Hierarchy

The hierarchy of needs came up in one of my mass media classes last semester. It is interesting to think about how people will react in situations. Whenever I get cold, I stop and ask myself why I am cold. I usually answer myself with something involving temperature and nerve endings but then immediately follow with a question asking myself how it is affecting me. The fact that I am still able to think about these kinds of things while being cold, makes me believe my ability to think, to examine and react, are unaffected.. I can look down and see my legs moving and feel my body moving, so my mobility isn’t affected either. What appears to be happening is a communication between my nerves and my brain, telling it the temperature is lower than what it finds comfortable. I don’t believe I have ever been in a situation where I was unable to think about what my best reaction could be. There are times at work when a customer will have some sort of issue and get upset. They aren’t ever physically aggressive, but it isn’t unusual for people to raise their voices a bit. Whenever someone does raise their voice, I am able to hear what they say and understand their situation, but whenever I go to speak I am at a hold. The things I want and need to say are lined up and ready but my body doesn’t respond. My tongue feels like a slug and my voice shrinks. The words that make it out are either mumbled or chopped up by a nervous jaw. I don’t know why this happens, and it can be very frustrating. It’s not like I am afraid of these people, and the problems are usually easily solved and done with in a matter of minutes. The google machine shows me a version of Maslow’s Hierarchy that was shown in an interpersonal comm. class I took in a previous semester. It shows the fear of safety and employment as the second block from the bottom. Could these people really be pushing me down the pyramid that much? Or does that mean I am constantly living in the middle of this chart? The step above the fear of safety consists of the fear of a loss of love and belonging.