"Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today."♪♫

All of a sudden, I found myself thinking sociologically when I opened my early birthday card from my grandparents.  On the front of the card was an image of a cute little kitten with a purple ribbon bow on its head.  The inside of the card read, "Happy Birthday to a girl who's completely cute!  Have a Purr-fect Day!"  The card was very sweet and I'm thankful to know my grandparents think I'm "completely cute," but of course the part of the card that I was most thankful for was the check inside for $40.00.  When I looked at the check, I began to think about concepts of symbolic interactionism and how they related to my life at that moment.

Symbolic interactionism is the theoretical perspective that focuses on interaction among people- interaction based on mutually understood symbols.  When I looked at the check I though about how it was a symbol.  A symbol that I could show to any banker and they would understand that I wanted to trade them one piece of paper labeled "$40" for two pieces of paper each labeled "$20."  My interaction with the banker would be based on mutually understood symbols,  therefore becoming a perfect example of symbolic interaction.  Then, all of a sudden, I found myself thinking about how my two new pieces of paper labeled "$20" are themselves, two new symbols.  Symbols that I can now take to a store to make another trade.  This time, however, the item(s) I receive in return for my two pieces of paper labeled "$20" will be something much more useful than paper, be it a pair of shoes or a couple new CDs.  I can't wait to take my pieces of paper to the store and have a symbolic interaction with the cashier.