Social norms are the unlimited list of unwritten rules that everyone follows everyday without even thinking. When was the last time anyone thought twice before putting shoes on before leaving the house, or eating with a fork instead of their hands. Here in the United States these are perfectly normal actions that people do daily, but in different cultures around the world these norms may vary dramatically. You have asked us to go out and break a social norm, and pay attention to the peoples reactions. This is a huge eye opener for me, and I am sure the others in the class as well.
The concept really is a great way to examine yourself, your culture, and to think about how these normality’s have come to be. As for me this proved to be a little nerve racking as I probably fall into the slightly shy category.
So I started thinking about some of these things I do everyday, and decided I was going to take my dog for a walk. But this time instead of looking forward as do most human beings, I would walk backwards, and let my dog lead me through the park. This was my first idea and I figured I would give it a try and see if I got reactions from people. The park where I was walking was completely packed with people because it was a Saturday morning. I couldn’t help but crack a smile as the people around me started to stare at me like I was completely retarded. I’m sure in some ways they were right. I kept walking, nearly trampling over an old man who was power walking. He gave me a confused look, and I could tell he wanted to tell me off. At first all of the looks made me feel very uncomfortable, but then I started to become very amused with myself. I felt like I was in a jackass bit, or in a candid camera show.
I’m not sure there is any place in the world where walking backwards is normal. As simple as this experiment was, it was very effective. Later that day I also went to the Costco by my house, where again I walked backwards through the store. I was facing backwards so people would have to pass me, then turn around to see my face. Probably 5 out of 10 people did this. Then I went up to the register. The girl working the counter chuckled, and I could tell she was waiting for me to maybe say something about what I was doing, but I kept my composure. She looked very curious and was stricken by my odd behavior. She looked like she was going to say something, but did not. This was the reaction from most people who witnessed me doing this weird thing. They knew it was not normal, and they acknowledged that by staring and laughing. But on the other hand it was not radical. I was not in anyone’s space(except the old man), and surprisingly I didn’t knock any displays down. This is America, and almost anything goes as long as your not hurting anyone.
But that being said, the sensitivity us humans have to these normality’s is mind blowing. Even if we don’t punch the guy the in the elevator who is invading your private space, you certainly are aware of it, and in most cases it is very annoying. We are taught from a young age these simple things, such as saying “bless you” when someone sneezes, or saying “excuse me” when you burp. So simple, yet so important. We as a society have evolved these norms over time. These unwritten laws are in some ways more important than the laws written on paper. We live by them everyday, and they create a sense of normality. But what is normal? Why do we conform to those around us? Well these are questions beyond me at the moment, but they certainly have been running though my head while doing this experiment.
Although picking items out of others peoples shopping carts, or staring at people probably would have gotten me more attention, I think I learned plenty from my simple test. Social norms are going to develop no matter where you live. These norms are going to be embedded into your mind from a young age, and these norms are going to serve a very important purpose in keeping the culture together, and create a sense of common courtesy and respect. As I said before they vary greatly from culture to culture, but no matter where you are in the world, it will not take you long to realize what is acceptable, and what is not. These subtle actions are definitely important and they are the glue to a smooth running work day, or a day at school, or even a walk through the park. I think we need to be aware of these norms, but yet I feel we should question them. We need to question why they came about and whether they actually serve a purpose or if they are coming from a deeper source, such as stereotypes, or conformity. Overall this has proved to be a great experiment and eye opener for me.