Juanita Zaiger

I have discovered many psychological concepts in my own life, which equate to epherical evidence to back up some of the theories in MacLeod's book.


The hallway hangers and the brothers lived in the low income housing in a large city. In contrast I was born in a dual community. Our home had corn fields surrounding it for the most part. We had two neighbors directly west and some even further west than that . Besides that it was trains and corn. Our home had a barn, corncrib, hog house, chicken coop and pastures to the south east of our home. When I would walk to school I started on a gravel road going north then east In the fall and winter the walk was enchanting. In winter I would walk through mounds of snow in the fields until I reached the bridge. then after some shambled homes I would see a transformation. The farms were gone and many single-family dwellings lined the streets as I walked. I would walk for a mile, give or take a block to school. All the homes had small front yards and small backyards as well; this alone was peculiar to me. As I had all the land necessary for a child to roam, orchards to gather fruit from live stock to feed and corn fields and pastures to play all kinds of imaginary games in. Apples that fell were used for gulf until my parents found out what we were using them for. Then you were in a decent amount of trouble. Of course you found other mischief to get into.

Upon arriving at school I was either enthusiastic or ready to learn everything, or being as shy as I was I also wanted to bolt and go home. I liked learning although I did not see the purpose or reason for it. As my parents had much to do with work and my dad’s physical recovery there was little time for me if any. The explanations about the world and the requirements to function in it were not even mentioned .My father had caught his hand in a corn-picker accident six months after my birth. Which in turn took a genius and basically drove him crazy. He had to instruct the paramedics and those rescuing him on how to free his hand so he had to stay alert or lose his life. I admired this about him as it demonstrated his knowledge and his ability. However, neither his physical person nor his mental stability was the same thereafter. My father had two distinct personalities and there was a lot of chaos and severe abuse from both our parents, when the story is told from my older sibling’s abuse was non existent before my birth. There was no help or none my parents would accept so life went on very shattered and fractured, which in turn harmed the smaller children including my growth and development. Prior to the accident all of my sibling’s were taught math very early on, some knew algebra at five years old. So the lack of being taught those important functioning skills was unusual in my home. Rural parents at times or most of the time do not take the time to talk to their children with to much depth. As there is a very large work load to be done and if idle talk were drawn upon to much it would not get done.
Our whole financial picture changed too. Not that dad was making less money, but priorities shifted to doctors bills and such. My father was a well-known machinist and farmer. This did not change after the accident.
My peers teased me for not being in step monetarily with all the newest clothing, home and material things. However, Farm life provides well as long as you really work for it I was well fed and had interesting animals around me throughout my youth. I felt I was not socially able to keep up with my peers because of our money was needed elsewhere. My mother required a surgery in 72 that would keep us apart for awhile so she could recover. This once more challenged our family and me She had a tumor of the throat which took her voice box and most of her glands and a lot of the muscle in her right arm. I had to learn gestured sigh language in order to help her communicate. She became voiced once again though much hard work and dedication. In 1975 I was in the sixth grade I had been an A student. My folks divorced and I could not cope. My grades fell and in seventh grade I could not keep up with the math. Much later I learned I had a learning disability I’m dyslexia. Which in turn gave me a great deal of understanding about my failure to keep up academically. I knew my home life kept me away from school to some extent But I did blame myself for my lack of academic achievement. I did not blame the school system or my parents. I maintained it had to be me, for awhile anyway.

After many other changes, we moved when I was fifteen to a home in the heart of a true farm community to the South 35 miles. This elevated my class status instantly. Which greatly helped my social mobility. The entire peer groups in school instantly accepted me. I was not poor I was lower to middle class in this community. I began to notice social aspects that were different
Although I could not label it as such I knew there was a social ideology at work in this community I noticed social structures among peers before however, not between teachers, community members ,students or even professional people. I soon noticed the unequal way that teachers treated some students. One counselor/ teacher proposed to my friend that she was to stupid for college courses and deemed she needed to take vocational courses instead. My friend via our conversation right afterward took a risk and passed the college core courses. Several of my peers were not allowed to play on the high school teams baseball, football, basketball or track because their family did not hold the right name. If given a spot on the team they warmed the bench and literally took splinters out before the season was over.
I soon realized there was a whole new structure here I had not seen prior. Academic success was implied as important yet when strived for by the wrong name in town, school officials threatened it. If a student tried to surpass this he or she was hindered even further. One such incident I was directly involved in. I talked with everyone, their status or social class did not bother me. I was in history; one of those beautiful days out where everyone is thinking about what to do in the warm sunshine.
The problem began as some of us in class discussed our thoughts out loud as one of the town’s well -to -do teacher’s lecture‘s. He literally verbally abused us for our lack of attention. He said “ Mark your going to amount to nothing, not at any time in your life, and Dale, you will end up in prison and you two [meaning my sister and I] Are going to be juvenile delinquents. The next day my Mother gave Mr. Teacher and the principle a visit whereupon every student in high school was present. She said, “If you ever talk to or about my daughter’s again like that I will ensure you will not teach again at this school.” She was so angry the notion of a cast iron skillet and his head came into the conversation and she promised she would follow though before he offered a prompt apology.
He was very kind after that even though once in a while he would become flippant and arrogant. All the teachers there stifled someone’s aspirations. That of course is not a teacher’s job. It is, however the teacher’s job to help a child to aspire to all the beautiful dreams the child may have for him or herself. Pointing them in the directed course their dreams can be obtained from It is a teacher‘s job to help them dream big to in all aspects of what they can become and choose to be.
It was the rule to keep farm children and farm laborers laboring this is equal in MacLeod's book as industrial workforce or cheap labor by the Hallway Hangers. In essence this kept them lower or lowly classed

I left high school to be married to my high school sweetheart I finished later on.
I became a housewife and deflected my schooling. As a housewife I got bored quickly and went to work out of boredom. In which my labor helped us meet extra needs. I would not call us poor yet my husband was from an affluent family and wanted to provide better for me. I had a new set of rules to abide by, there were a quite a few I had to behave proper at all times. I was not to mar my husbands or my good name. I was part of his family and my actions would affect the whole. I was socially conditioned to behave accordingly, to help my husband socially and professionally. After moving to Ok. for four years We moved back to Iowa so my husband could further his education. This set up a new social awareness for me.

My husband was not acquainted with his biological father after the age of ten his mother remarried and he lost all contact with his Father. They were reunited when I was 26 this gave me a glimpse to the upper class where money is not a thought where you hop on a plane and enjoy all there is to enjoy just because. It was a unique experience although my Father -n -law is deceased now I appreciate looking into that world.



I am not married to my husband anymore. Yet, I still hold myself well in all I partake in. I would say my choice to divorce was a positive one. This occurred in 1993. Even though I was injured at the hospital I worked at, then in a car accident in 98 I was severely injured in both. The consequence I am now disabled and truthfully poor. Yet I know the cause of my professional and personal loss of financial and social mobility. Whereas the hallway hangers and the brothers do not Although, as stated in the book James seems to have an idea about the cause of his.

I am struggling today to make a new career in which I can use my mind only. I went back to college to try to achieve this. Via advice from my doctor and fiancee I went back to college. With our economy the way it is I am not even certain I will have the tools I need to succeed. This is tough with all the cuts in our education system. The cuts directly affect whether I will be able to finish my education or if I will have the instructors to teach me or even the classes I will need to finish my degree.


I see the social constraints that are being constantly enforced by our government and schools and even by us as a society as a whole. No one wants to pay for welfare. Yet our government subsidizes most corporations it is the same as welfare. These corporations receive large tax breaks that benefit only them and the very rich. This does not help the ninety -five percent that struggles. It gives more infractions on the lower middle class and the poor .The only ones that benefit is the exclusive top 10%. The laws they create help them as well and end up inflicting more towards us. Which we can not withstand the cost of to begin with. We are coming to a time when this may possibly break are whole economic structure. We need to take action and make reforms that take the necessary steps toward rectifying those things that are accosting America’s poor as well as all tax payers. We need to hold accountable those that are unjustly taking more than their share of the pie and bring back to reality that “all men are created equal” and “not just the segregated few.” The very fabric that holds us may fall and there may be more risks each of us will have to take in order to survive.





If we were to teach all our children the same the upper ,middle and lower class the same I believe there would be a smaller gap in the class structures instead of the encompassing reality that only a few hold greater wealth and prosperity.
The hallway hangers had social reproduction against them as well as social mobility and the social achievement ideology. Yet there are so many more in America with the same prospects. We need to change our policies to benefit and at least give the opportunity to a fair future. Not one that has misguided truths that only benefits the policy makers and the wealthy few. So they can have the wealth, cheap labor and a reserve work force. If this overall effect keeps going as, is our international competitors will run America in the not so distant future. It sounds like we have become liken to that of the English Empire with the King George rule. Even that of Roman times, although we are not called peasants or slaves it feels liken to that at times. So the rich can please themselves with all our hard work.
It is our job as the