Like
James, I too used the bus for my "non-place" observations. I ride the bus to work every few days and I was going to go today to kill two birds with one stone, but with the nasty weather I decided not to go in. Instead, I just rode the 80 to state street in the evening. As I got on the bus, I noticed most of the seats were full and I ended up sitting next to someone. I noticed that when people sit on buses they either A) Sit in a seat as far away from other people or B) If they must sit next to someone, they scoot away and try not to invade the other persons space. Everyone sat quietly unless there were friends sitting together chatting. Many people, including myself, were listening to ipods. I think that in non-places you are really not in that place at all, you either escape into a song, a book, daydreams, or a tv (at a hotel). You interact with as few people as possible and try to just slip into the background only using the space to accomplish a certain task. I suppose the bus can be a "place" for the people who work on the bus, but even then this is unclear on buses. I am not sure but, don't bus drivers switch routes every once in a while? In that case, they don't have one specific bus that can be their place of work. Plus, it is hard to consider a seat a place. From past experience on the 80 on busy days, i have noticed that people don't really seem to care about the other people on the bus. Everyone just objectifies everyone else. The passengers get mad when the people getting on move too slow, the bus driver gets mad when people don't move to the back, and those few who sneak in the back have no regard for the people patiently waiting to get in (legally) through the front door. It is a very hostile environment...where is the love?!
3 comments:
I like your idea of using the bus for a non-place. I agree with you that many people use the bus so that it is a non-place, and I too try to use the bus without leaving my mark at all. The 80 is a good example, but I think the non-campus buses are even more like that because you get far less people that chat and know other people.
Conversely though, if one uses the bus every single day, in some ways does it become a place for them? It would result in having a history of sorts with the bus, and you might make friends with those who ride the bus that time every day too. I think almost any space is both though depending on your use of it.
I don't think that many people would view the 80 as a place, simply because like you said, it's a seat, you really can't spend too much time there. Although maybe the bus driver feels as though it's a place, because it's his work, but even then, I think that's a hard argument to make (at least in Auge's sense of the word place).
I think your example of a bus as a non-place works perfectly. Buses are definitely used for transportation, and it's kind of like you're not exactly anywhere when you're on one. I was thinking it would be fairly comical if people were to start making buses actual places. They'd have meetings on the bus, or you could even take someone out on a date to the bus. Wouldn't that be wacky?
Post a Comment