Personal Narrative: Breaking A Social Norm

Sitting in Portola with a group of my hometown friends I start to build up my courage. I knew I had to complete my experiment, but I quickly learned how difficult it is to break a social taboo. It makes you uncomfortable and nervous. I could not help to think the impression it might leave on the unknown participant. I was worried about the looks I may receive or the comments that could be potentially made. I desperately wanted to explain to my friends what I was about to do, however I knew it would ruin the experiment so with all of my effort I continue to not say a word. Finally building the courage, I walked over to a random table in Portola Dinning Commons and sat down next to the unknown participant. Without introducing myself or saying a word, I casually reached over to his plate of fries and picked one up. I then continued to eat it and once I was done I walked back to my friends. …show more content…
The participant, whose fries I consumed without his permission, looked over my table with confusion and puzzlement. He was still trying to figure out what had happened. My friends who had witnessed the experiment started asking me a dozens questions once I came back to the table. They wanted to know if I knew the guy and I calmly replied no. That sparked another round of questions such as “did you ask if you could eat his fries and why didn’t you just get my own?”. Still unsure if I was able to revile the purpose and explanation for my actions, I just shrugged off the questions directed at me. They still could not believe what had happened and would not let the situation go to rest. The longer the questions continued, the more uncomfortable I became. I did not understand why they were making this a big deal. Finally, I decided I was done with this experiment I excused myself from the table and went upstairs to write down the events that just