’t really have a choice in the matter and because of this new change, I began to lose valuable time with him as well. It was now up to my brother to watch over us at night and make sure we got to bed on time. If there was any trouble or and problems in general, my brother would call my grandmother. For three years my dad worked that job and every night he would stay up after he