Many of these blogs are conceived on a train. Belgian trains have the tendency to run late, as I’m sure many of you know, so they offer ample opportunity to think about the odd blog entry. Moreover, travelling by train provides you with a steady flow of strange events, strange people and strange conversations. This blog is about all three of these elements.
I don’t know about other people, but once I set foot on a train, I turn into something of an anthropologist. Especially, when there’s a delay and especially when annoying people cross my path, I feel the urge to analyse the situation and the people in participant observation, as anthropologists do. Today, the ferrovian karma decided to punish me with both things: I had to take a one hour stop-train on a trip that usually only takes twenty minutes and I was in the company of three young girls who, much to the blatant frustration of the other commuters, said out loud (very loud) whatever came into their heads.
So I put on my anthropologist’s cap, or hat, or whatever it is anthropologists wear, and decided to study these girls as if they were an undiscovered tribe whose language I now finally understood. Here’s a transcript of the notes I made. (FYI: I’m not kidding, I took out my laptop and just started typing away):
Observation log, entry 1.0: Have spotted three members of said tribe engaged in conversation. All three are young females; probably between the age of 16 and 19n judging by a) the fact that all three smoke (they are nervously fidgeting lighters); b) the fact that all three wear heavy make-up and highly sexualized items of clothing; c) the fact that one of them got a call from an unemployment agency. Still, I’m unsure if any of the three facts really falsifies the hypothesis that they could be under sixteen…
Observation log, entry 2.0: The tribe seem not to mind my presence. After a preliminary study of their behavioural and communicational strategies, I have established the basic social matrix of this group of females. The brunette is obviously the alpha-female; the others look at her, not at each other, when telling a tale and spy for signs of approval (mostly an annoying sound which I presume is laughter). The Asian girl, who could be her stepsister (I will have to double check my transcript of the conversation), is the prettiest one and the brunette’s best friend. The social exchange happens mostly between these two and when they talk, the third one does not disrupt the conversation. She only addresses the brunette directly, or so it has seemed during the span of my observation period. One might conjecture that she feels threatened by the Asian girl’s looks and her close relationship with the alpha-female. Still, the third one is clearly the smart one, but does a good job of hiding it vis-à-vis the others.
Observation log, entry 2.1: Indeed, stupidity seems the pivotal sociocultural dynamic in this pack. On several occasions the females have given proof of this fact, including the previously-dubbed ‘smart one’, who has just claimed that not only Ethiopia, but also ‘Utopia’ is an African country. ‘Honestly’, she said, ‘I have heard that name before’. On the other hand, though, the three seem very fond of the Harry Potter-movies - paradoxically a tale of a slightly nerdy character, sprung from a bookish background with pseudo-Latinized spells and such. They seem quite intimate with the movie’s details. At one time the alpha-female and the Asian girl even produce black magic wands and start doing some of the Harry Potter-spells. They know quite a few of them by heart. Still, this Harry Potter-cultureme seems only a subtext in the general sociocultural repertoire of stupidity, as the conversation about Harry Potter climaxes in an argument about whether they had once spent a ‘whole day long’ or ‘twelve hours straight’ watching the movies…
Observation log, entry 2.2: I’m fairly convinced now that stupidity is the main typology of this tribe’s sociocultural code. Another cultureme that fits into this hypothesis is rude corporeal behaviour. However, there is special social capital involved here, as this behaviour seems largely reserved for the alpha-female. In the last hour she has burped loudly several times, stated angrily that her face is covered in zits (which is true, this observer might add, yet the other two females would not acknowledge it), and she has complained that her arse is sweaty and itchy. In a surprising turn of events, the Asian girl then tried to match the alpha-female’s behaviour by coarsely stating that her titties (sic) are getting too big for her shirt and rudely shaking them up and down to demonstrate her claim. However, neither the alpha-female nor the third one met this behaviour with approving acclamations or gestures. As to the reason of this lack of success for this equally rude corporeal behaviour, this researcher can only speculate…
One of the advantages of being a nerd with a lot of imagination is that it kills time. And keeps you from laughing out loud when you actually start listening to the conversations some people have. But today, it was a close one...
I don’t know about other people, but once I set foot on a train, I turn into something of an anthropologist. Especially, when there’s a delay and especially when annoying people cross my path, I feel the urge to analyse the situation and the people in participant observation, as anthropologists do. Today, the ferrovian karma decided to punish me with both things: I had to take a one hour stop-train on a trip that usually only takes twenty minutes and I was in the company of three young girls who, much to the blatant frustration of the other commuters, said out loud (very loud) whatever came into their heads.
So I put on my anthropologist’s cap, or hat, or whatever it is anthropologists wear, and decided to study these girls as if they were an undiscovered tribe whose language I now finally understood. Here’s a transcript of the notes I made. (FYI: I’m not kidding, I took out my laptop and just started typing away):
Observation log, entry 1.0: Have spotted three members of said tribe engaged in conversation. All three are young females; probably between the age of 16 and 19n judging by a) the fact that all three smoke (they are nervously fidgeting lighters); b) the fact that all three wear heavy make-up and highly sexualized items of clothing; c) the fact that one of them got a call from an unemployment agency. Still, I’m unsure if any of the three facts really falsifies the hypothesis that they could be under sixteen…
Observation log, entry 2.0: The tribe seem not to mind my presence. After a preliminary study of their behavioural and communicational strategies, I have established the basic social matrix of this group of females. The brunette is obviously the alpha-female; the others look at her, not at each other, when telling a tale and spy for signs of approval (mostly an annoying sound which I presume is laughter). The Asian girl, who could be her stepsister (I will have to double check my transcript of the conversation), is the prettiest one and the brunette’s best friend. The social exchange happens mostly between these two and when they talk, the third one does not disrupt the conversation. She only addresses the brunette directly, or so it has seemed during the span of my observation period. One might conjecture that she feels threatened by the Asian girl’s looks and her close relationship with the alpha-female. Still, the third one is clearly the smart one, but does a good job of hiding it vis-à-vis the others.
Observation log, entry 2.1: Indeed, stupidity seems the pivotal sociocultural dynamic in this pack. On several occasions the females have given proof of this fact, including the previously-dubbed ‘smart one’, who has just claimed that not only Ethiopia, but also ‘Utopia’ is an African country. ‘Honestly’, she said, ‘I have heard that name before’. On the other hand, though, the three seem very fond of the Harry Potter-movies - paradoxically a tale of a slightly nerdy character, sprung from a bookish background with pseudo-Latinized spells and such. They seem quite intimate with the movie’s details. At one time the alpha-female and the Asian girl even produce black magic wands and start doing some of the Harry Potter-spells. They know quite a few of them by heart. Still, this Harry Potter-cultureme seems only a subtext in the general sociocultural repertoire of stupidity, as the conversation about Harry Potter climaxes in an argument about whether they had once spent a ‘whole day long’ or ‘twelve hours straight’ watching the movies…
Observation log, entry 2.2: I’m fairly convinced now that stupidity is the main typology of this tribe’s sociocultural code. Another cultureme that fits into this hypothesis is rude corporeal behaviour. However, there is special social capital involved here, as this behaviour seems largely reserved for the alpha-female. In the last hour she has burped loudly several times, stated angrily that her face is covered in zits (which is true, this observer might add, yet the other two females would not acknowledge it), and she has complained that her arse is sweaty and itchy. In a surprising turn of events, the Asian girl then tried to match the alpha-female’s behaviour by coarsely stating that her titties (sic) are getting too big for her shirt and rudely shaking them up and down to demonstrate her claim. However, neither the alpha-female nor the third one met this behaviour with approving acclamations or gestures. As to the reason of this lack of success for this equally rude corporeal behaviour, this researcher can only speculate…
One of the advantages of being a nerd with a lot of imagination is that it kills time. And keeps you from laughing out loud when you actually start listening to the conversations some people have. But today, it was a close one...
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