Rugby. Field. Grass. Boys. Ball. Rain. Shouting. Huddle. Scrum. Shorts. Mud. Goals. Cheers. Game. Teams. Gang. Broken Ribs. Laughter. Outsider. Fear. Cold. Banter. Water Bottles. Support. Strength. Zone. Training. Girl.
For the Design Safari assignment i decided to go to a Rugby match. Foolish perhaps as i am someone who hasn't even graced a football match, so rugby was definitely throwing me in at the deep end. I went with my boyfriend who is on the rugby team but happened not to be playing that particular Wednesday afternoon. It made me feel only slightly less anxious going with him, despite the fact that he knew everyone and had promised not to leave me on my own. As we arrived at the Riverside pitches we had to walk through the changing rooms, amongst people milling about in football and rugby strips but pretty much the first thing i saw was some guy getting medical attention for broken ribs. Not a great way to put me at my ease. As we approached the field the game was in full swing and all i could hear were encouraging shouts and whistles from the group of people standing at the side. As we got closer the ball was kicked up into the air and being a rugby novice i thought it was heading straight for me. I let out a squeal as the ball landed far far away from me and many of the people standing on the pitch line turned with unimpressed expressions to see who the idiot was. I recon though, their response would have been very different if a boy had acted the way i did. This is when i realised i was the only girl amongst about 30 boys. If we were being asked to go somewhere out with our comfort zone, i was so far out i couldn't even see mine.
The atmosphere on the pitch side was tense but very social. Some were watching the game intently, shouting things and clutching their heads in their hands when things went wrong. Others were chatting and laughing and floating from group to group. There were definite huddles of people, probably friend groups but i wasn't keen on trying to join any. They all seemed to be acting quite masculine and laddy not really caring to be introduced. I think in that environment its constantly competitive, each of them trying to outdo each others stories. It seemed to me that most of them were putting on a facade taking on the persona of a rugby boy and my boyfriend agreed saying that most of them acted differently on a one to one basis. As a new comer i didn't feel that welcome, but maybe that's because i didn't really fit in. No one was horrible to me but i feel they didn't really have much time between play fighting and slagging each other off, for me.
Noise. Cake. Smells. Cups. Aprons. Laptops. Dishes. Napkins. Teenagers. Music. Counter. Queue. Shopping Bags. Signs. Prices. Chairs. Papers. Chatting. Cream. Standing. Waiting. Window. Broom. Panini.
For my secondary site i went to the Starbucks in Dundee Overgate on a Sunday afternoon. The first thing i notice was the way that as soon as you enter you are directed towards the food counter and then herded round to the till, place where you collect you coffee, the napkin counter and then the seating. This all follows a one Way system directed by the differently coloured tiles in a path on the floor. After being processed through the system i sat a watched how clinically people were queuing mostly single file and moving up. This is the epitome of the fast food culture. However much Starbucks have tried to create a coffee shop, what they really have is a dressed up Mc Donald's. I heard once that the average time it takes someone to order, pay for, eat and leave Mc Donald's is 14 minutes and it seems the same with Starbucks. If you want a fast fix go to Starbucks, if you want the experience of going to a cafe, steer well clear. Another thing i noticed is the table politics. The people who take up a whole table meant for 4 just for themselves and those who baggsie tables before they've even ordered. These things seem to really annoy people when they do the table scan. In Starbucks there is alot of people standing and walking which isn't very relaxing, especially for those with their laptops out working. Starbucks is the last place i would go. Something else that was prominent was Mobile phones. Lots of people seems to be talking and texting, especially those sitting on their own. I suppose its probably a defence mechanism, something to do with your hands and somewhere to look, i know i do it. But its still kind of sad that people cant even go for a coffee without being on their phone. I think people are more likely to do certain things in a cafe chain than in an independent cafe and i think my findings would have been very different if i had gone to a smaller place. For example some people were eating their own food, letting kids run about wild and again abundantly using their phones. But on the other side the staff were messing about amongst themselves (trying to make a cream egg frappes) and not paying the customers much attention and also sweeping around dining customers. neither was treating the other with much respect.
Through going to both of these places i have realised that people do act differently in different situations. probably if i met any of the boys from the rugby in the street they would be in a completely different frame of mind and react to me differently. Also going into Starbucks and really looking and taking in my surroundings has put me off it a bit. It seems so clinical to me now and not the sort of place i want to go and sit and pay extortionate prices to do so.
And do you know where else i wont be going... thats right, the rugby!
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