Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Tracking our door to door routes....

The study of human interaction...

Metro Route (GPS used)~

One man catches my attention right away. He is standing against the front of the metro looking at all the people. He stood out to me because most people stare at the ground, but he was observing and watching the people around him, just as I was. The man was probably around 55 years old.
The next people I chose to deserve were the 4 people sitting side by side on the left side of the metro. The first in the row was an old lady, probably around 70. She seemed annoyed with the world, perhaps even angry. Next to her was a woman around the age of 35 to 40. The woman was not alone, but the man she was with was not sitting next to her rather he was standing in front of her holding the railing above. At some points the man and woman would speak to one another, and at other times the woman would be checking her phone as the man seemed to attempt to see what was on the cell phone screen.
The next person seated next to the woman with the man was another woman around the age of 35 to 40. This woman was alone, but didn't seem to mind because she seemed to have her full attention devoted to the newspaper she was holding. I couldn't see which news paper, but whatever it was it was keeping her busy.
Next to the woman with the newspaper was a man around the age of 45. This man's behavior kept me entertained. At first glance it looked like he was reading a paper, but after looking more closely I realized he was actually holding a comic book in front and was reading that. He wasn't paying any attention to the people or things around him, he seemed only concerned with his comic book. I found this amusing because I kept wondering to myself whether he was holding the paper over the comic book because he was embarrassed for anyone to see what he was actually reading.
Sitting across from these four people were four other people. The first, who was sitting across from the angry old lady, was a timid looking old man around the age of 70. I thought he looked timid from the uncomfortable position he was sitting in and the way his arms were crossed over his bag that was laying on his lap.
To the left of the old man was another older man. This man was probably around 60, and he was with a friend who was actually sitting right beside him. These two men, both around the age of 60, seemed to be having an interesting conversation. The man on the right seemed to be doing most of the talking, but his friend didn't seem to mind, because he looked as though he was listening very intensely. These two men seemed to be very interested in what was being discussed, and therefore didn't pay much attention to the other people around them.
Next to the two men having conversation was a woman around the age of 35. This woman seemed uncomfortable and starred at the floor for most of the ride. Her hands and arms were wrapped around her purse. She seemed uneasy.

Bus Route~




Unlike on the metro route there was very little human interaction on the bus. Everyone seemed to be drifting off into their own little world whether it be reading the newspaper, eating gelato, starring out the window, or chatting on the cell phone. Aside from the one old couple chatting beside us and the girl I heard talking on her cell phone, the people on the bus remained very quiet and motionless. I noticed that everyone traveling at that moment was middle aged or older, which I found interesting because I often see young children on the metro. There was not much eye contact made between people either. This is probably partially due to the fact that the seating arrangement faces forward and backwards, instead of towards the center like on the metro. When the seats are facing each other there is more opportunity for unintentional eye contact to be made. We also paid particular attention to the spacial arrangement. We noticed that people seemed to try to avoid being within close proximity of each other. Nobody was touching arms or hands until the bus became overly crowded leaving people no other option, but to huddle close together to make room for others. I touched a man's hand once by accident with my shoulder and he immediately reacted with caution. He looked up at me so apologetically as if he were taking the blame for something and said scusi. I on the other hand hardly noticed that I had even brushed against him. We found that people are much more aloof, absentminded and less enthused on the bus than on the metro where people are speaking loudly to compete with the voice of the person next to them, you hear the sounds of babies crying, instruments from beggars, the chiming of the door alerting people where to get off and so on. The bus takes on a much more reserved atmosphere. It was very interesting to compare and contrast the two. It makes sense now why the bus is so much more enjoyable than the metro...its quiet and there's more scenery to observe instead of having no other choice but to look at the people around you because the walls of the metro block the view of outside.

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