One of the many things keeping me busy (and not blogging)

SOCIOLOGY

Symbolic Interaction Observation

A. Physical Setting


See above picture
B. Interaction

Three middle aged people exited their car and walked toward the Starbucks door. There was a man and two women. The man was in good physical shape, most likely in his early forties and wore fashionably conscious clothing, obviously caring about his appearance. A blond woman about his age accompanied him who was also dressed nicely but more comfortably. A second woman, older and shorter than the first two, followed behind them. Her demeanor was submissive and her clothing was not as expensive and was more for comfort than for appearance, especially her shoes. The blond woman walked briskly to the door and opened it. An awkward shuffle happened when the man took the door from the blond woman and she and the older woman tried to walk through at the same time. The blond woman deferred to the older woman. The man walked through last, allowing the door to close behind him. This entire walk was done in silence and none of the members touched one another. The man and the blond woman made eye contact, hinting at a more intimate though not romantic relationship. They did not make eye contact with the older woman. Once inside, all the members were physically stiff and eye contact was scarce as they stood at the counter.

The man and the blond woman talked with one another, conferring about the order while the older woman broke off to a separate part of the store after she told them in a few words what she wanted. The younger two faced away from the older woman, blocking her out of their view. They spoke little, but stood closer to one another than is acceptable in mere friendship. Rings could not be seen as their hands were in their pockets most of the time. The blond woman ordered a cupcake and lifted it up to the man’s mouth. He accepted a bite of the frosting and then quickly turned his body away from the blond woman, taking a couple steps away. The blond woman turned her body away from him and went back to ordering. Neither of them smiled during the interaction. The blond woman finished the order, asked where the restroom was, and walked out of the door in the direction of the restroom. Once she was gone, the older woman looked over, waited a moment, and then walked to the counter where the man stood. She spoke a few words to him and then also left the store. The man loosened his posture and went to the pickup counter, waited a few minutes, and then carried large coffees and pastries for each of them out of the store.

He walked over to a small table in front of the store, put down the large order and waited for the two women. The older woman walked over and sat down. Neither spoke. The blond woman returned and verbal commotion ensued and the man went to get a third chair from another table. The older woman looked confused, but seemed to be preparing to settle down. The man never spoke to the older woman though he showed her deference with his body language. He only spoke in firm, authoritative Spanish to the blond woman. He did not look Hispanic. The blond woman did not sit down and spoke rather loudly and rapidly in Spanish to the man and in English to the older woman, who spoke very softly. The man did not return to his seat but the older woman continued to sit, looking at her knees as the discussion continued between the man and the blond woman. The man began separating himself from the blond woman as he stepped further away, firmly repeating “Vamos (Let’s go).” The blond woman began gathering her order, the man walked toward the table again, took his order, and walked behind the fireplace. The older woman stood up. The blond woman finished gathering her things and followed the man behind the fireplace out of view. The older woman gathered her things, and followed the other two. A couple minutes later the blond woman walked back from where they had gone and, entering the store, allowed a man to open the door for her. She did not acknowledge him. The man walked back towards the door with the older woman following a few steps behind and waited for the blond woman. She joined them a few moments later and they all walked across the street towards Rock City. The three walked in a line with a couple feet between n each other. The man was followed by the blond woman who was followed by the older woman. Once they reached the parking lot, the older woman got closer to the blond woman and put her arm on the blond woman as if she had lost her balance walking up the curb. The blond woman stiffened and shrugged the older woman’s hand off of her. She sped up and, taking the lead from the man, led the three, still a few feet apart from one another, into the shadows of the ticket booth to Rock City.

C. Central Participants

The blond woman was the central participant. She was louder, more commanding, and verbally in control of the situation. She acted independently from the other two and did things for herself such as open the door and order. She was the initiator of what they did and where they went. They catered to her wants, reactions, and plans. While the man and the older woman appeared to want to sit down once they had their order, it only took a few words from her to change the man’s mind and then he was the driving force that had them move away from the table. The blond woman was verbally in control because she was the only one who spoke to both of the others. She was also the one who initiated interaction with the man versus the man initiating interaction with her. The cupcake eating is a case in point.

D. Marginal People

Both the man and the older woman were marginal in the group. The older woman had no say in what happened. The man did not communicate with her at all, even when she spoke to him briefly in the store. She followed what everyone else did and was often left behind when they changed their location or walking somewhere. Even if the man and the blond woman were walking side by side, she was walking a few steps behind them. They did not take into consideration her slower walking pace. She also separated herself from the other two when she could.

While the man could have been the central figure in the group, he acquiesced to whatever the blond woman said and therefore was not in control of the situation. He served the two women rather than doing things for himself. When it appeared that he wanted to stay, sit, and drink his coffee, he changed his mind once the blond woman stated her mind. He was also not in control of where the group went but followed the blond woman who often physically led the way as they were walking. He seemed to want to be in control however in that he took the door from the blond woman and always started walking places in front of the two women, though he always allowed the blond woman to take the lead from him.

E. Summary Statement

By spending ten minutes looking at the body language that was used, the verbal communication styles of each, and the physical surroundings and objects that they interacted with, the roles of each member of the group seemed to reveal themselves. From these observations, speculation can be made as to the motivations behind their interactions.

The blond woman appeared to fear a lack of control. Her tension level went up whenever she was not in control. An example is when the man and the older woman were sitting and she was telling them to move. She seemed to hold a conflict perspective. By marginalizing the older woman, solidarity was formed between herself and the man. She constantly refused to allow others to be in control and would not acknowledge when they were in control. This could be seen when she walked in front of the others and did not acknowledge the man who opened the door for her. The second instance could have been caused by cultural differences if the group was unfamiliar with southern culture in which men routinely open doors for women.

The man gave the impression of fearing that the blond woman would not get her way. He seemed to avoid conflict between himself and the blond woman because it raised her stress levels and therefore decreased their solidarity. In an effort to avoid this conflict, he joined her in marginalized the older woman and endeavoring to keep things going the blond woman’s way. He seemed to have a consensus perspective in that he believed a decreased amount of conflict would bring unity to the group. Therefore, by avoiding conflict brought about by the blond woman’s stress, he attempted to strengthen the solidarity of the whole group.

The old woman’s submissiveness and meekness suggested that she feared being marginalized. This submissiveness pointed to a consensus perspective in that she seemed to want to smooth over conflict in an effort to bring unity to the group just as the man did. She made at least one attempt to break down barriers between herself and the blond woman. While she was rejected, she did not seem to change her perspective because she remained meek.

One of the few things that all three had in common was also that which caused the most conflict. All three appeared to have a desire to fill a necessary role in the group and felt that they needed control in order to achieve their goal. However, they all tried to reach it in very different ways. The blond woman seemed driven by her desire to be in control of the situation. This manifested itself in her endeavor to control the people around her.

The man, in endeavoring to work with the blond woman and share the control, gave in to whatever she wanted. He endeavored to please her even when it seemed to make him uncomfortable. He also used his own authority to strengthen hers, becoming the driving force behind getting things to happen the way she wanted them. For example, even though he appeared to want to stay and drink his coffee, he changed his plans to match hers and was the verbal force behind the group leaving the coffee shop. On the flip side, the man seemed to marginalize the older woman in order to give him something to have control over so that he would not be marginalized himself.

The old woman tried to gain control through her peace making which she executed through submission. She felt control in keeping the conflict, if not non-existent, at least invisible. Her willingness to comply with whatever decision was made also demonstrated her consensus perspective.

One of the most obvious ways that the relationships between the three people manifested themselves was their body language. It was used to block out the older woman and to exert power or membership in the group. Both the man and the blond woman turned their bodies away from the old woman and the blond women went so far as to pull away from the older woman when they made physical contact. All the members maintained large amounts of space between each other as well. The exception was in the coffee shop when the man and the blond woman shared the cupcake, standing very close together. However, this encounter ended with the man backing away. Control was exerted at different times through body language by the blond woman and the man. The blond woman endeavored to keep control of the situation by taking the lead whenever the group moved to a new location. The man used body language to show deference to both of the women when he took the door from the blond woman when they first entered the shop, by carrying the orders, and by moving the chair in order to allow all three to sit down. He also used it to show his discomfort in the interaction with the cupcake eating in that he moved away from the blond woman and turned his back towards her.

Verbal communication was also a huge part of the dynamic between the three. It was scarce and utilitarian. The older woman spoke timidly and did not speak often. The blond woman spoke loudly and commandingly and used words to get her way. The man spoke quietly and firmly in order to make things happen that the blond woman wanted. Language was a barrier in the group. The man marginalized the older woman by only speaking Spanish and only speaking to the blond woman in an effort to strengthen the solidarity between himself and the blond woman. The language barrier also gave the blond woman more power because she was the link between the old woman and the man making her an essential member of the group.

Physical objects also had an effect on the interactions that took place. Many of the symbols represented wealth such as clothing, shoes, and exuberant coffee orders. The fact that they were unfamiliar with the shop and the layout of the road and parking lot seems to suggest that they were tourists, an occupation which requires a large amount of money beyond what is needed for basic living. Both the man and the blond woman had the appearance of having more wealth than the older woman through how they dressed and how they were the ones paying for the order. The older woman’s clothes were not as expensive. The older woman was put at a further disadvantage because she was dependent on their generosity. Their money gave them even more power in the group than they would have had otherwise.

The cupcake was also a symbol of interest because it brought about the opportunity for intimacy between the man and the woman. While intimacy was played out in that they stood closer together and shared an experience, it did not seem to be genuine on the man’s part because of his brisk movement away from the blond woman once the interaction was over. The action did not strengthen their solidarity. It also acted to exclude the older woman in yet another way because the man and the blond woman did not include her in the interaction.

Another symbol was the chair. Its entrance was part of an effort by the man to bind the three together as a more solidified group. However, it did not bring about unity. The woman’s terse refusal to sit down and participate in the communal sharing of coffee suggests that her concern was not in keeping the group together as a unit, but rather maintaining her own control.

Simply by observing simple things such as physical movement and the objects surrounding the three observants, the tensions that arose because of the different sociological perspectives could be ascertained. Because the different members held different perspectives, their efforts to strengthen the bring unity to the group were foiled because they ended up working against one another instead of working together.