sociology experiment
Thread started by
sshagy at 05.26.09 - 4:04 pm
Hi everyone,
I have this group project for my sociology class where we must go out and break a social norm then observe how people react to our "unusual" behavior. My teacher has given us some examples like pay for a meal at a nice restaurant in coins, or buy 1 grape at the grocery store, ask the mcdonalds employee what there favorite meal is (take a long time deciding what to order) during peak hours, etc.
although those are fun examples i'd like to focus on something more important, and i thought hey: being a cyclist-commuter or getting together with 100+ people @ night and riding bikes is viewed as pretty "unusual" to lots of people in this day and age, arguably the majority of society holds this viewpoint.
ok, so why am I telling this to you all? I'd like it if people could share some of their experiences when there's been a situation where non bike riders viewed you/your actions as not normal, the reactions don't have to be specifically negative, positive or neutral. I'm just looking to analyze and tag some sociological terminology onto people's behavior when they see a mass of ridazz rolling down the street or a cyclist-commuter taking up "their road".
i hope this was clear for you all, let me know if any of it doesn't make sense.
thank you for your time.
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being on a big ride, im sure we've all had people say great things and honk in approval, to gettin threatened and honk in disapproval.
i've noticed one way to make people feel awkward is when i go to a bar in my lycra.
everytime i've been to bar wearing my lycra short/legwarmers, people get a glimpse of my nuts and ask why?
then they back away slowly as if im gonna try to smack them with my dick or something.
KiMS105.26.09 - 4:31 pm
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"everytime i've been to bar wearing my lycra short/legwarmers, people get a glimpse of my nuts..."
If your spandex has so many holes that your nuts are hanging out....I think it's time for new shorts.
Eric Hair responding to a
comment by KiMS1
05.26.09 - 4:40 pm
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why u gotta knock my nutz???
KiMS105.26.09 - 4:53 pm
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First off I have to disagree with your comment about bike commuters seeming unusual to people in this day and age. I think it's unusual for Angelinos. Most places in California are very bike friendly and encourge it (at least from my experience).
That being said, I commute to work on bike 80% of the time. Along the way I am confronted by many aggressive motorists who honk their horns because I'm in the right lane, only to find out that they're my coworkers (teachers). In which case when they see me riding up to the parking lot they appologize and say how nice it is that I'm being "green" and an environmentalist. Aside from that small percentage of coworkers I've had the majority of them be very supportive. We don't have bike racks yet, but they're totally awesome with having me keep my bike in my classroom/teachers lounge.
And on a side note, I think most of us have walked into somewhere with our helmets and/or pant leg rolled up and not realized it until half an hour of just sitting there getting weird looks.
Gizzard05.26.09 - 4:55 pm
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I don't know what you're talking about.
Joe Borfo05.26.09 - 5:44 pm
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@ gizzard: you're right, bicycle commuters are not really viewed as unusual, maybe "not normal" through the eyes of a non-rider? and thank you for sharing your commuting experience, it's interesting how your co-workers' opinions change when they realize you work with them.
sshagy responding to a
comment by Gizzard
05.26.09 - 6:55 pm
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Should we share the experiences here? (on the forum)
Or do you want us to send you an email or what?
(i think you want us to reply here right? right?)
LailaOwns05.26.09 - 7:14 pm
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ive always got props for taking off from a bar and being able to make it home way drunk! ughhh those dam hills of highland park! Viva la bicicleta!
applejacks05.26.09 - 7:26 pm
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In which case when they see me riding up to the parking lot they appologize and say how nice it is that I'm being "green" and an environmentalist. Aside from that small percentage of coworkers I've had the majority of them be very supportive
Well, I guess that's fine for some, but I get a little tired of being labeled as some uber-liberal, green-freak that's doing his part to save some rainforest.
In actuality, I decided upon riding bicycles as primary transportation after getting fed up with the over-complexity of owning a car.
Everything motor-vehicle that came out in the last, 20 years is so overloaded with computer-circuitry that a problem that normally affects one area basically shuts down the entire car and warrants a shop-diagnostic with sensor-equipment.
Tack on the scheming business practices of most shops and then the hassle of registration/insurance paperwork, your blood is boiling.
Anywho, staying on track with the original topic, It's still an unusual thing up here to see people "not driving" while going down any of the main-drags up here.
This is even more noticeable due to the fact that most of the newer, post-2000 residents moved up here from "down-the-hill" to escape typical urban issues.
What they also seem to find unusual is the amount of horse-riders in Hesperia that utilize the main streets.
They were here before y'all, don't crash the party.
bentstrider05.26.09 - 7:47 pm
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I agree about the "green" thing... I do my part and recycle (my beer cans and water bottles), but that's not the reason I ride my bike. I think LA is just so attatched to their cars that the majority of people here don't see any other reason to ride a bike other than for environmental issues...or they automatically assume that one doesn't have a car or its not working.
Gizzard responding to a
comment by bentstrider
05.26.09 - 8:14 pm
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I think LA is just so attatched to their cars that the majority of people here don't see any other reason to ride a bike other than for environmental issues...or they automatically assume that one doesn't have a car or its not working.
I still feel tons better that I'm not so totally addicted to needing a car around for everything.
Whenever these knuckleheads shout out their negative comments, I try to put the thought through my head that their vehicle will soon fall victim to mechanical-maladies and I'll play God with them by deciding whether or not to tell them that their fuel-filter is simply clogged.
The temper-tantrums they throw when they're getting serviced is quite entertaining too, or when their vehicle is getting towed for violations.
It's like their world is collapsing around them without their car.
bentstrider responding to a
comment by Gizzard
05.26.09 - 8:24 pm
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One night I tried to ride with the wolfpack and we stopped at a liquor store in a predominately black neighborhood. A dude rolled out of the cuts and was fascinated by all of us with our bikes and kept saying something along the lines of us riding our bikes is our high. He said he "wished his people got high by riding bikes instead of killing each other."
vigilAnthony05.26.09 - 10:18 pm
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