Culture plays a crucial role in diverse social interactions. When one drifts from the social rules which govern such discourses, the outcome can easily be evident from the reaction of those whom he or she interacts with. This is because everyone expects sanity when dealing with those around them and would only respond positively in the right or favorable contexts. It would take some time for individuals affected by such a change in behavior to get acquainted with the new situation and the reason behind it. After conducting two activities which appeared challenging to me, I noted down the reactions of those whom I interacted with.

Activity One

Reflection

In the first activity, I was meant to hold an in-person conversation with an acquaintance. I chose a classmate whom I had interacted with in the past to initiate the conversation and insert random comments in the form of phrases. This was my first time to undertake such a strange activity, and I was nervous. Since I had known him for some time, it was easier to monitor the changes in behavior as well as what he thought about my actions from the start to the end of the exercise.

While conducting the conversation exercise, instead of choosing a silent place, I picked a busy section of the campus which had a considerable number of students running their errands. As my target started speaking to me, I replied with the random words in my preferred order. Therefore, he was afraid of what people would think of me and started asking me if I was in my right senses or not. From this experience, I found out that people do not want to be associated with individuals whose behaviors deviate from the norm.

I think the physical setting affected my behavior and that of the people I was speaking to in many ways. On my side, I lowered my voice since I did not want those who were within the public space to realize what was going on. However, I had to achieve what I was looking for in the end. For my targets, I believe that the physical setting compelled them to get concerned about what was going on with me since I did not follow the conversation rules as intrinsically outlined in my society.

Initially, the other person thought that I was kidding. However, with time, he became concerned with my mental health since I continuedletting out various phrases that were not relevant in the conversation, hence making it hard for us to get along well with each other. His behavior even worsened with the next phrases since he grew more uncomfortable. Also, in other cases, I found out that most of the individuals were ashamed of how I was acting.

I felt suspicious while participating in this exercise since it was my first time. I also realized that every culture has appropriate procedures on how to maintain meaningful and ideal conversations.

When I reverted to the standard conversational rules, I realized that my target was relieved and claimed that he thought I was running mad. This was evident from how he asked me whether I was intoxicated or insane. When one starts a conversation, he or she expects the other party to collaborate for the dialogue to be successful (Garfinkel 226). Surprisingly, in my case, I randomly mentioned various words and phrases, thus raising an issue with my target party.

The exercise implies that in a space like a college setting that I used in my experiment, one has to observe the standard conversational rules to relate well with others. This is because cultural diversity is regarded as a component of such spaces and it needs to be respected at all times. According to Drucker and Gumpert, public areas are designed in a way that communication needs to go on as desired for the right messages to be conveyedso that consensus would be arrived at (299). Thus, the design plays a crucial role in the change of behavior as seen in the exercise that I conducted. This is because etiquette seems to command social interactions both in public and private spaces. It also commands respect from those who one interacts with at any given time.

Activity Two

a)

I undertook the first test in an enclosed environment where there were only five people. It was silent, and the rest were busy reading their books. The lighting levels were adequate and, therefore, no one could strain when conducting studies. I was five meters away from a lady who was sitting at a separated desk, and I had to break this distance and borrow her phone to observe her reaction. In the second experience, I chose an open public place which was more congested than the earlier one. The noise levels were high since individuals were conversing in both low and high tones. The third setting was also an open ground at a park. My subject was initially ten meters away, and I had to breach this distance based on the test. I undertook the final exercise in a lecture hall where there were approximately fifty students. The lighting was excellent, and the distance between one person to the other was just a meter away.

b)

I believe that the physical distance between the other person and me significantly affected the outcomes. In the enclosed locations, the subjects could easily notice my moves and all my actions compared to cases where I conducted the test in open grounds. Light also played a vital role since the target party could easily notice me and, in all cases, this aspect was satisfactory.

c)

In the first test, as I went near the lady, I saw that she was becoming nervous. After asking her to lend me her phone, she got surprised and frowned. This meant that she was not happy with my move. In the second case, my target asked me whether I was okay and I could not respond until I accomplished my goal. Similar trends of behavioral changes were observed in the third and fourth persons even though in the lecture hall, the rest of the students wanted to know what was transpiring.

d)

I developed mixed feelings while taking part in this activity. For instance, in the first test, I was uncertain how the lady would react. I thought that she could shout at me, hence causing chaos in the room. As I went closer, I found out that she was just surprised that a stranger could borrow a phone at such conditions without stating the reason for that. In the second case, I felt more relaxed than in the prior instance. This is because of the large number of people, and I thought I could not get noticed easily by the others. As I got closer to my target, I found out that she was appalled and she could ask me what was going on. It is unusual for one to borrow a cell phone since the intentions could be malicious.

e)

In all the cases, when I explained my motives for the tests, in the end, all the participants giggled. Then, they told me that they never expected anyone to borrow a phone from them. One of the guys whom I had approached in an open setting claimed that he thought it was a prank and was careful not to act strangely. It seems that he had faced such an encounter in the past. This exercise opened my mind regarding how changes in behaviors of who we are interacting with would quickly raise the alarm.Thus, in every public space, there is a need to observe the rules of orderly human behavior.

f)

The test that I conducted has many implications for design especially regarding public spaces which are used by many people. The first one is that an individual has to act according to acceptable behaviors without causing any chaos or raising suspicion. This shows that public spaces call for proper etiquette from all the parties regardless of the number of people within such a setting. Additionally, I have learned that it is easier for people to identify anyone who is going against the rules of acceptable human behavior in public spaces.

Works Cited

Drucker, Susan J., and Gary Gumpert Gumpert. “Public space and communication: The zoning of public interaction.” Communication Theory 1.4 (1991): 294-310.

Garfinkel, Harold. “Studies of the routine grounds of everyday activities.” Social problems 11.3 (1964): 225-250.

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