Do Not Approach Signals

In class today, a large majority of us admitted to using technology as a way to isolate ourselves in public settings such as putting headphones in to avoid being stopped by people with clipboards trying to talk to us. This has been blamed on technology which isolates us from the people in the public space around us by sending the message of busy, do not approach. We live in New England though, where it is the culture to be fast-paced, minimize down time walking places with listening to music or checking phones, and avoid standing around waiting for people. It is also not in the nature of people in Boston to talk to strangers on the T or to comment on what someone is buying, and most importantly to have patience. As I mentioned in class, I was in Arizona for my co-op and was very confused at the random people making small talk with me while I was picking out fruit in the grocery store.

One example of the different cultures was when I went to use my credit card for the first time out in Arizona. Since I was purchasing something 2,600 miles away from the rest of my purchases, the credit card company flagged my card as possibly stolen and denied it. I was in line with a cart full of stuff and my card kept being denied or having an error. I was trying to figure out why it was denied and profusely apologizing to the people in line behind me for holding everyone up. They looked confused and said it was no problem at all and they were having a nice conversation, no rush. To say I was shocked was an understatement. This happened less than a year ago, and I am sure that Arizona has just as many cell phones, laptops, and iPods as Boston, but I rarely saw people incessantly texting or with headphones in out in public. I think that technology is not to blame for why New Englanders try and shut people out in public spaces, but rather the culture of this area makes us wary of strangers and unengaged. Technology has just provided us with a convenient way of showing our desire to be left alone with visual cues. I wonder if people are actually less verbally rude now that they don’t have to be snippy when people try and approach them, because the person approaching knows not to even try by presence of isolating technology.