Have ever had to wait? Ethnography

How do people behave when they have to wait? I conducted observations on the behavior and emotions exhibited by people waiting on both day buses and night buses. I found that the negative emotions generated from waiting grow stronger over time, but they can be held back as long as the mind is distracted. In the modern world we spend a lot of time waiting: waiting on a bus, waiting in lines at stores, and even waiting on our computers. I decided to see how people behave when waiting and if they behave similarly in different waiting situations.

My method of observation was simple. I became one with the crowd. This allowed me to be close enough to hear what they said and see what they did. Since it is hard to convey the information I was interested in with simple quotes, I recorded the emotions based upon facial expression, tone of voice, word choice, gestures, etc. I also recorded physical actions that I noticed.

During the day, people in the crowds generally have less than a one foot radius of personal space while waiting, as apposed to the should to shoulder packing when the bus arrives. I believe this is to attain maximum personal space while still ensuring their place on the bus. There are a few people that have alternate methods of ensuring a place on the bus, which seems to violate the seemingly unspoken rule of first come first served. Concerning the difference in personal space that people keep during the day as opposed to the night, it seems to me that the greater the risk of not accomplishing the goal of waiting, the more discomfort people are willing to tolerate to ensure that goal is met. Consider the people that break the social norm to ensure a spot on the buses. After making these observations and thinking about other cases of waiting, I think that people probably exhibit much of the same behavior regardless of what they are waiting for. I think that we naturally put some things to the back of our mind to think about later. These things come to the forefront when we are looking for something to occupy our mind.

The feelings exhibited during waiting are all negative emotions. The longer people wait without distraction, the stronger the emotions get. As long as people’s minds are distracted, the feelings are suppressed. When the distractions cease, the feeling will return. I think that people’s dislike of waiting is due to our fixation with time, as seen by the constant checking of phones and watches. We cannot stand to let time be wasted. After all, we have a limited life span. I believe that most people, at least in the society I live in, think that to wait is to waste time; other cultures may view it differently.