Social Observation
... as wealthy and fortunate as the other members that could afford to pay for these high-priced work out uniforms. This woman with her two kids may use the majority of here income to support her children. The education level of the crowd varied. The middle age women with the children and elderly attire perhaps didn't have the opportunity to go to college. There was a young couple wearing college sweatshirts that read The University of Wisconsin so I presumed they either went to school there or knew someone who did. The mainstream of the members was Caucasian, but there were a few African Americans, and some native or oriental people that interacted. There were many activities and interactions going on throughout the building. I witnessed a great instance of a formal norm broken, or generally understood rule, one not written down and there is no specific punishment for violating this rule. A young boy took the remote control for the fitness center television to change the channel and failed to return it to its original position. In disbelief I verbally approached him, “Please return the remote control after use or your privilege will be taken away.” Thus, I approached the adolescent boy verbally in disbelief for violating an informal norm in the fitness center. Verbal communication is the use of words or sounds to communicate aloud. There were also teenagers in the facility with their parents listening to headphones while they were working out, or playing a hand held games waiting for their parents to finish swimming, sitting in the Jacuzzi, or working out. These children may have been experiencing a culture shock, or when a individual goes anywhere and feels out of place, left out, disoriented, or uncertain. Therefore, the youth operate hand held video games to obtain a certain comfort level, make themselves feel detached or at home by playing a game, or listening to music. There was also a good example of non-verbal communication between families. Non-verbal communication is the use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate. A middle aged man spit inside the garbage can in the core of the fitness center and a women member behind him, disgusted, gave him a look like she was very disappointed. Another form of non-verbal communication was between two people shaking hands. These members may not have seen each other in awhile or were shaking hands as a friendly means of saying, “Hey” or “Nice to see you”. During my observations I also examine a member making a discovery. A discovery is making known or sharing the existence of an aspect of reality. A man was holding a newspaper while riding the bicycle. He was glancing through the paper and realized the Chicago Cubs were well on their way to making the playoffs. He boasted to another man riding next to him the ...