Journal on Poems Essay

The sonnet depicts the meanings of mental stability and frenzy. Be that as it may, these definitions fluctuate from the viewpoint of individuals and the environmental factors as called attention to in the subsequent line. At the end of the day, the sonnet calls attention to that for specific individuals, something ordinary is viewed as crazy and the other way around. 2. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Basically, for me, the sonnet delineated a typical involvement with life wherein one settles on a decision between two things and afterward thinks about what could’ve happened had the individual took the other alternative. The circumstance appeared in the sonnet mirrors a reality that everybody faces in life which is settling on a decision and remaining by that choice. Notwithstanding, as showed in the sonnet, in spite of the decisions individuals make in regards to, for instance, vocations and undertakings, there will likewise be times that one questions whether the individual in question settled on the correct choice or not. 3. Plan by Robert Frost The sonnet essentially shows that more often than not the world’s magnificence can be acknowledged through watching the characteristic things, for example, the insect and the moth. What's more, as the title recommends, life is fundamentally a structure. It is normal for a bug to eat the moth as it was intended to do as such. In any case, since the insect slaughtered the moth, the creator likewise asks why the â€Å"designer† permits something like this to occur. To put it plainly, while the creator recognizes the magnificence normal request of things, he likewise questions why horrendous occasions, for example, demise, occur. 4. Retouching Wall by Robert Frost Initially, the sonnet proposes that there are no requirement for dividers between neighbors as this recommends division. Be that as it may, toward the end, in spite of the fact that the speaker in the sonnet despite everything didn't support the development of a divider among him and his neighbor, he recognized the way that dividers are significant as these set limits and impediments. Essentially, the sonnet likewise delineates that, all things considered, â€Å"walls† or limits, which are best exemplified by laws and rules, are important to look after request. 5. Cross by Langston Hughes The sonnet obviously portrays the speaker’s disarray about his personality. As the title of the sonnet says, the speaker is a â€Å"cross† between a white man and an individual of color and is confounded about his actual personality. He likewise thinks about whether he would have a similar destiny of his mom and father and longs to know where he truly has a place with. The sonnet likewise delineates two real factors in life which are segregation and bigotry. Essentially, the sonnet recommends that if these two didn't exist, the speaker would not need to yearn for acknowledgment and would not need to scan for his character.

Reality TV free essay sample

Unscripted program, genuine individuals NOT on-screen characters in a particular situation Normal individuals with no noticeable ability, no perceivable bits of knowledge, however who are willing, anxious to be seen and heard carrying on with their own life. - â€Å"real life† TV is shot with out stoppage time, and afterward altered to get the watchers attention - authentic worldwide mainstream society marvel Reality TV comes is all various structures now from every day life of genuine individuals, for example, Big Brother and Jersey Shore, sports appears, business shows like covert chief and dirtiest employments, ability shows, for example, American Idol and Dancing with the stars, family shows John and Kate in addition to 8, and inspirational shows like greatest washout and survivor. - This in the long run prompted being recorded and put on TV in 1948. â€Å"Candid Camera† (CQ analyst: Reality TV: Maryann Haggerty - In 1989 COPS went ahead air as a result of the journalists organization of American strike. This show followed police during their day by day exercises. We will compose a custom article test on Unscripted television or on the other hand any comparable point explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page It started with no music or portrayal only a straightforward camera following a police. - Over on ABC, starting in 1990, individuals were turning their own cameras on family and pets to make â€Å"Americas Funniest Home Videos - In 1992, unscripted television was a novelty.In 2000, it was a prevailing fashion. In 2010, its a lifestyle. Time Magazine article It wasnt until the debut of ‘The Real World’ on MTV in 1992 that we started to observe the rise of a considerable lot of the literary qualities that would come to characterize the class current format,† - In 2008, the Emmys granted a height to the best host of an unscripted television appear just because, which was energizing news to all - ABC NBC Fox MTV CBS - In 2010 Reality TV is presently a substantial profession choice.The New York Times assessed that at some random time, there are 1,000 individuals on air as unscripted television stars. Theme 3: Addictiveness of Reality TV One explanation behind their fame is budgetary: an hour of reality can cost a couple hundred thousand dollars, contrasted with the one to 3,000,000 for a scripted dramatization. In any case, some portion of the explanation fans become engaged with the show is that they get put resources into the heroes and miscreants. - Thats how individuals watch unscripted television: you can question it, examine it, disrespect it, trust it, or not.

Jollibee International Expansion Essay Example

Jollibee International Expansion Essay Example Jollibee International Expansion Paper Jollibee International Expansion Paper JOLIBEE CASE ANALYSIS Summary Jollibee, an inexpensive food chain, situated in Philippines had the option to acquire an upper hand in its nearby market by keeping tight authority over the activities and taking into account the taste and craving of the neighborhood individuals. With the achievement in the nation of origin, the organization at that point extended its activities into different nations under the administration of Tony Kitchner. When Noli Tingzon joined the organization, it was at a basic point, where it started to return to its systems to extend its universal tasks and investigate new markets. Points of interest in the Filipino market Jollibee’s early methodology in the Philippines advertise was to focus on the flavor of the burgers. The taste and the size of the Jollibee’s burgers were made for the Philippine market. The flavor of their burger engaged the neighborhood individuals. Jollibee entered the inexpensive food business in 1977. When McDonald entered the Philippine market in 1981, Jollibee as of now had a brand name for itself. This gave the main mover advantage over McDonalds. MacDonald with its cash power moved rapidly. Jollibee’s, having had some accomplishment with its burgers; begin extending rapidly to rival McDonalds. They assemble volume on the notoriety they had earned before McDonalds entered their market. One more favorable position Jollibee had in the Philippine market was that they were the neighborhood organization. The individuals could connect themselves with the organization. This was underlined in 1983 when the political atmosphere in the nation got instable. Jollibee kept on extending where as McDonald hindered its interest in this market. The resulting ascend in the patriotism and neighborhood pride helped Jollibee secure a prevailing situation in the Philippine market. Global Expansion under Tony Kitchner When Tony Kitchner joined the organization as the principal leader of the worldwide division, Jollibee as of now had a couple bombed endeavors to section into universal markets. Kitchner was extremely effective in making the universal division and actualizing his procedure. He was instrumental in getting accomplices with great market association for Jollibee. This was one of the serious issues for Jollibee in its underlying took shots at global development. Kitchner actualized a two-section global methodology which involved â€Å"targeting expats† and â€Å"planting the banner. † The thought behind the focusing on expats was to slip the organization into the new market. Despite the fact that the portion was little, its prosperity permitted the organization to create energy for additional extension in the market. By focusing on the specialty advertise, Kitchner was attempting to exploit the brand acknowledgment in the home market. Then again, â€Å"plant the flag† end up being an executed inadequately. Kitchner needed to make enormous association under his administration. In the scramble to passage the business sectors rapidly, Kitchner didn't contemplate the market completely before entering it. Planting the banner had serious first mover advantage like the organization discovered in its nearby market. Be that as it may, there is a need to examine the market before entering it. The unrewarding endeavor in the Middle East could have been evaded has explore been done before entering. Likewise, Kitchner ignored the significant expense of setting up advertise in new nations. While Kitchner made the new division to higher worldwide standard there was a developing separation between the nearby and the global division. The nearby group were looked down up on by the part in the worldwide division. This affected the day operational proficiency of the organization. Kitchner could have made some move to check the developing separation between the two divisions. Future International extension The lacking Papua Guinea showcase gives the best alternative to use the company’s authoritative aptitudes. In any case, the nation isn't sufficiently large to help 20 stores which the organization believes is minimum amount for another nation. Despite the fact that the point of view accomplice was happy to put away all the cash for the stores, Jollibee would have its image an incentive in danger if the stores don’t work. The benefits being offered by the accomplice is unsure and justifiably low, the organization would be in an ideal situation avoiding this market. The fourth store in Hong Kong can give Jollibee the brand attention to grow its activities in the nation. This could be valuable in drawing in better accomplices. Anyway given that the present stores couldn't draw in Chinese clients just as representatives, the achievement of a fourth store is exceptionally far-fetched. It would be better for Jollibee to focus on improving the activities of the present store than opening another one at this crossroads. The Daly City is at present best open door for extension for Jollibee. With a tremendous prosperous Philippine populace and moderately less rivalry possibilities for the accomplishment of this store were brilliant. Likewise, as in Guam, California has an enormous populace of Asian American which the organization could focus with changing the menu a great deal.

Violence and Sadism in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men - Literature Essay Samples

In John Steinbecks powerful American masterpiece Of Mice and Men, first published in 1937 during the height of the Great Depression, the main characters of George Milton and Lennie Small experience many hard and difficult situations which on occasion are steeped with violence and sadistic behavior, due to living and working in a world where personal interaction is marked by. . . petty control, misunderstanding, jealousy and callousness (Scheer 14). Yet after a careful reading of the text, it becomes clear that George and Lennie are at times the true instigators of the violence while also being pawns in the hands of such men as Curley, the prizefighter who finds much sadistic delight in picking on the ranch workers and those whom he sees as socially beneath him.Interestingly, Steinbeck himself was quite familiar with the trials and tribulations associated with being an outsider and a common laborer, much like George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men. During his youth, Steinbeck worked di ligently as a hired hand on ranches close to his home in Salinas, California, where he met and talked with migrant farm workers who told him of their adventures and mishaps before and during the Great Depression when millions of people were unemployed and were forced to earn their living by any means necessary. These chance meetings and descriptions of what it was like to be a common laborer served Steinbeck well, for he later incorporated many of these down-and-out tales into his novels and short stories, Of Mice and Men being no exception.If we examine some of the major scenes in Of Mice and Men, the presence of violence and sadism can easily be sensed, especially through the actions and reactions of Lennie Small, the lumbering giant with the mind of a child who brings a frightening capacity for violence into the unsuspecting bunkhouse at the ranch. As William Goldhurst points out, Lennie carries with him, intact from childhood, that low threshold between rage and pleasure which w e all carry within us into adulthood (135), yet in the hands of those most prone to sadistic behavior, Lennie is a scapegoat and thus cannot be held accountable for his actions, due to his mental capacity which borders on imbecility.In the scene where George and Lennie are on their way to the ranch to buck barley, the conversation turns to their last job in the little town of Weed, where Lennie had been attracted to a girls red dress. After grabbing at her clothes, Lennie became so frightened by her screaming that George was forced to hit him over to head to make him let go of her. Following this incident, the duo ends up being chased by a mob out to lynch them for Lennies treatment of the girl which in the eyes of the lynch mob was akin to attempted rape. In essence, this scene illustrates Steinbecks power as a writer with his ability to bring into extraordinary scenes of social conflict the psychological forcefulness of Lennies infantile reactions to the girls red dress. But the v iolence of Lennie towards the girl pales in comparison to the violent reactions of the mob who are obviously either unaware of Lennies child-like mind or simply see the situation as an opportunity to express their inner anger towards a subhuman creature, unable to distinguish between right and wrong (Benson 256).The initial introduction of Curley, the swaggering, boastful son of the ranch owner, truly sets the stage for more violence and sadistic behavior aimed at not only George and Lennie but anyone who stands in his way or throws a glancing eye towards his attractive yet whorish wife. During the time when George and Lennie are waiting for the lunch bell, Curley enters the bunkhouse, ostensibly looking for his father but really just to examine the new hired men. After putting across to the men that he is the master of the ranch, Curley leaves and Candy, the swamper who sweeps out the bunkhouse, warns George and Lennie about Curleys temper and his eagerness to fight anyone who usur ps his authority. But in this instance, George could be viewed as the instigator to the violence that follows, for he calls Curleys wife a rat-trap, a bitch, and a piece of jail-bait (Goldhurst 130), and later fully expresses his disgust at Curleys glove full of vaseline, aimed at softening his hand when he strokes his wifes genitalia. But again, Curley could have simply laughed at George and shrugged it off instead of using this episode as a springboard for more violence and sadism. Incidentally, when the other men in the bunkhouse taunt Curley about his wifes wantonness and he spies Lennie grinning about it, Curley attacks Lennie who at first does nothing to defend himself because of Georges warning about his strength. But then, due to his imbecility, Lennie grabs Curleys hand, the one with the vaseline glove, and squeezes it, thereby crushing every bone.But the most important scene in Of Mice and Men concerns the killing of Curleys wife in the barn by Lennie. As the other workmen and George are pitching horseshoes outside the barn, Lennie suddenly realizes that his puppy, given to him by Slim, the jerkline skinner, is dead as a result of his seemingly gentle and innocent caresses. As he sits down in the straw and bemoans the puppys fate, Curleys wife quickly appears from around the corner of the stalls. Her flirtatious behavior at first does not affect Lennie and he doesnt say one word to her, fearing that he would not get to feed the rabbits which George promised to him upon obtaining their own ranch. But Curleys wife gradually manages to draw Lennies attention away from the dead puppy and initiates a rather curious incidentshe convinces him to stroke her hair which he does as if she was just another plaything like his dead puppy.As Lennie continues to stroke the girls hair, she suddenly tries to pull away which infuriates Lennie, especially when she starts to scream. And just like the puppy, Lennie becomes a little to rough and breaks her neck without any awareness that she provoked her own death, due to not knowing that Lennie is nothing but a lumbering idiot with the strength of a plow horse.According to Jackson J. Benson, this scene from Of Mice and Men contains images of great power and violence, for it makes murder seem as natural and innocent as puppy love (179). As a very sizable child, Lennie amplifies the entire situation, for after killing Curleys wife, he flees to the grove near the Salinas River just as George had told him in case of any accidents on Lennies part. But this time around, George appears to be the sadist, for Lennie begins to think about living in a cave if George decides he doesnt want him around anymore.The final scene in Of Mice and Men brings the plot full circle, for Lennies contradictory values are then affirmedhis blameless, animal instincts mixed with sad humanity, his innocent longings for a pen full of rabbits which he can pet and tend to, and his grim awareness that his life may be nearing its end . When Candy, the bunkhouse sweeper, finds Curleys wife half-buried and stone dead in the hay in the barn, he calls for George who gets a gun while Candy spreads the alarm that the girl has been murdered. But when Curely is told of his wifes death, his sadistic tendencies come to a boil, for he realizes that Lennie is to blame which sets into motion a true cycle of vengeance on the part of Curley and the other hired hands at the ranch. With a loaded shotgun in hand, Curley and the other men start out in search of Lennie, the poor, dumb brute with a tendency for childish violence.But it is George who finds Lennie hiding in the bushes near the Salinas River, and soon makes up his mind to put an end to Lennies life, to punish him once more for being a bad boy. But for Lennie, badness is just a matter of opinion and taboos based on the mind of an imbecile, not consequences and responsibilities, for he does not care about nor understand the death of Curleys wife who exists for him only a s another lifeless puppy or a mouse dead from too much hard handling.In the conclusion of Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, George puts the muzzle of his gun to the back of Lennies head and pulls the trigger, an action which fully supports and reinforces the violence in the novel. In essence, all of the characters in Of Mice and Men seem to have been reared in violence; some are violent by nature, while others simply accept violent, sadistic behavior as part of the normal life of a drifter or a migrant farm worker. As Frank N. Magill so acutely observes, both George and Lennie are friendless and alone and prone to destructive violence. Both are adolescents caught in a world of chaos and rage (2145), exactly as John Steinbeck intended it. In his words, these characters exist in sweet violence which moves the reader to contemplate their puzzling fates.BIBLIOGRAPHYBenson, Jackson J. The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer. New York: Viking Press, 1984.Goldhurst, William. Of Mice Men: John Steinbecks Parable of the Curse of Cain. Western American Literature. 6 (Summer 1971): 123-35.Magill, Frank N., ed. Masterplots: Digests of World Literature. New York: Salem Press, 1964.Scheer, Ronald. Of Mice Men: Novel, Play, Movie. The American Examiner. Vol. VI (Fall/Winter 1978-79): 6-39.

Ergogenic Aids Essay - 3570 Words

Ergogenic aids are substances or devices that enhance energy production, for use for recovery and provide athletes with a competitive advantage. Numerous ergogenic aids claim to enhance sports performance and are used by amateur and professional athletes. Approximately 50 percent of the general population has reported taking some form of dietary supplements, while 76 to 100 percent of athletes in some sports are reported to use them. Physicians can evaluate these products by examining four factors (method of action, available research, adverse effects, and legality) that will help them counsel patients. Common ergogenic aids include anabolic steroids, which increase muscle mass. These illegal supplements are associated with a number of†¦show more content†¦The participants were divided into four groups: those given a placebo with or without weight training, and those given 600-mg testosterone enanthate with or without weight training. Diet and training times were controlled. Fat-free mass, muscle size and strength increased more than placebo in both groups taking testosterone than in the groups taking placebo. The subjects in the exercise plus testosterone group had a 9 percent increase in mass and 23 percent increase in bench-press strength, compared with 3 percent and 9 percent, respectively, in the subjects in the exercise plus placebo group.6 These doses were comparable with the doses that many athletes who use steroids take. Adverse Effects Anabolic steroids have many adverse effects, most related to the unwanted androgenic effects. Some of the adverse effects are potentially serious and irreversible (Table 2). TABLE 2 Reported Side Effects of Anabolic Steroids Reversible side effects | Sexual effects | | Increased or decreased libido | | Decreased sperm production | | Scrotal pain | | Gynecomastia | | Cutaneous effects | | Acne | | Hirsutism | | Edema | Psychiatric effects | | Euphoria | | Nervousness | | Aggression | | Personality disorders | Other | | Increased tramsaminases | | Nausea | | Increased urination | Serious and irreversible side effects | Hypertension from mineralocorticoid effects | Dysplastic changes inShow MoreRelatedAlcohol as an Ergogenic Aid1082 Words   |  5 Pageslong term effects such as asthma, liver disease/failure, and heart disease. After learning about how alcohol is metabolized, I realized how long the process takes and all of the organs of your body it affects. Overall, alcohol does not have any ergogenic aid, and the smartest choice for an athlete would be to avoid the drug as a whole.Read MoreErgogenic Aids in Sports Essay1288 Words   |  6 PagesErgogenic Aids in Sports A large problem in sports today is the use of ergogenic aids. An ergogenic aid is any substance or device that increases or enhances energy use, production, or recovery giving the athlete an advantage in competition. Not all ergogenic aids are illegal; many such as dietary supplements, vitamin supplements, or protein supplements are widely used and accepted, however, many are illegal and are banned by many athletic committees(Ahrendt,1). I will be discussing these illegalRead MoreEssay on L-Carnitine: An Unnecessary Ergogenic Aid1589 Words   |  7 PagesL-Carnitine: An Unnecessary Ergogenic Aid WHAT IS L-CARNITINE? L-Carnitine is a naturally occurring amino acid which plays a vital role in the metabolism of fat. It functions as a transporter of fatty acids into the mitochondria, the metabolic furnace of the cell. L-carnitine was discovered in Russia, and one year later in Germany. The proper name, Carnitine, refers to the Latin origin, (carno, caris). Its structural formula was decoded in 1927, and its physiological significance wasRead MoreThe Athletes Use Nutritional Supplements Essay1648 Words   |  7 Pagesalso known as ergogenic aids, in hopes to better their athletic performance. There is a wide variety of nutritional supplements that people take to see improvements. Some ergogenic aids that are most commonly used are beta-alanine, caffeine, creatine, pyruvate, and many more. The one we will focus on for this paper is creatine. Ergogenic aids are substances or techniques that are used to enhance performance, increase lean body mass or muscle mass (Maughan, â€Å"Nutritional Ergogenic Aids and ExerciseRead MoreBcaa Research Paper833 Words   |  4 PagesNick Scott 4-13-2010 Ergogenic aid research paper Branched Chain Amino Acids In choosing branched chain amino acids for my ergogenic aid project, I took a few different things into account. When looking at the list provided to our class for this project, I told myself that I wanted a challenge. I wanted to work on a topic that I knew very little about to begin with. Some of the choices off of the ergogenic aid list seemed to easy and broad. Options such as protein and alcohol would seemRead MoreThe Use of Ergogenic Compounds to Improve Athletic Performance1609 Words   |  7 PagesThe Use of Ergogenic Compounds to Improve Athletic Performance An Ergogenic aid is known as an enhancing quality in sporting performance. Compounds such as bee pollen, caffeine, glycine, carnitine, lecithin, and gelatin are claimed through anecdotal evidence to improve strength or endurance. The use of drugs and other substances has persistedRead MoreEssay about Use of Steroids in Sports1559 Words   |  7 Pagesenhancing drugs is becoming more popular among athletes, many of them dont understand the risks involved in taking these drugs. Many people are looking for a quick way to build muscle, or to get stronger the fastest way possible. Using these performance aids may very well be a quick fix for many athletes, but taking these supplements is unethical and dangerous. Using special drugs to boost an athletes performance is degrading to sports and to the athlete. The human body can produce the same substancesRead MoreA Brief Note On The Aids And Its Effects On The Body1534 Words   |  7 PagesErgogenic aids are any foreign products taken by athletes to enhance their physical performance or endurance during physical exercise. Ergogenic aids are formulated to positively alter the physiological process in the body thus offering an advantage edge to the user. These aids may include drugs that e nhance performance or even supplements formulated for sporting athletes and are divided into three categories including mental, physiological and mechanical factors (Liddle, 2013). Mechanical factorsRead MoreEssay about Dietary Supplements Used by Athletes: Creatine1458 Words   |  6 Pagessynthesis in the body. The role of Cr in the body proves it is a vital component for short term, high intensity activities. It is important for the athlete to understand the physiological and ergogenic effects of Cr before attempting exogenous creatine supplementation. Athletes consume Cr as an ergogenic aid to increase sports performance, muscular density, muscular power, and to buffer and inhibit phosphofructokinase during physical activity. The most commonly used form of creatine supplementationRead MoreExplements In Sports1318 Words   |  6 Pageslike Redbull but is also concerned as she has had gastrointestinal issues and doesn’t know if it will affect her differently. Concerned as the athletes don’t know much about using these substances you decide to create a file of information about ergogenic aids. Caffeine and taurine are two of the main ingredients found in energy drinks such as Redbull. However, caffeine is found in many things and is consumed on a quite regular basis through drinks, over-the-counter drugs (such as those for migraines)

Barry Strausss The Trojan War - 1664 Words

As most know, Greek Mythology is a very complex concept that is free for interpretation and is shown in multiple ways. Many believe Greek Mythology is fiction, whereas some believe that it is nonfiction. As seen in Barry Strauss’s The Trojan War: A New History, the author argues that the Trojan War was significant and then shows evidence from as of late that supports the concept of the Trojan War actually occurring. Throughout his book he explains and gives insight into what happened during the Trojan War and how it developed based off of Homer’s writing. Strauss’s sole purpose is to inspect what was previously said about the Trojan War and evaluate it enough to the point where he is able to make logical reasoning to determine the†¦show more content†¦Once the Greeks finally arrived to their destination in Troy, Operation Beachhead comes into play, which is essentially the first battle in the Trojan War. The Greek’s stability status is significant because they needed a reliable location, which is also known as a camp. As they started reaching ashore, the Trojans were preparing their actions. In fact, the first person to die in the battle was because of King Priam’s son, Hector, who stabbed the first person to set foot on the beach. The King of Troy already had a plan set out in which he wanted to take an approach where the Trojans focus on defense, especially away from the city’s walls. As the plot of the Trojan War continues, Strauss includes the fact that the Greeks did in fact want peace with Troy and they wanted to end the long lasting feud. However, Troy did not have the same thing in mind. When asked, King Priam refused to address the fact that his son Paris humiliated King Menelaus by stealing his wife from him. Moreover, they did not agree to deliver Helen back due to the fact that it would show that they agreed with the fact that taking Helen from Menelaus was not morally correct, which would also lead to a civil war in Troy. Furthermore, Achilles attacked multiple cities in order to take from them because after multiple years of being in a war, the Greeks were gradually losing supplies. After attacking cities, he would tryShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book The Trojan War A New History 1460 Words   |  6 Pages Adrian Olivas September 8, 2015 Classics 40 Mr. Smith 4:00 Berry Strauss’s â€Å"The Trojan War a New History† Book Review Barry Strauss, professor of classics at Cornell University attempts to redefine a one of history’s biggest love affairs, the Trojan War. Strauss explains how certain events and characters from Homers â€Å"The Odyssey† might have actually existed, but also uses modern discoveries from the Bronze Age to compare Homers account to those of Egypt, the Middle East

Bismarck Napoleon Iii And The Outbreak Of free essay sample

Bismarck, Napoleon Iii, And The Outbreak Of The Franco-Prussian War Essay, Research Paper Bismarck, Napoleon III, and the Outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War The fusion of Germany threw all of Europe off its axis. With the formation of this new power there were now five major powers alternatively of four. This would work to faze antique confederations and confound the full European continent for more than twenty old ages. Not least among the states swept of their proverbial pess was France. France was a rival with the German confederation long before it merged into one province, but the new stableness of a incorporate Germany made it a much more powerful entity. France scrambled to seek and set up a sense of security, instantly demanding compensation in the signifier of the Rhine # 8217 ; s west bank and Belgium, which Bismarck rapidly denied ( Howard 40 ) . It became rapidly obvious that these two states would be forced to a flash point and shortly. We will write a custom essay sample on Bismarck Napoleon Iii And The Outbreak Of or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As France feared for her safety, Germany feared every bit good. The recent revolutions and societal turbulences in the Republic were non shortly disregarded and Germany wanted to be safe from the possible flak catcher that could be thrown her manner by another such happening. Therefore, Germany set her oculus on recapturing the lands of Alsace and Lorraine from which Napoleon the Great had snatched decennaries before. No individual worked harder at seeking to do war with France than German Chief of Staff Carl Moltke. He saw France as the # 8220 ; familial enemy # 8221 ; ( Hwd 41 ) and desired nil more than to see her lose all of her ability to pay war on Germany. He begged frequently of Bismarck to travel to war with their neighbour and drew up programs to make so. Finally, in 1866, with the edifice of four extra rail lines ( Hwd 43 ) in Germany, Moltke was able to get down be aftering his onslaught. Meanwhile, the Gallic began to catch on to what was heading their manner. Warning s had been issued from Baron Stoffel, the Gallic military attach? in Berlin and from General Ducrot, commanding officer of the 6th Military Division ( Hwd 44 ) . It seemed that the Germans were utilizing the same maneuver that they would utilize about 50 old ages subsequently, spuring their enemies into an irrevokable stance and into war. Ducrot urged the Gallic that a preemptive work stoppage across the Rhine would catch Germany off guard and they could process all the manner to Berlin. However, the Gallic military caputs had no program in consequence for a possible affray with Germany and did non until the war was high. They toyed with the thought of a possible alliance with Austria-Hungary, but their authorities was wary of such an agreement but agreed to a ternary confederation that included Italy. This would, the Archduke estimated, make a force of about one million allied military personnels against a force of approximately half-a-million Germans ( Hwd 47 ) . Finally, the even t that would spur the war came to go through. The Hohenzollern campaigning for the Spanish Crown had come unfastened following the revolution against Queen Isabella in 1868. The Crown was ab initio refused by Prince Charles Anthony and so offered to his boy Leopold with the influence if William I. Leopold reluctantly accepted the Spanish Crown out of regard and servitude to Germany ( Hwd 48 ) . The credence of the Spanish Crown and the deficiency of anyone to denote it until considerable clip had passed outraged the Gallic and most of the balance of Europe. France took it as a smack to the face ; an effort to sabotage the security of her province. France demanded that no German prince should be consid ered ascend to the Spanish throne, which William refused to accept. William dismissed the Gallic embassador, Count Benedetti. Bismarck got air current of this narrative and leaked to the imperativeness that, â€Å"His Majesty the King thereupon decided non to have the Gallic embassador once more, and sent to state him through the adjutant on responsibility that his Majesty had nil farther to pass on to the Ambassador.† ( Hwd 55 ) Within hebdomads, the two states would be at war. The inquiry of Spain and the Hohenzollern Candidature was one that weighed to a great extent on Napoleon III’s head. Spain, under hapless leading, had become both an economic and political concern for France. Napoleon feared that a crown allied with Germany could be really harmful to France’s involvements at place and at sea ( Corley 321 ) . In an eventual war with Germany, why should he hold to worry about a strong stance being taken against France by Spain? Acerate leafs to state, he di d. He took a strong involvement in the Crown, even trusting that Isabella’s immature boy may be given the Crown. However, his bosom sank when he heard that the Spanish envoy had discussed calling Leopold to the throne. Napoleon so stepped-up his attempts for Isabella’s boy Alfonso to take the Crown by doing her officially renounce the throne to him ( Cor 327 ) . However, the point was moot, as Leopold had accepted the throne. Napoleon did non overreact, as his people did, but still feared the worst. Soon after he accepted, Leopold declined one time once more and a crisis was put on clasp. Napoleon’s advisor sent Benedetti to William to acquire confidences that he would non let Leopold to travel back and take the throne. And the remainder is history. Bismarck favored the campaigning of Leopold for â€Å"the ground of state.† ( Sempell 111 ) He wanted to see on the Spanish throne a swayer that would non be excessively influenced by Catholic confederations. Carl Anthony pressed Leopold to accept, but Leopold would merely accept if ordered to make so by William. Finally, Leopold gave in and did accept the campaigning. When Leopold rescinded, Bismarck was ferocious. The draw was over and Napoleon had won. However, it was Benedetti’s visit to William that helped Bismarck salvage face and go on with the lovely war he had hoped for. Following the Benedetti visit, William sent Bismarck a wire detailing their meeting. In itself it was rather harmless and unoffending to the Gallic diplomat and the Gallic people, but with a few lines crossed out and a word or two added, it was a perfect smack in the face. The wire was given to the imperativeness and France was speedy to declare war on Germany. It seems amusing to me how all of these wars start out with little misinterpretations and a small spot of conniving. If belligerent parties would really sit at the tabular array and listen to each other and be honest, war could likely be averted ni ne times out of 10. However, as in Bismarck’s instance, things are normally much more complicated. That old Satan. Corley, T.A.B. , Democratic Despot A Life of Napoleon III. 1961. Barrie A ; Rockliff, London.Guerard, Albert, Napoleon III A Great Life in Brief. 1966. Alfred A Knopf, New York.Kent, George O. , Bismarck and His Timess. 1978. Southen Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Howard, Michael, The Franco-Prussian War The German Invasion of France. 1962. The MacMillian Company, New York.Maurice, General J.F. , The Franco-German War. 1900. Swan Sonnenschein and Co. , Lim. , London.Sempell, Charlotte, Otto von Bismarck. 1972. Twayne Publishers, Inc. , New York

Modern marketing approach

Introduction This paper supports the statement â€Å"the product/service dichotomy in marketing theory is no longer sustainable.† The present day marketing approach is a result of the many revolutions and changes that come about in marketing as a result of increased competition.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Modern marketing approach specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Modern marketing approach emphasizes â€Å"cost leadership, differentiation and focus† (Baker and Saren, 2010) The cost leadership attribute entails the product cost advantage of the product in relation to existing products in the market. Differentiation emphasizes creation of products with unique qualities that gives it an edge over the other products in the market. Focus on the other hand implies targeting particular market niches either based on age demographics, lifestyle geographic locations or any other appropriate attributes. Pr oduct/Service Dichotomy Product manufacturers often endeavor to achieve customer fidelity by delivering to them goods that satisfy their needs. This has led to the development of the â€Å"product/service mix† as pointed out by Baker and Saren (2010) in this scenario, service as a facet of the mix has continually been growing its importance. Technology and globalization have played a pivotal role in enabling different service providers reach out to the dispersed customers. Web applications for example, powered by the internet enables service providers to serve customers at any point. The earlier marketing approaches placed emphasis on the value within the product, which were always produced and distributed to the wider market. Because the value of the product was seen to be within the product, producers did not have to convince the buyer or persuade them the buy the product. The marketing practice therefore comprised distribution of the products to the â€Å"waiting† c onsumer. The services marketing is said to have come in lime light during the 70s (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). The services’ marketing was uniquely packaged to center on individual services and making it different from the traditional goods marketing. There was a visible difference between manufactured goods and services in the sense that goods are tangible and can be felt whereas services are not.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Continuous market dynamics and technological advances have seen manufacturers shift from the old method of manufacturing for a speculated market to a situation where they accurately predict the customers needs and respond to them appropriately. By addressing the customers’ needs, manufacturers aim at creating customer dependency to their products and are assured of them buying. This process calls for the need to carry out a feasibility study well in advance to establish what the customer needs and then customizing the products to feed the customers’ needs (Baker and Saren, 2010) Manufacturing companies have come with different ways of customizing products to fit individual needs; this can either be through use of colours that are synonymous to a certain group or tags that can be identified with a target market. The books sector is a good example where customers have widely applied the strategy of â€Å"product personalization† by providing them with unique names (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). High levels of competition and technological advancements have consistently pushed manufacturers and service providers into a need to pay more attention to the customer. They have been forced to categorize customers and strive to satisfy each customer’s unique need. There is a growing â€Å"perception that goods and service are similar,† this as pointed out by Lusch and Varg (2006) is as a â€Å"re sult of co-production.† The shift towards the notion that goods and services are similar has led to studies into the need for customer integration. Researchers on the subject-customer integration have often pointed out that the process allows customers to take part in adding value to the products. Through customer integration, Lusch, and Varg (2006) argues that three levels of serving the customer; â€Å"the facilities level, transformation and utilities.† The practice also enhances decision making, value addition and resource utilization. The support structure for the three levels of service provision is usually founded on the difference between â€Å"direct and indirect service provision.† In this framework, the resources service provision level brings integration when there is an exchange between a company and the customer (Lusch and Varg 2006). The structure also helps in identifying who between the customer and the service company is responsible for the expr ess and circuitous provision of services.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Modern marketing approach specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More At the decisions level, the support framework indicates that there is a relationship between the company and the customer at the point of making a decision. The value addition stage of value provision on the other hand indicates that customers and service companies collaborate in service provision. Niche Targeting Most recent marketing strategies target particular groups of people classified either according to age, gender, social status or job. Marketing attempts directing towards the youth for example are more frequent as a contemporary marketing approach. In this case, the marketing team studies the bahavor of its target market and develops a product that is customized to fit the needs of the chosen niche. This is common for example with the fashion companies, mobile phone manuf acturers and mobile service providers. Increase in the number of firms engaged in the production of similar goods or provision of similar services is responsible for the increased competition. Each organization strives to attain levels of competitive advantages over the others. Michael Porter formulated three important strategies which business organizations can use to gain competitive advantage; he points out â€Å"cost leadership, differentiation and focus† (Zeithaml, etal., 2005). As the main strategies for attaining competitive advantage. Current marketing strategies seem to have outgrown Porters’ strategies The modern marketing strategies emphasize the need for market segmentation as opposed to Porters’ three strategies alone. In the old days, price and product sophistication was used as a strategy to create market segments. Product pricing often meant that the product is affordable to a particular group of people by default and not some. Depending on the l evel of sophistication, a product would by default of preference to a particular social class. This type of strategy requires a substantial amount of promotional effort which results in a product that serves a narrow market segment rather than the mass market. The approach to niche marketing in the present day scenario requires inclusion to ensure sustainability. This means the modern approach to niche marketing is more focused to unique abilities and talents among people rather than in the different categories of people.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The unique abilities and skills may lie in the type of technology used by the organization or the unique talents among the organization’s manpower. (Palmer, 1997) points out the strategy that Apple Company has been using to make its i-products stand out of the competition as a typical example of this. The Dynamics of the Niche Market Niche markets are often very vibrant and keep on evolving with time. An organization can capture a niche and own it for time and loose it to other competitors in the field with time. Schiffman and Kanuk (2000) points out that shopping malls were niche markets for quite some time, he observes the changes that have occurred since then exposed malls to stiff competition. The same scenario is said to have happened to watch brands such as; Dual time. Changes in lifestyle, technology taste and preference among consumers contribute to the frequent shifts in the niche market. One would observe that what is considered fashionable within a given niche may not last long as other products keep on being launched into the market. Goods meant for niche marketing are often tailored to some technology and marketing procedure that fits the desired niche. The market usually begins with a boom but is filled up with competitors with time. This means that if an organization is to focus on niche marketing, then it must develop the most innovative strategies and be ready to continuously evolve and seek new niches for its products. Focus to a particular niche requires robust support in terms of resource but it does not necessarily translate into large revenue output. It is therefore not advisable for a particular firm to target niche marketing as a sole strategy for its product line. There is need to diversify into other strategies to cushion the organization from diverse effects of niche marketing incase of poor performance (Zeithaml, etal., 2005). Such an organization must also invest in developing right talents that can formulate and put into op erations appropriate strategies to achieve success. A niche in this case can not be looked at as a marketing strategy, rather it is a process resulting from an organizations’ proficiency in producing products that appeal to a particular group of people (Gilmore, 2003). Attaining sustainability in this course requires continuous innovation both in marketing skills and product development. Inclusive networking and sourcing ideas globally stands out as one of the strategies to successfully run a niche market. Niche marketing must strive to uniquely package products and invest in efficient manufacturing processes, cost effective distribution channels and adopt different marketing strategies. Technology serves as a major pillar in attaining the mentioned attributes. Technologically supported manufacturing, distribution and marketing helps in cutting down on cost and achieving high profit margins. Computer aided manufacturing and computer aided design are the key technological tool s that have helped in increasing manufacturing precision, reducing wastage and developing goods that suit the customers taste and needs. In supply chain, technological tools such as; RFID and EDI play an important role in speeding up the process and eliminating errors in the supply chain (Pasuraman and Berry, 2004). Leadership and sustainability in niche market is squarely based on the profitability of the strategy used. In order to attain leadership, there is needs a sound strategy that serves the whole market. This requires that an organization can be able to serve the market with as many products as possible at a minimum cost Pasuraman and Berry (2004) indicates that there is need to pursue â€Å"scale, scope and niche in a single business model in order to attain leadership in niche marketing.† Product/service dichotomy hampers development of marketing strategies The idea of creating a division between the approaches to service and product marketing makes it hard to devel op successful marketing strategies. Marketing of consumer and industrial services ought to be treated as one to allow the use of similar strategies in either. Often those who support the division of the product and services stress on differences in terms of the structure, marketing approach, response to environmental pressure and their markets. On the other hand, those opposed to this argument feel the dichotomy approach falls short in reality in the sense that; products and service marketing are similar. The only difference as pointed out by Rathmall (1974) could be in terms of the sizes of the companies involved. Division of marketing for products and services is often used as the platform for developing marketing theory and their application. Here, the dichotomy serves as a guide for developing distinct marketing actions tailored to particular products, enterprises and market divisions. Service marketing tends to target the final consumer as opposed to industrial product marketin g that targets buyers within the supply chain. Probably according to Rathmall (1974) this is what describes the difference between the two as far as marketing entails. Environment and company size are the main distinctions in product and service dichotomy. Environmental influences which undermine marketing efforts such as infrastructure can be a basis for differences between product and service marketing. Company size dictates the amount of resources available for investing in the marketing. Amount of resources available for marketing puts different platforms as far as marketing of products and services concerns. The Size of the Firm vs. Marketing Activities Most small firms often use contemporary marketing approaches building it both on the relational and transactional marketing theories. This brings on the same platform the marketing practice adapted by both small enterprises and the big ones. Traditionally, only the big firms used the transactional and relational marketing theori es to develop marketing strategies for their products. The size of an enterprise plays an important role in the manner in which the enterprise plans its marketing. Often, small enterprises adopt informal type of marketing plans unlike large enterprises which formulate formal marketing plans. Generally, there are several similarities between the informal and formal marketing plans adopted by small and large enterprises. There are wide similarities between in how the marketing decisions are developed and implemented. The general decision making strategies are used by both the small and large enterprises to develop marketing decisions. Another similarity is exhibited in customer relations duration anticipated by both product and service providers. They all aim at developing a sustainable customer relation, to achieve this; a lot of emphasis is placed on effective customer relations. Another similarity between small and large enterprises lies in the manner in which they develop and keep their customer contacts. Right from the first transaction with the customer, both large and small enterprises seek to keep the contacts of the customer for purposes of future communication and interaction. Enterprises often have a database of customers to act as a reference to track the customers buying behavior. Marketing as a process requires an investment to enable logistical procedures and planning. The only difference regarding investment in marketing is reflected in the budget but both the product enterprises and service enterprises must invest in marketing. It has also been noted that both small and large enterprises practice some aspects of traditional marketing. The problem of using traditional marketing approaches often has been lack of compatibility with the modern environment and customer behavior. Generally, by small enterprises adopting broad marketing strategies, they reduce the marketing distinctions between them and large enterprises. Small enterprises are continuo usly emphasizing investment of financial resources, time and effort in the development of personal relationships with the customers and raising their competitive levels in the market. Relational marketing provides an effective strategy for small firms to be as competitive as large firms. By enhancing the use of traditional marketing strategies, small firms can create a stable base from which they can strengthen their customer relations and be in a better position to compete the large firms. Planning and performance evaluation is another area that brings out more similarities between large and small enterprises’ marketing strategies. As pointed out earlier, small enterprises adopt a rather informal marketing plan, modern small business managers are increasingly coming to the realization of the need to adopt formal marketing plans to compete effectively with large firms. Another implication from marketing planning is that there is no empirical support of planning to performance in marketing. Palmer (1997) argues that whether a firm large or small adopts a formal plan, the difference might only be in the structure of the marketing approach but not necessarily in performance. Since evaluation of a marketing plan rates performance, planning may not be a strong factor as such. Firms should rate their marketing performance majorly from the customers’ response as well as their feedback. Marketing in the Service Industry Service industries, like industrial companies must constantly revolutionize their marketing strategies to put themselves in strategic positions in relation to the customers. There is in fact a higher need of growth and development in the service industry than in industrial markets. The major challenge in the service industry as pointed out by Palmer (1997) is the continuous fluctuation of overheads. The service sector became a prominent part of the economy towards the end of the twentieth century and has continued to play an important rol e in supporting economies. The sector continues to be a major source of employment, and therefore an excellent need for the services to be looked as importantly as the goods industry. Taking the service industry with the same weight as the goods industry should then be translated to the marketing approaches and strategies applied in both industries. Distinction of marketing strategies between goods and service industries would mean lead to making ineffective the traditional marketing strategies that have been existence for long. This is because the service industry as indicated earlier is a new venture in the world. Compared to goods industry which has been in existence for several years, with already established marketing strategies, it is important that the service marketing industry. Service purchase involves dealings which unlike the goods industry do not lead to material ownership. Since the emergence of the services industry, marketing of its products has been continually chan ging to take the same line as the products industry. The 4ps model of marketing has often been cited as inadequate in selling services Gronroos (1990) proposes an enrichment factor to this model in order to suit the service industry; â€Å"process and the participants should also be added to the list to make it effective as a services marketing tool. Time and speed are two other important elements of service marketing as pointed out by Palmer (1997) customers always make a repeat order for services from a provider that guarantees maximum effectiveness, efficiency and also delivers to the promise. The marketing speed is however an element that is controlled solely by the marketers. Services in which speed is important include; the food industry due to its perishable nature, transport service is another sector where speed of service delivery matters a lot. Integration of Product and Service Marketing Services do not have tangibility as opposed to goods, goods have evidence. Gronroos (1990) points out that â€Å"some pieces of evidence bundled with services can not be categorized as a true element.† However, service evidence as pointed with plays an important role in the fulfillment of the service. Customers use service evidence to appraise the performance of the service provider. Evidence in the service provision process helps minimize risks and gives the customer more confidence to purchase the service. Besides, evidence also helps to distinguish one service from another. Providing Evidence in Service Marketing Dichotomy is often used as evidence by service providers, â€Å"the quality of the product that accompanies the service they receive† (Bell, 1973) this includes the cost of equipment used to provide the service. Taking an example of a lodging or restaurant, cheap lodging or restaurant equipment implies poor service and expensive equipments on the other hand translates to classy services. This fact is used to differentiate service providers in terms of quality. Branding is also used as evidence in service provision. Borden (1965) points out that â€Å"service branding makes the product acceptable.† Once a service provider brands a service and runs a campaign to make it popular, customers develop more confidence in the service. A popular brand develops the customers’ confidence and reduces their perception of underlying financial risks in buying the service. The brand acts as evidence to what the customer can not feel or touch. Customers develop strong confidence in popular brands and buy them with same ease as a visible product. Branding consists of two stages; primary and secondary. The primary state consists of tangible evidence about the product which as earlier mentions lacks in services. Bell (1973) suggests that â€Å"the name of the service provider can be used as a primary brand.† The secondary brand then follows on the description given to the service. Companies distributing strong brands in the markets stand out of the rest because of the brand name. The environment in which the service is used can also serve as evidence for the service. Marketers can rely on this factor, to market the service as easily as they can to a product. The environment in which a product is used gives an opportunity for a marketer to create a mental picture of the service to the potential buyer. Borden (1965) indicates that a marketer out to create awareness of services provided by an amusement park can use words like â€Å"fun filled or enjoyment place† to create a mental picture about the park to the customer. The marketing message is another sort of evidence marketers in the contemporary world use to convince consumers about the service. Besides the message, customers are also given some incentives to lure them to the service. Mobile phone service providers for example promise free call time or launch a competition in which users of the service stand a chance to win some gifts. T his strategy is one of the best that marketers have focused on to convince consumers to use their services. This is described by Assael (1987) as the â€Å"power of communication† in which a market tends to glorify the service to the consumer. Along the same vein, the media has become a prominent tool with which marketers use to spread their service messages to the consumer. Service structure is another important tool for marketers, service marketers need to create structures which they can use to appeal and convince the customer why he or she should use the service. These structures could be in form of the tools that the service provider uses to deliver the service. Assael (1987) suggests that an air transport service provider can flaunt to the customer about the best airplanes in the company possession. With this structure, a marketer can make the customer imagine how good it is to use the service. By seeing the best rated airplane for example, a customer can be convinced t hat the service provided will be classy. Conclusion This paper has demonstrated that the product service dichotomy is increasingly loosing popularity in the modern business world. Although seen as a step towards the creation of market segments for products and service. Creating a distinction between products and services for the purposes of marketing is increasingly becoming a thing of the past as market researches continue pouring new approaches to integrate service and product marketing. References Assael, H., 1987. Consumer Behavior and Marketing Action. Boston: Kent Publishing Company. Baker, M. and Saren, M. 2010. Marketing Theory: a Student Text. London: Sage Publications. Bell, D., 1973. The Coming of the Post-Industrial Society. New York: Basic Books. Borden, N. H., 1965. The Concept of the Marketing mix. New York: John Wiley Sons. Gilmore, A., 2003.Services marketing and management. London: Sage Publications Gronroos, C., 1990.Services Management and Marketing. New York: L exington Lusch, R. F. and Varg, S. L., 2006. Theservice-dominant logic of marketing: dialog, debate, and directions. New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., Palmer, A., 1997. Principles of Service Marketing.London: McGraw Hill. Pasuraman, A. and Berry, L. 2004. Marketing Services: Competing Through Quality.New York: Simon Schuster Rathmall, J. M., 1974. Marketing in the Service Sector. Massachusetts: Winthrop Publishers, Inc Schiffman, L. and Kanuk. L. L., 2000. Consumer Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Zeithaml, V. A. etal., 2005. Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus across the Firm. London: McGraw-Hill. This essay on Modern marketing approach was written and submitted by user Emmett Hewitt to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Fight Club and Marla Singer Essays

Fight Club and Marla Singer Essays Fight Club and Marla Singer Paper Fight Club and Marla Singer Paper You can mix the glycerin with nitric acid to make nitroglycerin, Tyler says. I breathe with my mouth open and say, nitroglycerin. Tyler licks his lips wet and shining and kisses the back of my hand. You can mix the nitroglycerin with sodium nitrate and sawdust to make dynamite, Tyler says. The kiss shines wet on the back of my white hand. Dynamite, I say, and sit back on my heels. Tyler pries the lid off the can of lye. You can blow up bridges, Tyler says. You can mix the nitroglycerin with more nitric acid and paraffin and make gelatin explosives, Tyler says. You could blow up a building, easy, Tyler says. Tyler tilts the can of lye an inch above the shining wet kiss on the back of my hand. This is a chemical burn, Tyler says, and it will hurt worse than youve ever been burned. Worse than a hundred cigarettes. The kiss shines on the back of my hand. Youll have a scar, Tyler says. With enough soap, Tyler says, you could blow up the whole world. Now remember your promise. And Tyler pours the lye. Chapter 7 TYLERS SALIVA DID two jobs. The wet kiss on the back of my hand held the flakes of lye while they burned. That was the first job. The second was lye only burns when you combine it with water. Or saliva. This is a chemical burn, Tyler said, and it will hurt more than youve ever been burned. You can use lye to open clogged drains. Close your eyes. A paste of lye and water can burn through an aluminum pan. A solution of lye and water will dissolve a wooden spoon. Combined with water, lye heats to over two hundred degrees, and as it heats it burns into the back of my hand, and Tyler places his fingers of one hand over my fingers, our hands spread on the lap of my bloodstained pants, and Tyler says to pay attention because this is the greatest moment of my life. Because everything up to now is a story, Tyler says, and everything after now is a story. This is the greatest moment of our life. The lye clinging in the exact shape of Tylers kiss is a bonfire or a branding iron or an atomic pile meltdown on my hand at the end of a long, long road I picture miles away from me. Tyler tells me to come back and be with him. My hand is leaving, tiny and on the horizon at the end of the road. Picture the fire still burning, except now its beyond the horizon. A sunset. Come back to the pain, Tyler says. This is the kind of guided meditation they use at support groups. Dont even think of the word pain. Guided meditation works for cancer, it can work for this. Look at your hand, Tyler says. Dont look at your hand. Dont think of the word searing or flesh or tissue or charred. Dont hear yourself cry. Guided meditation. Youre in Ireland. Close your eyes. Youre in Ireland the summer after you left college, and youre drinking at a pub near the castle where every day busloads of English and American tourists come to kiss the Blarney stone. Dont shut this out, Tyler says. Soap and human sacrifice go hand in hand. You leave the pub in a stream of men, walking through the beaded wet car silence of streets where its just rained. Its night. Until you get to the Blarneystone castle. The floors in the castle are rotted away, and you climb the rock stairs with blackness getting deeper and deeper on every side with every step up. Everybody is quiet with the climb and the tradition of this little ac t of rebellion. Listen to me, Tyler says. Open your eyes. In ancient history, Tyler says, human sacrifices were made on a hill above a river. Thousands of people. Listen to me. The sacrifices were made and the bodies were burned on a pyre. You can cry, Tyler says. You can go to the sink and run water over your hand, but first you have to know that youre stupid and you will die. Look at me. Someday, Tyler says, you will die, and until you know that, youre useless to me. Youre in Ireland. You can cry, Tyler says, but every tear that lands in the lye flakes on your skin will burn a cigarette burn scar. Guided meditation. Youre in Ireland the summer after you left college, and maybe this is where you first wanted anarchy. Years before you met Tyler Durden, before you peed in your first creme anglaise, you learned about little acts of rebellion. In Ireland. Youre standing on a platform at the top of the stairs in a castle. We can use vinegar, Tyler says, to neutralize the burning, but first you have to give up. After hundreds of people were sacrificed and burned, Tyler says, a thick white discharge crept from the altar, downhill to the river. First you have to hit bottom. Youre on a platform in a castle in Ireland with bottomless darkness all around the edge of the platform, and ahead of you, across an arms length of darkness, is a rock wall. Rain, Tyler says, fell on the burnt pyre year after year, and year after year, people were burned, and the rain seeped through the wood ashes to become a solution of lye, and the lye combined with the melted fat of the sacrifices, and a thick white discharge of soap crept out from the base of the altar and crept downhill toward the river. And the Irish men aroun d you with their little act of rebellion in the darkness, they walk to the edge of the platform, and stand at the edge of the bottomless darkness and piss. And the men say, go ahead, piss your fancy American piss rich and yellow with too many vitamins. Rich and expensive and thrown away. This is the greatest moment of your life, Tyler says, and youre off somewhere missing it. Youre in Ireland. Oh, and youre doing it. Oh, yeah. Yes. And you can smell the ammonia and the daily allowance of B vitamins. Where the soap fell into the river, Tyler says, after a thousand years of killing people and rain, the ancient people found their clothes got cleaner if they washed at that spot. Im pissing on the Blarney stone. Geez, Tyler says. Im pissing in my black trousers with the dried bloodstains my boss cant stomach. Youre in a rented house on Paper Street. This means something, Tyler says. This is a sign, Tyler says. Tyler is full of useful information. Cultures without soap, Tyler says, they used their urine and the urine of their dogs to wash their clothes and hair because of the uric acid and ammonia. Theres the smell of vinegar, and the fire on your hand at the end of the long road goes out. Theres the smell of lye scalding the branched shape of your sinuses, and the hospital vomit smell of piss and vinegar. It was right to kill all those people, Tyler says. The back of your hand is swollen red and glossy as a pair of lips in the exact shape of Tylers kiss. Scattered around the kiss are the cigarette burn spots of somebody crying. Open your eyes, Tyler says, and his face is shining with tears. Congratulations, Tyler says. Youre a step closer to hitting bottom. You have to see, Tyler says, how the first soap was made of heroes. Think about the animals used in product testing. Think about the monkeys shot into space. Without their death, their pain, without their sacrifice, Tyler says, we would have nothing. I S T O P T H E elevator between floors while Tyler undoes his belt. When the elevator stops, the soup bowls stacked an the buffet cart stop rattling, and steam mushrooms up to the elevator ceiling as Tyler takes the lid off the soup tureen. Tyler starts to take himself out and says, Dont look at me, or I cant go. The soups a sweet tomato bisque with cilantro and clams. Between the two, nobody will smell anything else we put in. I sa y, hurry up, and I look back over my shoulder at Tyler with his last half inch hanging in the soup. This looks in a really funny way like a tall elephant in a waiters white shirt and bow tie drinking soup through its little trunk. Tyler says, I said, `Dont look. The elevator door in front of me has a little face-sized window that lets me look out into the banquet service corridor. With the elevator stopped between floors, my view is about a cockroach above the green linoleum, and from here at cockroach level the green corridor stretches toward the vanishing point, past half-open doors where titans and their gigantic wives drink barrels of champagne and bellow at each other wearing diamonds bigger han I feel. Last week, I tell Tyler, when the Empire State Lawyers were here for their Christmas party, I got mine hard and stuck it in all their orange mousses. Last week, Tyler says, he stopped the elevator and farted on a whole cart of Boccone Dolce for the Junior League tea. That Tyler knows how a meringue will absorb odor. At cockroach level, we can hear the captive harpist make musi c as the titans lift forks of butterflied lamb chop, each bite the size of a whole pig, each mouth a tearing Stonehenge of ivory. I say, go already. Tyler says, I cant. If the soup gets cold, theyll send it back. The giants, theyll send something back to the kitchen for no reason at all. They just want to see you run around for their money. A dinner like this, these banquet parties, they know the tip is already included in the bill so they treat you like dirt. We dont really take anything back to the kitchen. Move the Pommes Parisienne and the Asperges Hollandaise around the plate a little, serve it to someone else, and all of a sudden its fine. I say, Niagara Falls. The Nile River. In school, we all thought if you put somebodys hand in a bowl of warm water while they slept, theyd wet the bed. Tyler says, Oh. Behind me, Tyler says, Oh, yeah. Oh, Im doing it. Oh, yeah. Yes. Past half-open doors in the ballrooms off the service corridor swish gold and black and red skirts as tall as the gold velvet curtain at the Old Broadway Theatre. Now and again there are pairs of Cadillac sedans in black leather with shoelaces where the windshields should be. Above the cars move a city of office towers in red cummerbunds. Not too much, I say. Tyler and me, weve turned into the guerrilla terrorists of the service industry. Dinner party saboteurs. The hotel caters dinner parties, and when somebody wants the food they get the food and the wine and the china and glassware and the waiters. They get the works, all in one bill. And because they know they cant threaten you with the pp, to them youre just a cockroach. Tyler, he did a dinner party one time. This was when Tyler turned into a renegade waiter. That first dinner party, Tyler was serving the fish course in this white and glass cloud of a house that seemed to float over the city on steel legs attached to a hillside. Part of the way through the fish ourse, while Tylers rinsing plates from the pasta course, the hostess comes in the kitchen holding a scrap of paper that flaps like a flag, her hand is shaking so much. Through her clenched teeth, Madam wants to know did the waiters see any of the guests go down the hallway that leads to the bedroom part of the house? Especially any of the women guests? Or the host? In the kitchen, its Tyler and Albert and Len and Jerry rinsing a nd stacking the plates and a prep cook, Leslie, basting garlic butter on the artichoke hearts stuffed with shrimp and escargot. Were not supposed to go in that part of the house, Tyler says. We come in through the garage. All were supposed to see is the garage, the kitchen, and the dining room. The host comes in behind his wife in the kitchen doorway and takes the scrap of paper out of her shaking hand. This will be alright, he says. How can I face those people, Madam says, unless I know who did this? The host puts a flat open hand against the back of her silky white party dress that matches her house and Madam straightens up, her shoulders squared, and is all of a sudden quiet. They are your guests, he says. And this party is very important. This looks in a really funny way like a ventriloquist bringing his dummy to life. Madam looks at her husband, and with a little shove the host takes his wife back into the dining room. The note drops to the floor and the two-way swish-swish of the kitchen door sweeps the note against Tylers feet. Albert says, Whats it say? Len goes out to start clearing the fish course. Leslie slides the tray of artichoke hearts back into the oven and says, Whats it say, already? Tyler looks right at Leslie and says, without even picking up the note, `I have passed an amount of urine into at least one of your many elegant fragrances. Albert smiles. You pissed in her perfume? No, Tyler says. He just left the note stuck between the bottles. Shes got about a hundred bottles sitting on a mirror counter in her bathroom. Leslie smiles. So you didnt, really? No, Tyler says, but she doesnt know that. The whole rest of the night in that white and glass dinner party in the sky, Tyler kept clearing plates of cold artichokes, then cold veal with cold Pommes Duchesse, then cold Choufleur a la Polonaise from in front of the hostess, and Tyler kept filling her wine glass about a dozen times. Madam sat watching each of her women guests eat the food, until between clearing the sorbet dishes and serving the apricot gateau, Madams place at the head of the table was all of a sudden empty. They were washing up after the guests had left, loading the coolers and the china back into the hotel van, when the host came in the kitchen and asked, would Albert please come help him with something heavy? Leslie says, maybe Tyler went too far. Loud and fast, Tyler says how they kill whales, Tyler says, to make that perfume that costs more than gold per ounce. Most people have never seen a whale. Leslie has two kids in an apartment next to the freeway and Madam hostess has more bucks than well make in a year in bottles on her bathroom counter. Albert comes back from helping the host and dials 9-1-1 on the phone. Albert puts a hand over the mouth part and says, man, Tyler shouldnt have left that note. Tyler says, So, tell the banquet manager. Get me fired. Im not married to this chickenshit job. Everybody looks at their feet. Getting fired, Tyler says, is the best thing that could happen to any of us. That way, wed quit treading water and do something with our lives. Albert says into the phone that we need an ambulance and the address. Waiting on the line, Albert says the hostess is a real mess right now. Albert had to pick her up from next to the toilet. The host couldnt pick her up because Madam says hes the one who peed in her perfume bottles, and she says hes trying to drive her crazy by having an affair with one of the women guests, tonight, and shes tired, tired of all the people they call their friends. The host cant pick her up because Madams fallen down behind the toilet in her white dress and shes waving around half a broken perfume bottle. Madam says shell cut his throat, he even tries to touch her. Tyler says, Cool. And Albert stinks. Leslie says, Albert, honey, you stink. Theres no way you could come out of that bathroom not stinking, Albert says. Every bottle of perfume is broken on the floor and the toilet is piled full of the other bottles. They look like ice, Albert says, like at the fanciest hotel parties where we have to fill the urinals with crushed ice. The bathroom stinks and the floor is gritty with slivers of ice that wont melt, and when Albert helps Madam to her feet, her white dress wet with yellow stains, Madam swings the broken bottle at the host, lips in the perfume and broken glass, and lands on her palms. Shes crying and bleeding, curled against the toilet. Oh, and it stings, she says. Oh, Walter, it stings. Its stinging, Madam says. The perfume, all those dead whales in the cuts in her hands, it stings. The host pulls Madam to her feet against him, Madam holding her hands up as if she were prayin g but with her hands an inch apart and blood running down the palms, down the wrists, across a diamond bracelet, and to her elbows where it drips. And the host, he says, It will be alright, Nina. My hands, Walter, Madam says. It will be alright. Madam says, Who would do this to me? Who could hate me this much? The host says, to Albert, Would you call an ambulance? That was Tylers first mission as a service industry terrorist. Guerrilla waiter. Minimum-wage despoiler. Tylers been doing this for years, but he says everything is more fun as a shared activity. At the end of Alberts story, Tyler smiles and says, Cool. Back in the hotel, right now, in the elevator stopped between the kitchen and the banquet floors, I tell Tyler how I sneezed on the trout in aspic for the dermatologist convention and three people told me it was too salty and one person said it was delicious. Tyler shakes himself off over the soup tureen and says hes run dry. This is easier with cold soup, vichyssoise, or when the chefs make a really fresh gazpacho. This is impossible with that onion soup that has a crust of melted cheese on it in ramekins. If I ever ate here, thats what Id order. We were running out of ideas, Tyler and me. Doing stuff to the food sot to be boring, almost part of the job description. Then I hear one of the doctors, lawyers, whatever, say how a hepatitis bug can live on stainless steel for six months. You have to wonder how long this bug can live on Rum Custard Charlotte Russe. Or Salmon Timbale. I asked the doctor where could we get our hands on some of these hepatitis bugs, and hes drunk enough to laugh. Everything goes to the medical waste dump, he says. And he laughs. Everything. The medical waste dump sounds like hitting bottom. One hand on the elevator control, I ask Tyler if hes ready. The scar on the back of my hand is swollen red and glossy as a pair of lips in the exact shape of Tylers kiss. One second, Tyler says. The tomato soup must still be hot because the crooked thing Tyler tucks back in his pants is boiled pink as a jumbo prawn. Chapter 8 IN SOUTH AMERICA, Land of Enchantment, we could be wading in a river where tiny fish will swim up Tylers urethra. The fish have barbed spines that flare out and back so once theyre up Tyler, the fish set up housekeeping and get ready to lay their eggs. In so many ways, how we spent Saturday night could be worse. It couldve been worse, Tyler says, what we did with Marlas mother. I say, shut up. Tyler says, the French government couldve taken us to an underground complex outside of Paris where not even surgeons but semiskilled technicians would razor our eyelids off as part of toxicity testing an aerosol tanning spray. This stuff happens, Tyler says. Read the newspaper. Whats worse is I knew what Tyler had been up to with Marlas mother, but for the first time since Ive known him, Tyler had some oval play money. Tyler was making real bucks. Nordstroms called and left an order for two hundred bars of Tylers brown sugar facial soap before Christmas. At twenty bucks a bar, suggested retail price, we had money to go out on Saturday night. Money to fix the leak in the gas line. Go dancing. Without money to worry about, maybe I could quit my job. Tyler calls himself the Paper Street Soap Company. People are saying its the best soap ever. What wouldve been worse, Tyler says, is if you had accidentally eaten Marlas mother. Through a mouthful of Kung Pao Chicken, I say to just shut the hell up. Where we are this Saturday night is the front seat of a 1968 Impala sitting on two flats in the front row of a used-car lot. Tyler and me, were talking, drinking beer out of cans, and the front seat of this Impala is bigger than most peoples sofas. The car lots up and down this part of the boulevard, in the industry they call these lots the Pot Lots where the cars all cost around two hundred dollars and during the day, the gypsy guys who run these lots stand around in their plywood offices smoking long, thin cigars. The cars are the beater first cars kids drive in high school: Gremlins and Pacers, Mavericks and Hornets, Pintos, International Harvester pickup trucks, lowered Camaros and Dusters and Impalas. Cars that people loved and then dumped. Animals at the pound. Bridesmaid dresses at the Goodwill. With dents and gray or red or black primer quarter panels and rocker panels and lumps of body putty that nobody ever got around to sanding. Plastic wood and plastic leather and plastic chrome interiors. At night, the gypsy guys dont even lock the car doors. The headlights on the boulevard go by behind the price painted on the Impala-big wraparound Cinemascope windshield. See the U. S. A. The price is ninety-eight dollars. From the inside, this looks like eightynine cents. Zero, zero, decimal point, eight, nine. America is asking you to call. Most of the cars here are about a hundred dollars, and all the cars have an AS IS sales agreement hanging in the drivers window. We chose the Impala because if we have to sleep in a car on Saturday night, this car has the biggest seats. Were eating Chinese because we cant go home. It was either sleep here, or stay up all night at an after-hours dance club. We dont go to dance clubs. Tyler says the music is so loud, especially the base tracks, that it screws with his biorhythm. The last time we went out, Tyler said the loud music made him constipated. This, and the club is too loud to talk, so after a couple of drinks, everyone feels like the center of attention but completely cutoff from participating with anyone else. Youre the corpse in an English murder mystery. Were sleeping in a car tonight because Marla came to the house and threatened to call the police and have me arrested for cooking her mother, and then Marla slammed around the house, screaming that I was a ghoul and a cannibal and she went kicking through the piles of Readers Digest and National Geographic, and then I left her there. In a nutshell. After her accidental on-purpose suicide with Xanax at the Regent Hotel, I cant imagine Marla calling the police, but Tyler thought it would be good to sleep out, tonight. Just in case. Just in case Marla burns the house down. Just in case Marla goes out and finds a gun. Just in case Marla is still in the house. Just in case. I try to get centered: Watching white moon face The stars never feel anger Blah, blah, blah, the end Here, with the cars going by on the boulevard and a beer in my hand in the Impala with its cold, hard Bakelite steering wheel maybe three feet in diameter and the cracked vinyl eat pinching my ass through my jeans, Tyler says, One more time. Tell me exactly what happened. For weeks, I ignored what Tyler had been up to. One time, I went with Tyler to the Western Union office and watched as he sent Marlas mother a telegram. HIDEOUSLY WRINKLED (stop) PLEASE HELP ME! (end) Tyler had showed the clerk Marlas library card and signed Marlas name to the telegram order, an d yelled, yes, Marla can be a guys name sometimes, and the clerk could just mind his own business. When we were leaving the Western Union, Tyler said if I loved him, Id trust him. This wasnt something I needed to know about, Tyler told me and he took me to Garbonzos for hummus. What really scared me wasnt the telegram as much as it was eating out with Tyler. Never, no, never had Tyler ever paid cash for anything. [,or clothes, Tyler goes to gyms and hotels and claims clothing out of the lost and found. This is better than Marla, who goes to Laundromats to steal jeans out of the dryers and sell them at twelve dollars a pair to those places that buy used jeans. Tyler never ate in restaurants, and Marla wasnt wrinkled. For no apparent reason, Tyler sent Marlas mother a fifteen-pound box of chocolates. Another way this Saturday night could be worse, Tyler tells me in the Impala, is the brown recluse spider. When it bites you, it injects not just a venom but a digestive enzyme or acid that dissolves the tissue around the bite, literally melting your arm or your leg or your face. Tyler was hiding out tonight when this all started. Marla showed up at the house. Without even knocking, Marla leans inside the front door and shouts, Knock, knock. Im reading Readers Digest in the kitchen. I am totally nonplussed. Marla yells, Tyler. Can I come in? Are you home? I yell, Tylers not home. Marla yells, Dont be mean. By now, Im at the front door. Marlas standing in the foyer with a Federal Express overnight package, and says, I needed to put something in your freezer. I dog her heels on the way to the kitchen, saying, no. No. No. No. She is not going to start keeping her junk in this house. But Pumpkin, Marla says, I dont have a freezer at the hotel, and you said I could. No, I did not. The last thing I want is Marla moving in, one piece of crap at a time. Marla has her Federal Express package ripped open on the kitchen table, and she lifts something white out of the Styrofoam packing peanuts and shakes this white thing in my face. This is not crap, she says. This is my mother youre talking about so just fuck off. What Marla lifts out of the package, its one of those sandwich bags of white stuff that Tyler rendered for tallow to make soap. Things wouldve been worse, Tyler says, if youd accidentally eaten what was in one of those sandwich bags. If youd got up in the middle of the night sometime, and squeezed out the white goo and added California onion soup mix and eaten it as a dip with potato chips. Or broccoli. More than anything in the world right then, while Marla and I were standing in the kitchen, I didnt want Marla to open the freezer. I asked, what was she going to do with the white stuff? Paris lips, Marla said. As you get older, your lips pull inside your mouth. Im saving for a collagen lip injection. I have almost thirty pounds of collagen in your freezer. I asked, how big of lips did she want? Marla said it was the operation itself that scared her. The stuff in the Federal Express package, I tell Tyler in the Impala, that was the same stuff we made soap out of. Ever since silicone turned out to be dangerous, collagen has become the hot item to I gave injected to smooth out wrinkles or to puff up thin lips or weak chins. The way Marla had explained it, most collagen you get cheap from cow fat thats been sterilized and processed, but that kind of cheap collagen doesnt last very long in your body. Wherever you get injected, say in your lips, your body rejects it and starts to poop it out. Six months later, you have thin lips, again. The best kind of collagen, Marla said, is your own fat, sucked out of your thighs, processed and cleaned and injected back into your lips, or wherever. This kind of collagen will last. This stuff in the fridge at home, it was Marlas collagen trust fund. Whenever her mom grew any extra fat, she had it sucked out and packaged. Marla says the process is called gleaning. If Marlas mom doesnt need the collagen herself, she sends the packets to Marla. Marla never has any fat of her own, and her mom figures that familial collagen would be better than Marla ever having to use the cheap cow kind. Streetlight along the boulevard comes through the sales agreement m the window and prints AS IS on Tylers cheek. Spiders, Tyler says, could lay their eggs and larva could tunnel, under your skin. Thats how bad your life can get. Right now, my Almond Chicken in its warm, creamy sauce tastes like something sucked out of Marlas mothers thighs. It was right then, standing in the kitchen with Marla, that I knew what Tyler had done. HIDEOUSLY WRINKLED. And I knew why he sent candy to Marlas mother. PLEASE HELP. I say, Marla, you dont want to look in the freezer. Marla says, Do what? We never eat red meat, Tyler tells me in the Impala, and he cant use chicken fat or the soap wont harden into a bar. The stuff, Tyler says, is making us a fortune. We paid the rent with that collagen. I say, you shouldve told Marla. Now she thinks I did it. Saponification, Tyler says, is the chemical reaction you need to make good soap. Chicken fat wont work or any fat with too much salt. Listen, Tyler says. We have a big order to fill. What well do is send Marlas mom some chocolates and probably some fruitcakes. I dont think that will work, anymore. Long story short, Marla looked in the freezer. Okay, there was a little scuffle, first. I try to stop her, and the bag shes holding gets dropped and breaks open on the linoleum and we both slip in the greasy white mess and come up gagging. I have Marla around the waist from behind, her black hair whipping my face, her arms pinned to her sides, and Im saying over and over, it wasnt me. It wasnt me. I didnt do it. My mother! Youre spilling her all over! We needed to make soap, I say with my face pressed up behind her car. We needed to wash my pants, to pay the rent, to fix the leak in the gas line. It wasnt me. It was Tyler. Marla screams, What are you talking about? and twists out of her skirt. Im scrambling to get up off the greased floor with an armful of Marlas India cotton print skirt, and Marla in her panties and wedgie Feels and peasant blouse throws open the freezer part of the fridge, and inside theres no collagen trust fund. Theres two old flashlight batteries, but thats all. Where is she? Im already crawling backwards, my hands slipping, my shoes slipping on the linoleum, and my ass wiping a clean path across the dirty Moor away from Marla and the fridge. I hold up the skirt so I dont Dave to see Marlas face when I tell her. The truth. We made soap out of it. Her. Marlas mother. Soap? Soap. You boil fat. You mix it with lye. You get soap. When Marla s creams, I throw the skirt in her face and run. I slip. I run. Around and around the first floor, Marla runs after me, skidding m the corners, pushing off against the window casings for momentum. Slipping. Leaving filthy handprints of grease and floor dirt among the wallpaper flowers. Falling and sliding into the wainscoting, getting back up, running. Marla screaming, You boiled my mother! Tyler boiled her mother. Marla screaming, always one swipe of her fingernails behind me. Tyler boiled her mother. You boiled my mother! The front door was still open. And then I was out the front door with Marla screaming in the doorway behind me. My feet didnt slip against the concrete sidewalk, and I just kept running. Until I found Tyler or until Tyler found me, and I told him what happened. With one beer each, Tyler and I spread out on the front and back seats with me in the front seat. Even now, Marlas probably still in the house, throwing magazines against the walls and screaming how Im a prick and a monster twofaced capitalist suck-ass bastard. The miles of night between Marla and me offer insects and melanomas and flesh-eating viruses. Where Im at isnt so bad. When a man is hit by lightning, Tyler says, his head burns down to a smoldering baseball and his zipper welds itself shut. I say, did we hit bottom, tonight? Tyler lies back and asks, If Marilyn Monroe was alive right now, what would she be doing? I say, goodnight. The headliner hangs down in shreds from the ceiling, and Tyler says, Clawing at the lid of her coffin. Chapter 9 MY BOSS STANDS too close to my desk with his little smile, his lips together and stretched thin, his crotch at my elbow. I look up from writing the cover letter for a recall campaign. These letters always begin the same way: This notice is sent to you in accordance with the requirements of the National Motor Vehicle Safety Act. We have determined that a defect exists . . . This week I ran the liability formula, and for once A times B times C equaled more than the cost of a recall. This week, its the little plastic clip that holds the rubber blade on your windshield wipers. A throwaway item. Only two hundred vehicles affected. Next to nothing for the labor cost. Last week was more typical. Last week the issue was some leather cured with a known teratogenic substance , synthetic Nirret or something just as illegal thats still used in third world tanning. Something so strong that it could cause birth defects in the fetus of any pregnant woman who comes across it. Last week, nobody called the Department of Transportation. Nobody initiated a recall. New leather multiplied by labor cost multiplied by administration cost would equal more than our first-quarter profits. If anyone ever discovers our mistake, we can still pay off a lot of grieving families before we come close to the cost of retrofitting sixty-five hundred leather interiors. But this week, were doing a recall campaign. And this week the insomnia is back. Insomnia, and now the whole world figures to stop by and take a dump on my grave. My boss is wearing his gray tie so today must be a Tuesday. My boss brings a sheet of paper to my desk and asks if Im looking for something. This paper was left in the copy machine, he says, and begins to read: The first rule of fight club is you dont talk about fight club. His eyes go side to side across the paper, and he giggles. The second rule of fight club is you dont talk about fight club. I hear Tylers words come out of my boss, Mister Boss with his midlife spread and family photo on his desk and his dreams about early retirement and winters spent at a trailer-park hookup in some Arizona desert. My boss, with his extra-starched shirts and standing appointment for a haircut every Tuesday after lunch, he looks at me, and he says: I hope this isnt yours. I am Joes Blood-Boiling Rage. Tyler asked me to type up the fight club rules and make him ten copies. Not nine, not eleven. Tyler says, ten. Still, I have the insomnia, and cant remember sleeping since three nights ago. This must be the original I typed. I made ten copies, and forgot the original. The paparazzi flash of the copy machine in my face. The insomnia distance of everything, a copy of a copy of a copy. You cant touch anything, and nothing can touch you. My boss reads: The third rule of fight club is two men per fight. Neither of us blinks. My boss reads: One fight at a time. I havent slept in three days unless Im sleeping now. My boss shakes the paper under my nose. What about it, he says. Is this some little game Im playing on company time? Im paid for my full attention, not to waste time with little war games. And Im not paid to abuse the copy machines. What about it? He shakes the paper under my nose. What do I think, he asks, what should he do with an employee who spends company time in some little fantasy world. If I was in his shoes, what would I do? What would I do? The hole in my cheek, the blue-black swelling around my eyes, and the swollen red scar of Tylers kiss on the back of my hand, a copy of a copy of a copy. Speculation. Why does Tyler want ten copies of the fight club rules? Hindu cow. What I would do, I say, is Id be very careful who I talked to about this paper. I say, it sounds like some dangerous psychotic killer wrote this, and this buttoned-down schizophrenic could probably go over the edge at any moment in the working day and stalk from office to office with an Armalite AR-180 carbine gas-operated semiautomatic. My boss just looks at me. The guy, I say, is probably at home every night with a little rattail file, filing a cross into the tip of every one of his rounds. This way, when he shows up to work one morning and pumps a round into his nagging, ineffectual, petty, whining, butt-sucking, candy-ass boss, that one round will split along the filed grooves and spread open the way a dumdum bullet flowers inside you to blow a bushel load of your stinking guts out through your spine. Picture your gut chakra opening in a slow-motion explosion of sausage-casing small intestine. My boss takes the paper out from under my nose. Go ahead, I say, read some more. No really, I say, it sounds fascinating. The work of a totally diseased mind. And I smile. The little butthole-looking edges of the hole in my cheek are the same blue-black as . a dogs gums. The skin stretched tight across the swelling around my eyes feels varnished. My boss just looks at me. Let me help you, I say. I say, the fourth rule of fight club is one fight at a time. My boss looks at the rules and then looks at me. I say, the fifth rule is no shoes, no shirts in the fight. My boss looks at the rules and looks at me. Maybe, I say, this totally diseased fuck would use an Eagle Apache carbine because an Apache takes a thirty-shot mag and only weighs nine pounds. The Armalite only takes a five-round magazine. With thirty shots, our totally fucked hero could go the length of mahogany row and take out every vice president with a cartridge left over for each director. Tylers words coming out of my mouth.