Sarita Mass Observation # 1

Mass Observation # 1

09/02/09

Bus commute 4:10 pm

Upon my reaching the bus stop, people from various directions came running towards the bus in order to catch it before its quick departure. Students standing behind one another start to indirectly add pressure to pile into the bus, by hovering over the person in front of them. A cluster of students eagerly gathers around a line near the rear door of the bus to sneak in line for their opportunity to get into the bus. As a result, there is little room for people to exit the bus with ease.

Once I got into the bus, two seats remained empty in the back of the bus. I opted to sit in the front of the bus in an empty seat between an athletic male wearing a wrestling club t-shirt, and a female wearing a pair of Sofee shorts and a white tank with her backpack on her shoulders, hunched over while clasping her phone.

Soon after, the bus driver steps out of the bus for a break. All three people seated parallel to me, motion their heads towards the driver stepping out, and then pull out their ipods and phones and plug in their headphones. A boy sitting diagonally across from me looks at his phone and then outside at the bus driver who is pacing his steps in a straight line. After taking another glance at his phone, the boy gets up and exits the bus. Another boy wearing a UT Longhorn shirt and headphones hops into the bus soon after and sees the empty seat where the previous boy was sitting was now occupied by a blond-haired girl wearing a sorority t-shirt whose legs were crossed over with her white and maroon Jansport bag resting against her onto the seat next to her. She looked up at the boy wearing the Longhorn shirt and then turned her attention to look at her diamond studded watch.

The bus driver returned to his seat, kicked the brake loose, and hit the gas pedal while steering the wheel towards the middle of the road. At the back of the bus, the seats were occupied unevenly. A girl sat with her head looking down at a book folded over at its crease loosely enveloped in her hands.  Right next to her sat another girl with arms stretched out, taking quick glances at her book. Sitting directly across her was a girl in jeans and a white t-shirt looking straight ahead at the front of the bus in anticipation of the next stop.

At the next stop, a boy with crutches climbed the steep ramp at the front door of the bus. A girl seated on one of the handicap seats asked the boy, “do you want to sit here?” The boy replies back with a chuckle, “ya, actually”. The girl gets up and takes hold of the pole next to the handicap seats.

Walk commute 4:18 pm

As I exited the bus, I entered a mass of people saying, “excuse me” as they were slightly running each other as they walked in opposite directions. Two girls walking in front of me were talking to each other while maintaining a set distance between that seemed to spread them across the entire sidewalk. People behind them attempted to pass by their side, but failed and just took a step down onto the road, then sped past the girls and got back up onto the sidewalk.  Both girls were dressed in Nike shorts and shirts promoting social events. Both had cell phones tightly gripped in their hands and walked with an even stride as if their conversation led them to synchronize their walking pace.