I often think about how the war could have affected all of the characters, like
- Hermione keeping a nightlight next to her bed at night because the war has caused her to fear darkness and what lurks in the shadows.
- Narcissa clutching Lucius to her chest as he jerks awake after another dream about Azkaban.
- Draco tossing and turning restlessly in bed as he has vivid nightmares regarding his time spent serving the Dark Lord.
- Ginny sorting through her belongings as she prepares to move out of the Burrow and stumbles across an old present from Fred before breaking down and muffling her sobs with her pillow so her mum won’t hear and grow worried.
- Andromeda waking up in the middle of the night to murmur a reminder to Ted about what they have to do come morning before remembering that both her husband and daughter have long since passed.
- Harry growing paranoid that his scar will start burning and aching again, despite the fact that he knows full well Voldemort is dead, so he finds that on certain days, he has to pull himself away from the rest of society and hide away with his thoughts.
- Ron faltering in Auror training because every time he raises his wand, all he can remember are the faces and bodies of the dead family and friends he tripped over as he stumbled through the battleground back in May of 1998.
- Narcissa visiting her sister’s grave in secret and feeling waves of agony and anxiety wash over her every time she reads the freshly-engraved letters that spell out “Bellatrix Lestrange (nee Black).”
- Neville spending days in a quiet hospital room murmuring to his parents all about coming into his own brand of bravery and his struggles during his final year at Hogwarts and realizing full well that they’ll never truly hear him.
- Luna avoiding basements at all costs, as they remind her of her imprisonment, and making sure to keep her wand tucked underneath her pillow at all times…just in case another ambush takes her by surprise.
- George battling with the ever-present reminder that everywhere he looks, all he sees is Fred.
The list is never-ending and, quite obviously, fluctuates depending on how you view it, but…damn. I think about it a lot.
Behind the Illusion of Teavana
Let me first say that I am a current/former employee of Teavana, and because of this, I have some very strong feelings and opinions about this company. Nevertheless, I will do my best to back up these opinions with empirical evidence.
First, I believe that Teavana utilizes sales practices that are comparable to dehumanizing the customer to the amount of money that s/he ends up giving at the end of the sale. The customer is a number, and that number determines the success/failure of that transaction. This is realized in the tracking of the “average ticket,” which is the average dollar amount of the cumulative number of transactions. It is the average ticket that drives the company and its employees to push customers to the point of feeling “violated,” as so many previous reviewers have said. A large average ticket determines a large sales-per-hour, and a large sales-per-hour determines a bonus check at the end of each month. At Teavana, employees seem to become blind to the customer and his/her needs because they seem to be too focused on the greatest possible number that they can get out of each person that walks through the door.
In short, the customer is reduced to the objective value of the purchase that s/he makes. At Teavana, the employees do not seem to be trained to treat customers with dignity or respect. Rather, they seem to be trained to treat the customer as nothing more than a statistic. I cannot count the number of times that my manager became irritable and angry, rather than grateful and humbled, simply because a guest decided to buy a small purchase that made him/her happy, rather than a large purchase that will make corporate shower her in accolades and promotions. In my experience, Teavana seems to breed a culture of selfishness and ruthless competition, rather than a true culture of tea, where all people are humbled in each others’ presence.
Second, I believe that Teavana romanticizes their product to the point of deception. For example, I once saw one of their teas marketed as “one of the rarest teas in the world.” Rare is relative, but a tea that can be found filling upwards of 250 jars with a 5lb capacity throughout the nation hardly constitutes it as rare. Teavana seems to be taking advantage of the ignorance of the masses and creating an appeal that gives them an excuse to charge a high price for a relatively mediocre product. Furthermore, the romanticizing seems to be magnified by poorly trained employees. For example, I have heard coworkers say that the aforementioned tea is the rarest in the world, when it clearly is too common to be rare, considering that it can be found in bounty in hundreds of retail stores throughout the continent. I have also heard co-workers claim Teavana teas to be “all-natural, organic, sustainable, etc.,” when the corporation itself makes none of these claims. In fact, Teavana neither affirms nor denies the use of artificial flavors, pesticides, fertilizer, socially/environmentally sustainable trade practices, or even objectively affirmed health benefits for their teas. Yet, I have heard employees claim these things for the company that they work for. Again, Teavana seems to be letting ignorance reign in their favor.
My conclusion: I believe Teavana to be a deceptive corporation that is attempting to sway a collective opinion toward the acceptance of the illusion of a high quality product that is actually mediocre and fake. From an areal view, I suspect them of promoting a culture of lies, unchecked greed, and blissful ignorance among their employees and the customers who believe them. More tangibly, I suspect them of artificially flavoring the majority of their teas, cutting corners with cheap ingredients in their teas (all the while charging a premium price), and leading customers and employees alike as to the true quality of the product. Then again, quality is relative.
idk man, imagine showing Arthur Weasley a gif for the first time. At first of course he’d just think it was a normal wizard photograph, but then you’d explain that muggles made it and his heart would just explode with joy over these muggles making such amazing shit even though they have no magic at all. How amazing. How inventive.
Maybe whenever you’re feeling bad about yourself imagine how much Arthur Weasley would enjoy meeting you.
Thank you
Hello Americans! I am an AMEROPHILE. I fell in love with your culture after I saw your hit shows, The Big Bang Theory and Family Guy. Now I understand your whole society, based off of watching just two TV shows! I know your “language” and find it beautiful! Bazinga! I love America because you really mean it when you say “I love you”! I declare freedom to football, 1776!
fucking freeaboos
hispanic parents have a sixth sense
#i cant stop watching this vine it’s so well done it deserves an oscar
this… this is mesmerizing. oh my god.
(Source: http://markdoesstuff.tumblr.com/)
word up to all the women in the uk who got married to other women this weekend but didnt get reported on because the media only reported on male gay marriages for Some Mysterious Reason
