Breaking a Social Norm Experiment

Most corporate environments have an expected style of dress that everyone adheres to. Even on casual Friday’s we all know what’s acceptable and what’s not. The corporate environment is one where most people do not want to veer too far from the norm in fear of sticking out.

Social norms are expected shared ideas of what is acceptable behavior within society given a specific context. Breaking a social norm at your place of employment might come with disciplinary actions, but what would happen if you broke a social norm in public. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, I set out to do my chores, while wearing a mint green facial mud mask.

My first stop was Ocean State Job Lot and while I got a few double takes, most people tried not to stare at me, so I'll jump ahead to my Walgreens experience cause I damn near cussed a woman out for acting as if I'm stupid. Here's what went down.

As soon as I entered Walgreens, a middle aged woman and her two young kids checking out at the cash register immediately noticed me and started to laugh. She didn't say anything to me so I continued walking over to the makeup section as they walked out of the store. What I did not expect was for her to come back into the store, follow me, and try to film me as if I couldn't see what she was doing. I overheard her oldest child say, “Send it to me”, as they continued to laugh. My reaction actually surprised me.

I did not expect a grown woman with two young girls in tow to condone this type of behavior. I thought, "Is this how bullies are made? And does this woman think I'm stupid?" I decided to confront her, after all, she was following me.

I told her that I knew what she was doing but she denied it. She had a difficult time looking directly at me, as I further explained my Sociology experiment. I explained that I would be documenting this exchange and as I went to pull out my camera she quickly left the store before I was able to get the camera started. Punk ass!

My next stop was Stop & Shop. After roaming the store for a while without anything extraordinary occurring, I decided to check out. The cashier did not show any reaction to my mud mask that was now cracked and peeling.

As I placed my groceries onto the belt, an older lady in an electronic wheelchair got on line after me. I smiled at her and spoke about how horribly narrow the aisle was. She smiled back and said “I’m a pro at this by now”. About 30 seconds later, she interrupted me and asked “I’m sure you've had this question a million times today, what’s on your face?” As I explained my assignment to her, everyone within ear shot started to smile, others laughed out loud, including my cashier. She was the only stranger to address me directly asking about the mud mask.

It is different because I'm acting as a "Photojournalist"?

The lady at Walgreens clearly got under my skin. While I understand that I looked awkward, I thought her behavior was unacceptable especially because she was damn near teaching minors to be disrespectful which I have very little tolerance for. But then I thought about the various excursions I take with my Nikon "documenting" homeless people or whatever else I deem as interesting. I've never asked permission to snap a photo when I'm out in public. Legally, I don't have to. Is what she did much different that what I do? What are your thoughts?

Final Observations

• When people were by themselves, they were able to subdue their facial reactions more frequently.
• Men did a better job at controlling their reactions than women. Most men avoided eye contact with me even if I looked directly at them. 
• When people were with someone else or in groups, they felt more liberated to react or point me out to their friends.