My Observation In America

Why did you do that? Why are you doing that? Is that even okay? Since the beginning of time humans have questioned the actions of others. At times it has been the cause of hurt, and in other instances it has created human discovery. I encourage you to ask yourself some of the questions that you ask others. Ask the simple, hard, and even condescending questions in to yourself and maybe you will briefly see life from a different angle. Americans, for example have very different customs and mannerisms than our neighbors to the north, but we can even break American down regions, states, and cities to find slight differences. On a trip to Philadelphia I took advantage of the abundance of elevators and reflected on the experience of riding with my face to the “back” of the elevator rather than the traditional “forward” facing way. As I toured the city with classmates on our sustainably fieldtrip we entered the first elevator at the “Friends Center” and I made sure to be the last to step in. As the doors closed and my peers noticed I made no effort to turn and face the “front” …show more content…
That is why we expect not to be “challenged” when we enter an elevator. Each social situation entails its own particular set of expectations about the “proper” way to behave. One way in which these expectations become apparent is when we look at the roles that people play in society. Social rules provide an example of social influence in general and conformity in particular. The experience of riding an elevator is where conformity is something that does not cross our mind, it comes without people being conscious of the decision. Most of us, most of the time, conform to the guidelines provided by the roles we perform. We conform to the expectations of others, we respond to their approval when we play our roles well, and to their disapproval when we play our roles badly. But how far does conformity