Zaheer Glass

Prof. Lago
College Writing 1100-61
May 5, 2014
No Long er! "#efle$tion%
In "No Long Term", Sennet analyzes the life of a former friend, Enrico. Also, Enrico's
son, Rico. No long term is about a man named Rico and the way he chooses to lie his life based
on the wor!"lace today. Rico has the mindset of a man who has e#"erienced what it feels li!e to
ma!e commitments outside of the family enironment. $e feels that when you commit, you
ad%ust to foreign "olicies, ma!e sacrifices, change yourself, and ultimately, it causes a
"corrosion" of your character. $is character is something that Rico truly alues about himself.
&herefore, Rico lies by a motto, "No long term". &his means liing a life of short term
inolements, without any commitments. In short, %ust !ee" on moing.
'hen I thin! about Rico's mindset and lifestyle, it amazes me how much better his
(uality of life was than his fathers' (uality of life. )eing a man that constantly !ee"s his actiities
changing seems to gie him an adantage oer a man who ma!es more commitments. *erha"s,
not stic!ing to commitments !ee"s your life o"en to more o""ortunities.
Although Rico seems to be liing a better lifestyle than many, there is also !ind of a
down side to not ma!ing commitments. Rico still has to struggle with maintaining who he is on a
daily basis. Although he is constantly %um"ing from thing to thing, he still faces the tem"orary
challenge of changing who he is to ad%ust to his current wor!. 'hile in the "rocess of this
%um"ing around, he also has nothing to fall bac! on other than family, sense he does not ma!e
ties with anyone else. &his causes him to sometimes ma!e sacrifices so he can hae a little
su""ort for his ne#t enture.
+inally, Rico may be free of commitment, but where eer he goes, there is always a new
obstacle that awaits him. &his leaes him in a constant struggle to maintain his character.