CST 110-005M

Communication Field Research Assignment:
Disrupting Nonverbal Norms

As the Observer
This all happened on Thursday February 27, 2014. It was 11:30 am in the morning and it was kind of cold outside when we walked into the Northern Virginia Community College, Manassas campus library located on the first floor of the Colgan Hall building. The whole library environment was quiet and everyone was focused on doing one thing or the other. A group of students were doing their research on the computer while others were busy reading. We went round the book shelves for like 10 minutes trying to catch people’s attention and ended up picking a bunch of journals. I was the observer so was not much involved in the action. I carefully followed the disrupter giving a distance of about 10 feet behaving not to know what was going on. While following the disrupter I was looking at the shelves for some books but basing my attention on what the disrupter was doing. He moved to and fro from one shelf to another for about 15 minutes. I could see people watching him trying to figure out what he was doing. He then grabbed 3 journals from the shelf, moving all the way towards the end of the library hall where many students were sitting. He moved step by step as if he was counting his steps.
I was behind the shelf standing all the way to his left. He moved to the back then to the center, dropped the journals on the floor. The journals he dropped on the floor generated a sound that distracted many students to seeing what was going on especially some two guys who were sitting next to the window behind him. He behaved he didn’t notice what was going on then went on to take down his bag pack, sat on the floor, pulled out his smartphone and headphones, plugged the headphones to the smartphone and was listening to music while reading the journals up-side-down. At first, people watching could not figure out why he was sitting on the bare floor with so many empty desks around. I sat on a desk about 15 feet away observing while pretending to be working on my PC. The two guys sitting behind him stirred at each other for a while then stirred back at him trying to figure out what he could be up to. It took them a while, when he started looking at the journal with the other side up and his headphones on, the guys exclaimed with laughter, stirred at the disrupter then more laughter. The laughter drew the attention of other students who wondering why the laughter stirred at the guys, then the disrupter and went back to what they were doing. The disrupter continued reading the journals the other side up turning page after page. He then changed position this time facing the guys and was so focused on his journal. One student, a male joined the other guys, they were still stirring at the disrupter and talking to each other at low tones and laughing. I could barely hear their discussion.
The guys abandoned what they were doing for over 20 minutes, kept on talking to each other, lifting their phones up and down, stirring at the disrupter and laughing at low tones. Imagining what could be on their minds when they saw the disrupter sit on the floor with his headphones and reading journals with the other side up. They could be like, “is this guy ok?” Their looks could tell coupled with the fact that they stopped what they were doing, kept stirring at the disrupter as soon as he dropped the journals on the floor, talking to each other and laughing at a low tone. The disrupter sat there for over 20 minutes, switching from one journal to another after which he stood up, stretched his legs, picked up the three journals, pack his bag, unplug his headphones then set off to the shelves.
He picked up his bag pack then the journals and moved to the shelves on his right step after step as if his steps were being counted. The three guys kept watching him as he went towards the shelves and didn’t stop watching while laughing till he went between two shelves. Other students watched for like two seconds then turn back to what they were doing. I stood up some seconds immediately he left, packed my bag and head towards the shelves. He returned the books on the shelves and started heading towards the door as he stretched his legs and followed him outside. The library attendants watched him as he stretched his legs heading towards the door.

As the Disrupter
It was 1:06 pm on Thursday February 27 2014 and the weather was calm and it was kind of cold outside the Bull Run Regional Library located along the Ashton Avenue, Manassas. I was feeling a little uncomfortable with what I was about to do in the library but still I put myself together and went ahead with doing it. I was standing outside by the door when the observer first went into the library, picked up a book on studying Microsoft office 2003 brought the book to me. I plugged my ear buds into my ears, pulled out my smartphone, and set a song by Diams, a female French rap artist on replay, set the volume high and plugged my ear buds to the smartphone loosely such that all the song could be heard by someone at a distance of about 20 feet from me.
I then put the phone in my pocket with the ear buds in my ear pretending not to hear the loud sound coming from my phone. I pretended I could listen to the song playing from my phone through the ear buds and pretended no one else could hear it. I took the text book from the observer and started going through the pages the other side up (up-side-down) as I walked through the door with the song playing on loud from my phone. I focused on the book the other side up as I walked through the door. As I walked pass the door, some ladies on my left who were looking at some tax documents turned to stirring at me but I pretended no to know what was going on and kept on moving. Almost everyone in the library information center could hear the song playing from my phone on loud though I pretended not to hear it. The observer was carefully following behind me.
When I approached the library reception, the lady at the reception stopped me saying “sir, turn down the volume of your device, I can hear it, and it is on loud” and I was like “sorry…. Can you say that again? Because I can’t hear you” she said “I can hear you, can you hear me?” I still pretended not to hear what she was saying or what she meant and continued reading the text book the other side up. This time around, she now made some hand gestures around her ears nodding her head saying “can you hear me? Take off your ear buds.” I was getting a lot uncomfortable and a little nervous with the situation but I maintained my stand, took off the right ear bud and smiled but the song kept on playing on loud then she said “I can hear your phone on loud can you please turned it down?” I replied at a high voice like that of someone who is listening to a sound of high frequency, “but I can hear the sound all by myself” meanwhile it was still on loud. We stayed there for over 5 minutes then I finally said “oh I’m sorry it wasn’t plugged completely to my phone but I could still listen to it so I thought with the ear buds plugged to my ears, it was playing to my ears. Never knew it was on loud” she was like “that’s ok, it happens like so at times”. I then took out the phone, plugged the ear buds completely this time continued reading the text book the other side up as I move to the back of the library.
This time I had to go through the shelves, walk around then turn the music back on to loud, plug my ear buds to my ears then grabbed the book on Microsoft office 2003, continue reading it the other side up as I walked out of the shelves slowly still pretending not to know that the song is playing to everyone’s hearing. I then moved to a reading table in the center of the library where a lady was sitting, I sat next to her by her right as she sat by my left. Placed the book on the table and continued reading it the other side up flipping from one page to another. The lady will stir at me for some seconds, nod her head then pick up her phone, manipulate it for a while then drop it back on the table then continue reading her book trying to read line after line while pointing the words with her fingers. There was a notice on the table saying “quiet zone, switch off or set all phones to vibration” I behaved as though I didn’t see that.
I sat there for about 10 minutes then stood up moved towards another table where a lady and her 2 kids were sited. I stood by that table and kept reading the text book the other side up with the music playing on loud from my phone and my ear buds plugged in my ear. One of the lady’s kids pointed at me turned to his mum and smiled, she looked at me then went back to working with her kids. I stood there for about 5 minutes, during which she kept raising her head towards me and down. I behaved as though i wasn’t noticing them. Some minutes later I went back to the lady who first stopped me told her what was going on then returned the book and we left the library premises at about 1:45 pm that day.