Josh's Super-Duper Subway Adventures

Lyn Lofland's The World of Strangers takes a good socioogical look at the stranger. I found alot of what she says to be questionable. Or if not questionable, a lot of it is common sense. She writes that once we see somone and size them up, we now personally know them for at least that brief moment. I disagree, because on the subway, I know noone.

With that said, I would like to express my particular experiences with strangers on the subway. I find that once people enter the subway, they all try to play one of the identity games Loftland mentions. Most people have their guard up as some sort of defense mechanism. Most people are staring at the ceiling or the floor. You also see some darting eyes, attempting not to stare at one place for too long. Personally, I prefer to deeply analyze the usually horrible ads on the wall I am facing. At least I pretend to do this. As far as interaction goes, I seldom find strangers talking to each other. If they are, it is most often discussion about the weather or some other trivial topic. Though I mostly try to keep to myself, I can't help but be entertained by some of the louder subway riders. I enjoy humoring the preachers. Another interesting aspect of strangers are those waiting for their trains. I get a lot of strange looks when taking pictures in the subway station which give me some feelings of anxiety. Basically, a commonality among all strangers in the subway is to act as least confrontational as possible.