So I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but this blog is about a student with an engineering background hoping to complete an anthropological project. What exactly is he thinking? Thankfully, I have great guidance from Prof. Andrew Gilbert! I currently sit in his Ethnography and Research Method class and he sometimes makes us do "weird" things. Like sit and observe people on the subway for example! Below is a report I produced as a result of one of those exercises. The technical term is participant-observation by the way. There, have some anthropological knowledge; you're welcome. In other news, the president of Burkina Faso has fled to Ivory Coast. Seriously hoping that this doesn't dig out what seems to be a buried hatchet. More on that later.
I still had not clearly conceptualized
my topic of exploration when I set out to ride the TTC subway system on Friday
afternoon looking for “interactions between strangers”. Questions swirled around in my mind as I
nervously walked across the parking lot that connects Fairview Mall to the Don
Mills subway station. What exactly were these “interactions” that I was
supposed to observe? How would I differentiate between strangers and
non-strangers? What if people thought I was creepy? What were the factors that
would determine whether or not my experience was successful? As I reflected
upon these questions, the first obstacle of my trip presented itself: I did not
have any change. Fortunately the attendant, in an unexpected display of sympathy
and cooperation, granted me a free ride. The gods of ethnography must have been
on my side.
Still unsure of what I was
supposed to study, I climbed down the stairs leading to the train platform and took
a mental snapshot of my surroundings. Undoubtedly, the architectural features
of the space quickly attracted my engineering mind; I instinctively noted the
use of acoustic baffles in the ceilings to mitigate reverberation, the gigantic
scale of the corridors, the ceramic tile mosaics used to garnish the walls
(probably selected for their ease of maintenance) etc.
Moments later, the train came
hissing in and some patrons debarked whilst others boarded. For the first time
in almost 8 years, I rediscovered the remarkable order and seamlessness with
which this process occurred. Contrasting this with experiences of aggressive
pushing and shoving necessary to negotiate my way around places back home in
Benin, I took note of this convention of cooperation that exists within the TTC
ridership culture.
From Don Mills to Sheppard-Yonge
station, I decided to focus my attention on a pair of friends (let’s call them
Friend #1 and Friend #2) that occupied the seat across from me. Their body
posture betrayed their familiarity as they practically leaned against each
other for balance while tapping away at their phones. The polarity I observed
in this interaction – perceptually distant yet physically intimate – motivated
my questions for the remainder of my trip.
How do TTC riders create distance or intimacy in the bustling
environment of the subway system? How is the concept of personal space
renegotiated in a setting that constantly attempts to upset it?
With a more focused problem in
mind, I hopped onto the stainless steel clad train that serves the
Yonge-University-Spadina line in search of more clues. On board, I was quickly
distracted by the clear unobstructed views of this train and how futuristic the
interior felt. The absence of partitioning walls between cars transformed the
train into a clanging worm-like machine with ends extending indefinitely in
either direction. Across from me, I noticed another twosome (Friend #3 and
Friend #4), this time actively engaged in conversation. Despite my relatively
close range I was incapable of discerning any words. The racket created by the
train and other ambient sources of noise were remarkably effective at masking
speech and creating privacy in the process. Using this trick, Friend #3 and
Friend #4 could insulate themselves from the rest of us by naturally adjusting
the volume of their voices in order to remain unintelligible.
In spite of its relative
openness, the train created an environment that allowed patrons to create
clusters of immediacy or separation as necessary. By means of simple codes,
individuals could either create physical/social barriers to isolate themselves
from the rest of the train (use of earphones, video games, empty “buffer”
seats, sleep, body language etc.) or engage in behaviours that promoted social
interaction that shatter those barriers in the process (discourse, physical
proximity, eye contact etc.)
Even though my original itinerary
was set to take to me all the way to Union Station then back, I impulsively
detrained at Bloor-Yonge station. So far, every train I had boarded had not
really been congested and I started recognizing that my seated position
probably restricted my ability to collect sufficient data.
Just as I had hoped, this new
train was densely packed and no longer had any available seats. I was now
forced to stand along with the other patrons, conceding to them more of my space
and stealing a little bit of theirs too. However effective this new vantage
point was, it also presented some practical difficulties. Writing in a notebook
while simultaneously holding onto the grab bars for balance required a great
deal of dexterity that I hopelessly lacked. My phone thus became my new
notepad. At this point it dawned on me that I was no longer simply observing
people’s behaviours on this train but was now a full-fledged participant.
In fact, cell phone/tablet usage
is a very prominent method of creating social barriers on the train. More than
simply means of distraction, these gadgets offer an opportunity to their users
to reclaim some of the space they forfeit to other patrons by way of immersion
in a profoundly personal realm. The claustrophobia induced by the train
environment can hence be mitigated since physical barriers cannot always be
practically constructed.
The use of accessories such as
earphones further enables individuals to “trade” additional physical space in
exchange for a deeper immersion in their personal worlds. In these instances,
unintentional physical contact which is usually followed with prompt apologies
is more readily tolerable and is even sometimes ignored.
My journey came to an end at Don
Mills station, my original departure point. The empty station where I had
started my voyage was now swarming with commuters eager to begin their weekend.
I understood the importance of the vast corridors as I re-observed this space
now stressed by all this busyness.
My experience riding the TTC
subway certainly gave me some insight into the instruments used by TTC riders to
construct or deconstruct social and physical barriers in the subway environment.
However, it also did raise some questions that are beyond the scope of a 2-hour
exercise or a 2-page essay. For example what is the significance of puzzles and
other cognitive training games such as Bejeweled, Tetris or Blocks for TTC
riders? How do unexpected distractions caused by actors such as toddlers captivate
attention and contribute to the destruction of the barriers that have been
constructed by individuals? Those are all questions that
could require additional trips and further investigation.
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