I'm sure many of you who take the time to read my blog have noticed I like to people watch. Just one of my eccentric pastimes. I'm not ashamed and thank you for humoring me.
Riding the metro for 18 years will make you an expert at people watching and more exclusively viewing your surroundings undetected. If any of you are familiar with any type of public transportation in a fairly large city, you can vouch how colorful a commute can get. So many personalities housed in one confined train car. Once your eyes get somewhat familiar with the new faces that come on the train, familiar enough to remember the color coat they have, on the combination switches up again. A new array of faces to memorize in a matter of seconds before the next train stop. It reminds me of that card game where you had a few seconds to memorize each card's position then they were turned over and you had to match them up. I used to love making a game out of trying to remember the attributes of my fellow commuters. As light-hearted as this sounds, it really wasn't for sport or fun, though it was great at passing the time away. I actually did this to be able to identify someone in event something shady went down. Theft of cell phones, purses and even shoes are common occurrences on this mode of transportation. Door open, thief out, merchandise gone, door close...and that was that.
As I got older and wanted to make my commuter observations more challenging I started to look a little more closely at each individual's mannerisms and inclinations. Not as means to stereotype but I guess intuition was passing the torch to observation.
When I tell you I've rode every metro line and probably gotten off at every stop at some point, I'm serious. I started to notice patterns of the people who rode the different color lines. Ha, color lines (see what I did there?). There are distinct differences. Of course this is just my opinion, what I see is not law or to be taken and set in stone.
For example, the red line (the oldest, first line erected). God bless those people that have to take that thing every day. I'd take the bus! Anyway, the red line is always breaking down at the most random points, usually in the middle of two stops in the tunnel. Rat central. As a result, of the inconvenience the people on the red line have the worst anxiety and are the most impatient. I've seen people jump in front of people in motorized wheelchairs to ensure a spot on the train. Really though guys? You were pressed to use your functional limbs to get on the train before them only to have to wait on the same car that will break down in five minutes. Good show impatient red-faced, red line commuter...good show.
I won't go through the all the lines but I have to mention the orange line because it is a segue into the meat and potatoes of this post (mmm, potatoes). I used to take the orange line from the end, Vienna-Fairfax/GMU to get to work in DC. I could count on it to sit at Rosslyn for a good ten minutes and I could get a solid power nap if I was sitting inside window seat away from the door. If I got on the train early enough it was quiet and my nap would last until Metro Center. All the shuffle of those people wake you up immediately. Before any of that, I'll rewind to when I first get on the train. I would smile and/or nod as to say "Hello" to whomever would attempt to sit next to me. Almost as a way to say, "Please sit, I won't bite". Even with going the extra mile to show how friendly I was. I was starting to get offended. I mean, I'm hygienic. I often smell of vanilla or mint. I have a bright smile and I check to make sure I don't have traces of my breakfast in my teeth. Why were these people fleeing from me? Maybe they weren't "fleeing" per say but sitting where they felt more suited. I'll explain...
I won't go through the all the lines but I have to mention the orange line because it is a segue into the meat and potatoes of this post (mmm, potatoes). I used to take the orange line from the end, Vienna-Fairfax/GMU to get to work in DC. I could count on it to sit at Rosslyn for a good ten minutes and I could get a solid power nap if I was sitting inside window seat away from the door. If I got on the train early enough it was quiet and my nap would last until Metro Center. All the shuffle of those people wake you up immediately. Before any of that, I'll rewind to when I first get on the train. I would smile and/or nod as to say "Hello" to whomever would attempt to sit next to me. Almost as a way to say, "Please sit, I won't bite". Even with going the extra mile to show how friendly I was. I was starting to get offended. I mean, I'm hygienic. I often smell of vanilla or mint. I have a bright smile and I check to make sure I don't have traces of my breakfast in my teeth. Why were these people fleeing from me? Maybe they weren't "fleeing" per say but sitting where they felt more suited. I'll explain...
Again this is just what I think but test it out and see for yourself.
(In order of priority/availability): We sit by...
...people we know (usually a given, if you're in mid-conversation, you'll find somewhere close to sit to continue talking or catch-up if you haven't seen them in a while
...people we are most similar to, i.e.- race and/or gender
...people who we think are attractive
...people who look like they pose the least threat
I sat down one week and wrote down the attributes of each person I sat beside on my five-day commute to compare the similarities/differences on paper. I wanted to see my own preferences. A five-day train commute, to and fro would yield about ten metro rides. I sat down eight out of the ten times. Sometimes I like to stand if I've been sitting all day, so for two days, coming home I chose to stand. For M, T, W, TH in the morning I sat beside elderly women. They varied in race. Friday morning, I sat beside an older African-American gentleman. Then the rest of the days I sat by Caucasian males that looked like they could've been my age, slightly older. All of these people looked to be dressed for success, assumed to be going to work.
When my critique of my own observation was done I looked at the preferences of my fellow commuters. I didn't sit and actually write anything down because I didn't want them to see what I wrote and think I was creepy but I looked and made mental note. Majority of African-American men sat by African-American women, most whites sat by other whites whether male or female, Hispanics didn't seem to care who that sat by. They really didn't spend a lot of time looking for options of seats when available they just took the next possible seat. Most elders sat by other older adults and if there were children/teenagers with open seats available they would stand and wait until another choice was open or just stood the duration of their ride. These were the things I saw when choices were available and there was vast selection but when seats were slim to none, a few people sat wherever but a good majority made the choice to stand.
There could be a lot of factors into play here. They might eyeball seat space and just decide to take the loss and stand to avoid lack of room. Or after a day of sitting and just want to stretch their legs. I often enjoy the sway of the train and like to stand. So if I'm not sleepy, I'm more prone to stand.
(In order of priority/availability): We sit by...
...people we know (usually a given, if you're in mid-conversation, you'll find somewhere close to sit to continue talking or catch-up if you haven't seen them in a while
...people we are most similar to, i.e.- race and/or gender
...people who we think are attractive
...people who look like they pose the least threat
I sat down one week and wrote down the attributes of each person I sat beside on my five-day commute to compare the similarities/differences on paper. I wanted to see my own preferences. A five-day train commute, to and fro would yield about ten metro rides. I sat down eight out of the ten times. Sometimes I like to stand if I've been sitting all day, so for two days, coming home I chose to stand. For M, T, W, TH in the morning I sat beside elderly women. They varied in race. Friday morning, I sat beside an older African-American gentleman. Then the rest of the days I sat by Caucasian males that looked like they could've been my age, slightly older. All of these people looked to be dressed for success, assumed to be going to work.
When my critique of my own observation was done I looked at the preferences of my fellow commuters. I didn't sit and actually write anything down because I didn't want them to see what I wrote and think I was creepy but I looked and made mental note. Majority of African-American men sat by African-American women, most whites sat by other whites whether male or female, Hispanics didn't seem to care who that sat by. They really didn't spend a lot of time looking for options of seats when available they just took the next possible seat. Most elders sat by other older adults and if there were children/teenagers with open seats available they would stand and wait until another choice was open or just stood the duration of their ride. These were the things I saw when choices were available and there was vast selection but when seats were slim to none, a few people sat wherever but a good majority made the choice to stand.
There could be a lot of factors into play here. They might eyeball seat space and just decide to take the loss and stand to avoid lack of room. Or after a day of sitting and just want to stretch their legs. I often enjoy the sway of the train and like to stand. So if I'm not sleepy, I'm more prone to stand.
Taking all this into account, I have also noticed we steer clear of people who move a lot, take up a lot of space or are carrying a lot of baggage. Sound familiar? Our public transportation seating choices have a striking resemblance to who we choose to be near or avoid in life. Coincidence?
Maybe. Maybe not. I could just be rambling for all we know.
...but you are curious now, aren't you?
Love,
Cam
Love,
Cam
I've noticed a lot of the same.
ReplyDeleteI personally sit by older or elderly women because I like to sit in the blue seats.
Blue is my favorite color. I know after I've considered everything I've listed above, I look to see if the seat open is blue.
DeleteGirl, this post had me nodding my head the entire time. I've never thought to evaluate who I sit next to on the metro but you're right about who people choose to sit next based on priority and availability. It's so important to be conscious of our unconscious thoughts and your experiment totally addressed that. Might have to try this experiment myself :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I like to know why I am prone to do certain things and make certain choices. I guess I'm really my own favorite subject in terms of experiment. Self-awareness is everything.
Delete