Blog Post 3

Over the weekend on Sunday I went to target and observed people for 30 minutes. I sat for a little and then I walked around. I brought my roommate Alondra to observe with me as well. While I was sitting at first I tried to only write down my observations, and not make any interpretations or judgement. When I would see people I would make stories up about them in my head and imagine what their life was like. If someone was carrying around a designer purse or had on a really nice jacket I would interpret that as they are upper middle class and live in a large house and that their husband was either a doctor, or a successful business man. My interpretation was probably wrong for all I know the nice clothing items were a gift from someone. After reading over my interpretations I could see a few of them that would fit into the "parking lot." The first one being when I saw the women with her kids and her not wearing a wedding ring. I did not judge her, but in my head I was thinking that in my family that wouldn't be something that was encouraged. I am Catholic and it is expected that people should have children after they are married and settled down. The second time was when I saw the lady with the nice purse and automatically assumed that she was a stay at home mom and her husband made all the money. My mom was a stay at home mom and so was both of my grandmas. My sister in law is currently a stay at home mom. I am not sure what I will be when I have kids and job, but I know that some members on my family will expect me to be a stay at home mom. My roommates interpretations were a little different than mine. She is kind of a free spirit and has different outlook on life than me. For example, she interpreted the lady with the children with no wedding ring as a women who was strong enough to raise her children on her own and she didn't need to stay with her husband. For all we know she could have forgot to put her ring on after her morning shower. The other difference was she assumed that everyone from JCU was shopping at Target because it is cheap and college students can afford it. Lastly, she commented on the woman with the nice purse and she assumed that the women was a very high business women and worked hard to be where she is now and to be able to afford nice purses and clothes. I learned a few things about myself, first being that I tend to give people a single story and not think about all the possibilities. I need to have a more open mind. I learned most of my beliefs coincide with my parents conservative beliefs. Everyone has different ways of interpreting situations. I think that some of my roommates and I's differing interpretations were due to our differences in beliefs.