I took over an hour today to people watch. At first I was concerned that it would be weird but then I realized that most all of us do this on a regular basis unknowingly. At the Market of Choice I was able to find a few people to analyze and try to speculate what their beliefs were. The first person I saw was actually sitting in a dining booth in front of me and looked almost bored. He was wearing a pretty worn out jacket, had dreads, and was had a smartphone in his hands. If he wasn’t texting someone I would have considered this man being homeless, because of the tattered clothing and hairstyle. I think he could have had or is having a rougher life just because people don’t usually dress in such clothing unless they had to. I feel Eugene does have more people who dress in this way so he could have just been wearing a look. From his appearance I would assume he probably has done drugs or at least smoked cigarettes. He didn’t seem angry but again rather bored so he could also have been waiting for someone. I feel he probably wasn’t religious but I never like to assume that towards people. I think he was a nice person who has been through some rough times.
The next person who I analyzed was a woman who was about 50 years old. Based on the location of Market of choice I assumed that she had enough money to shop here because she was buying groceries to eat. She was an average looking woman with nice clothing. She had a nice blue shirt on tucked into a light tan skirt that went to her feet. Based on this outfit I assumed that she was most likely on the modest side and probably had a respectful and genuine personality. I feel as if she had a family and could have been religious based on the necklace she was wearing. I couldn’t tell what it was but it was a small beaded necklace with a figure on the bottom. She also had a shorter hair cut which for me makes me already feel more comfortable towards her. This could be because of some family members of mine who also have short hair but she looked friendly none the less. I think she has a successful career and a family based on how nice her purse was also. She easily could be a teacher or child care manager based on how she smiled.
The third person was someone sitting outside with his dog. He was more than likely homeless and I could watch him from the inside window of Market of Choice. This man had much worse clothing the first man I described. He didn’t have a sign which I would usually expect. But it looked as if he was just sitting there for much of the day pondering what he wanted to do next. His clothing was all browns and tans except for his black scuffed boots. He looked content and at ease from his facial expressions. I couldn’t tell what is hair looked like because it was tucked inside of his beanie but his shortened facial hair was a darker brown. He looked tan which would bring me to assume he has been exposed to sunlight often which also makes me feel he is still homeless. He had a nose piercing and but had surprisingly white teeth. I know Eugene has a pretty diverse crowd and I would put him in the younger homeless group. I feel like he might travel a lot because his backpack looked pretty well organized with straps and bags. None the less he seem like he would have had family issues or possibly never had a family but he seemed composed and sane which can be uncommon for homeless people. He didnt have a dirty face but I feel like he could have done drugs before. He was a man on his own but I think he was okay with it because he didn’t look concerned. he’s still able to feed his dog so hopefully he will be off of the streets soon.
Hi Chris~
You can tell you really contently watched your people — you noticed purses and the minuscule details of their clothing and you speculated about where they had been, bits of who they are and about where they could be going. The picture you painted all of them makes them crystal clear in my mind.
However, what I don’t think you have really done is paint a picture of yourself. Where are your values in here? Why do you think you guessed that these people could be what you saw?
Beauty, in a sense, is in the eye of the beholder and it really would have been interesting if we all watched the same people and to see what ideas we all individually came up with about them. I bet they would all be pretty different and there would have been details that were big to one of us, and unnoticed by the other. Neat to think about.
Hey Chris,
Good watching! From you describe, I saw two mans who seems like homeless but they have different characters and one woman who succeeded in both career and family. You have a special angle to watch because most of people will choose the similar ages people to watch. Meanwhile, I also think watching people is rude action. But after I watched and saw what you and the other groups watched. I really find that what you saw base on self thinking.
According to your said, I guess you are concentrate on family. At first, you choice the place of “Market Choice”. The market stands of the shopping with family together. Meanwhile, you like to think the relationship between family and person for those three people. You like that woman because the short hair and the success on family and career. I no more agree with your thinking. It is important thing for people to own a good career and family. On the other hand, you have a comprehensive analysis by the appearance, clothes, emotion and so on. For example, you can guess the third people like to travel because of the good bag. Anyway, Thanks for you share the thinking. I got so much from your ideas.
Sincerely
Xiaofeng
Hi there,
I enjoyed reading your post, I think I would have come to many of the same assumptions that you did about the people that you observed. Concerning the first person, I thought it was interesting that everything about him made you think he was homeless but the fact that he had a cell phone made you ultimately decide otherwise. Is it possible that he stole the phone and is actually homeless? I think I would have made that assumption. Even though in Eugene it is definitely more common for people to have a “grunge” look, I find that I tend to assume people are homeless. I think I feel that way because I grew up in an area where that type of appearance was not very common and I rarely saw homeless people.
I also thought it was interesting that you thought the second person had a successful career. After reading your description I immediately assumed she was a stay at home mother that did not work. I realized that this is most likely due to the fact that my own mom stayed at home with my siblings and myself so I probably tend to assume that about most women.
Thanks for sharing,
-Sam