Opinion Essay

Traveling is an amazing adventure but, there is a hard decision when traveling medium distances and that is transportation. The most used ones are planes and express trains but, which one is better? In my personal opinion, express trains are the best way to get somewhere because of different reasons, just like the ones I am about to discuss.

First of all, when we decide to travel by express trains we spend less money than when we decide to fly by plane. I have a foreigner friend who says that if you are traveling somewhere nearby, why would you spend a lot in a flight when you can save money by going by train? It is obvious, is it not? Having mentioned that, anyone can afford a train ticket however buying a flight is a different story.

Second of all, traveling by express trains is easier since we have more train stations than airports. Let’s think about it, people who want to travel by plain would have to go to an airport first, and airports are not around the corner, they would have to travel a certain distance. Besides that, they would probably spend an hour or so to get there, which would make them waste time they might have saved by going to the nearest train station and traveling by an express train.

Thirdly, both ways of traveling have their place to pick passengers up but, express trains have the best ones.  Since most airports are huge, people get easily lost, on the other hand, train stations are not that big and you can clearly understand where you are and where you have to go. My mom is the one who experienced this situation; she was coming back from my aunt’s house, which is some cities away from us, but she couldn’t find the gate where she was supposed to board her plane and she lost her flight. Later, she decided to go to the terminal and go by train, which was how she could come back to her home, she was happy to have made the right choice.

To conclude, I want to clarify that both ways of transportation are good but, if we are traveling medium distances, going by express train is the best option we can choose because of what I have said so far. However, everyone is free to select whatever they consider the best and easiest for them.

Machines working for us...

Technology has brought many changes to our lives; some of them good some of them bad but, what will happen in the future? In my opinion since we are being slowly replaced by machines we will have to face some situations like the ones I am going to discuss.


First of all, if machines do most part of our tasks, we will have more spare time to relax and share time with our families, which is good. Besides that, we would not have to overwork ourselves since we would have the technology by our side to make everything easier than ever. Therefore, we would have more energy to keep living.

However, even if this sounds good, there are more disadvantages than advantages with this. For example, there will be a moment when humans will be no longer needed in factories, offices or at any other job since machines and robots will do our work faster and in a better way than us, and with this, hundreds of people will lose their jobs and will not have a source of income to  help their families.

There is also the fact that being replaced by machines would make us lazier and lazier, even the movie industry thinks so! Once I watched a movie where humans had built different kinds of robots to do their daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning and more, and they reached a point where they did not do anything. They gained weight and became useless, what is worse, machines had control over them. I am pretty sure that in some years this fictional movie will become our reality.


To conclude, I need to say that I am not against technology, I think it can be very useful if we use it in the right way. Otherwise, it will bring problems like the ones I talked about before. However, this is up to us, will we use technology to bring benefits or problems? It is time to think about our future and make a decision right now.

Long shifts

Most humans follow the same steps in their lives, one of those steps is getting a job which is supposed to be their main source of income. I have no problem with the ones that work every day, it is part of their daily routine, but when it comes to work very long shifts I cannot do anything but to disagree with that situation since it brings lots of difficulties to the worker, just like the ones I am going to talk about.


The way I see it, the main problem with working long hours is that the employees get more tired than they should. For example, the ones working in the health-care area (such as doctors, nurses and others) usually work more than twelve hours a day. And even though they are taking care of people’s health, they are neglecting theirs, which might bring lots of implications for their future, their well-being, their work efficiency and their future in general.

There is also the fact that working for more hours means not spending a lot of time with your family. I have an acquaintance who works as a personal assistant and she has to be ready 24/7 if her boss needs anything, this has been quite troubling for her. She is mostly in her office or doing different tasks for her boss, but not with her children and husband, which is pretty sad.

The last thing I want to point out is that some workers do not get a good salary even if they work more time than the rest of the employees. My aunt for example, worked two extra hours than the rest, but her boss paid her the same amount of money, not even a small pay raise. I strongly believe that these people who give more than is needed should be recognized.


To sum up, working long shifts does not guarantee that you will live a better life. Just as I mentioned before, it might bring more disadvantages than advantages, but is up to the worker to decide what to do. However, they should take into account how this will change their lives.

Working with the family...

“We must take care of our families wherever we find them.” said Elizabeth Gilbert once. Now, what if our family worked at the same place we do? Would that be normal or difficult? The way I see it, it would depend on how we managed the situation, then, we might get good or bad results just like the ones I am about to list.

First, by having a family member working with us would make sharing time with them easier since we would be seeing them almost the whole day. For example; my parents work at the same school and they spend time together at breakfast and lunch which is very important when it comes to improving our relationship and communication with someone.

Second, we would have someone to rely on if anything bad happened, who better than a relative to take care of us? My aunt and dad used to work together in a store and there was one time when my aunt did not feel very well and fainted, my father did everything he could, he took her to the hospital and stayed with her until she got better. I am pretty sure a normal co-worker would not go that far, but family would.

However, we have to be aware that having a relative working with us has disadvantages as well. One of them is that the work-related issues between them might affect the relationship or vice versa. Let’s think about it, if they have a work-related argument they will probably be in a bad mood at home and if they have their own family issues, it might affect their performance at their jobs.

Another inconvenience is the well-known favoritism. I had a friend whose boss was his own uncle. When my friend got a salary raise everyone at the office thought it was just because he was the boss’ nephew. Even if that was not the reason, he still felt uncomfortable and did not want to be discriminated by anyone.

To conclude, working with a family member is not good neither bad, it depends on how we see the situation and handle it. It might be the best or the worst that we might experience, it is up to us! But something that we have to keep in mind is that whether a relative is working with us or not we have to take care of them, we should not forget what Elizabeth Gilbert said that easily

The importance of groups

Some people find being part of a group or organization very necessary and important in their lives. I am pretty sure everyone has their own reasons for believing this, and I do as well. That is why I will state what I consider to be the main motives for joining a group and enjoying the experience.

Firstly, when we are members of a certain group we have to play a role in it; whether it might be relevant or not, it gives us the feeling of being useful. Just as Leo Tolstoy said “The true happiness of a man is having a clear conscience and being useful for humanity” What this Russian writer said is totally true and nobody can say otherwise. I myself have had this beautiful feeling of being part of something many times, but the most memorable one was when I was asked to be part of a cleanup campaign. We were around seven people and we helped a small community, after we cleaned the place some people approached us and thanked us for what we did for them. We were not paid for it and I do not think it necessary, there was nothing more valuable that the smiles we could see in everyone’s faces.

Secondly, we have the opportunity of meeting the rest of the members and creating a bond with them. Humans were not created to be alone, God himself says “It is not good for the man to be alone…” we have to be surrounded by people and it is even better if the people we are talking about is a group, since it would mean they have something in common with us. For example, I was one of the art club’s members some years ago and I had the chance to make new friends who I will never forget, they made me feel as if we were a family…who would think that just joining the art club would bring such a wonderful relationship?

In conclusion, the reasons why groups or organizations are an important part of some people's lives are the feeling of being useful and the opportunity we have to meet new people. These are pretty good motives, but we do not have to forget that just teaming up to achieve a common goal is equally important. If we are not yet sure about it, let’s keep in mind Hellen Keller’s words “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”

Television and communication

Television is now considered as part of our lives since its creation in 1927 and has brought lots of advantages and disadvantages as well but, has it destroyed communication between families? I totally think so. I hate to agree with this but we have to face reality and realize how TV is making us interact less with our beloved ones. For this reason, I am about to prove how dangerous this situation can be.

First of all, television and more devices do not let us focus on the great moments with our families. Those simple but meaningful activities like dinner, talking about your day and some others are being interrupted. I know this from personal experience, since I was just a child I noticed that the first thing my father did when he got home was to sit on the sofa, ask for the remote control and turn the TV on, that was all, I felt bad since he did not talk to me but now that I am older I realize that after having a tiring day we do not feel like talking at all. Besides that, we were eating together while watching television instead of sharing stories about our day. These situations have changed now, at least in my family, but I know there are hundreds of people living this sad reality.

Another point is that even if families spent time together when they are watching TV they talk about nothing but the program, TV show or movie on the screen. Conversation topics are mainly about what we watch and not about what we live. Simple questions such as "How was your day?" or "Do you need help with your homework?" Are being replaced with "Did you watch the last episode of...?" And more TV related questions. It seems like we are caring less and less about our relatives, and we are more concerned about something that is not even alive, television.

To summarize, television can destroy communication between families if we do not have control over it. As I mentioned before, we can overcome this situation, just like my family did. Let's try to start a conversation with our family instead of watching television. Jada P. Smith gives us the main reason to do it "My belief is that communication is the best way to create strong relationships" We want a strong relationship with our family, do we not? Since we have the chance to make a difference, what are we waiting for?

Are parents the best teachers?

Hillary Clinton said: “Parents are teachers, and home is a child’s first and most important classroom” I can totally state my opinion about parents being the best teachers with her quote. There are several reasons why I believe this but I will summarize my point of view in two aspects.

First, one of the main characteristics that makes parents the best teachers is the strong bond between their children and them. I know lots of kids that would prefer to stay home than going to kindergarten, this is because they feel more comfortable around people they already know than with strangers, like a new teacher. The strong relation among the family helps toddlers to feel more confident about talking and asking their parents about anything, which is very useful when it comes to learning.

Second, the value of the lessons taught. If you have gone to school, have you ever realized that most of the things you learn every day are not really important for your life? However, life lessons like the ones parents tell their children are very important, more than that, necessary. A friend of mine proves this, he said “Do you know how many times I have used the Pythagorean theorem since I graduated? None. Do you know how many times I have taken my mom’s pieces of advice? Almost daily” It might be true that all the knowledge from school should be essential in every human being’s life. Nevertheless, parents’ teachings, life stories and practice of values are more meaningful and helpful.

To conclude, I want to clarify that I am not denigrating school education or professional teachers but saying that I consider parents to be the best educators for children. As I said before, the solid bond between progenitors and their infants and the usefulness of their guidance are the things that a kid, a future adult, will always remember and practice for ever. After all, as the saying goes: “teaching starts at home”, does it not?