assignment 1 Danielle Nicolosi

I visited the Staten Island Mall. While observing, i noticed a Hispanic mother in her early thirties, singing and jogging with her baby in a carriage. I also saw a white mother trying to communicate with her teenage daughter, however the daughter was texting, completely blocking out what her mother was saying. As i was observing people walking around the mall, I noticed, I myself was also being observed. A very tall, white, heavy-set man, around 40 years old was walking by very slowly staring at me. He gave off a creepy vibe. He was also dressed sloppy. I conclude by the way he was acting and staring, he was probably wondering why I was staring at everyone else; this is the same moment i decided to change my observing spot in the mall. In my knew spot in the Staten Island Mall, i witnessed a black woman take off her shoe, in the middle of walking, kick something out of it, slipped it back on, looked around, and then kept walking. I also saw a white man in his late 30's, who had big headphones on his ears, looking around, with his hands in his pockets, bopping his head to the music (i assume). The last thing i saw before i left, was an old couple, probably in their late 60's. They stopped directly in front of me and started arguing in another language. I'm pretty sure they were arguing about which direction to walk in cause they were yelling and pointing in opposite directions. The argument lasted about 3 minutes then the husband gave up and went into the direction his wife wanted to go in.

Although i didn't see anything completely out of the ordinary, this was a very interesting assignment. I usually don't watch people when I'm in the mall ; I get done what i have to, and get out. So having the experience to really notice the little things you don't see when your usually there, was very interesting; to notice all the different types of people going in different directions, for different reasons, speaking in different ways.

"The tolerance, the room for great differences among neighbors - the differences that often go far deeper than differences in color - which are possible and normal in intensely urban life, but which are so foreign to suburbs and pseudo suburbs...allowing strangers to dwell in peace together on civilized but essentially dignified and reserved terms." Chapter 3, p. 72