Puzzle Pieces

Over the last few weeks I have realized more and more how hard it is to fit everything together perfectly.  This has been even more evident with my school semester starting to approach the end, and my fieldworking project is no exception!  My biggest problem with it right now is scheduling my interview, because, as you may know, an interview takes two people.  But each person has their own schedule and plans for how it's going to work, and this can often lead to... problems, which I'm by no means immune to.
Over the last few weeks, I have been trying to organize a sit down with my friend to talk with him about his experience with public transportation, and I adamantly believe that this is harder than hunting wild animals.  Something about mentioning a formal interview hit my friend like headlights and more than once we've had to reschedule.  But the irony is, since we started discussing this, I've seen him multiple times but with something holding me back, not enough time or I'm not carrying anything to record it with...  But I have a plan, this weekend I'm going to invite him to hang out and as soon as he gets here I'll throw a net over him and hang it from the ceiling!  Of course I'm not serious about that, but I do plan to get it done this weekend, so wish me luck everybody and have your fingers crossed until you see the transcript posted.

First Night on the Site

After sitting down and taking in everything that Kennedy Plaza had to offer during the day, I decided to make my second adventure at night.  I thought that it might be drastically different at different times, so why not use the two extremes?  From what I learned, it turns out that I was right, and I was surprised to see such a vast chasm between the two just because of the time of day.

The first thing that struck me as I sat down and started to observe was that there were actual conversations, between strangers waiting for the bus!  I thought that maybe I had fallen into a different dimension as I blatantly eavesdropped on all of the people around me, albeit not as many as there were during the day, but they were actually interacting this time.  I wondered if it was because of the time or just because it was a different group, but when I'm waiting for the bus in the morning there's never conversation.  So my hypothesis was that since it was a smaller group, people felt more comfortable talking, and I loved it!

I also found myself wondering why so many people were waiting for a night bus to a school with not many night classes, so I tried to come up with reasons.  My first, and I believe most plausible, is that they were returning to their dorms after doing something off campus for the day.  But I also thought things like what if they were visiting to spend the night, or even were one of the few unfortunate souls to have a late night class.

But, it seemed that the night wasn't a completely better version of Kennedy Plaza, since it was a very mild version of what people imagined, I saw one homeless man asking for money, and even I felt a little more in uncomfortable while I sat there staring at people and writing about them.  But one person absolutely disgusted me with their behavior, but at first it seemed fine, almost good: he approached somebody waiting for the bus and asked if they could spare two dollars so that he could go visit his daughter with her mother.  At first it was a little heart warming, and if the person he asked hadn't given him money then I would have.  But I looked around while there were no students since the bus had just left, and there was the same man asking more people for money, with what I was assuming was the same fake story, but I couldn't hear this time, and my stomach turned as I saw another person give him "bus fare to see his daughter".

But that's mainly all of the difference between day and night, I still didn't get stabbed or robbed, so it isn't half as bad as people believe it to be.  So I hope that half way through this fieldstudy I am started to change some people's minds about Kennedy Plaza and public transportation in general!

First Day on the Site

Now that I've had my first chance to really observe my field without being in a rush to catch my bus or anything, I'd like to reflect on what I think about them.  Mainly, I would like to highlight what surprised me the most, what most interested me and what I was uncomfortable with.

First, what surprised me the most was when I was approached by somebody that recognized me, since everybody else was so isolated.  I didn't understand why he felt so comfortable approaching me yet not anybody else, considering that him and I didn't talk much the one time that we met on campus.  Also it struck me as odd that he would approach me even though I was working in my notebook and looking around at the time, seemingly busy.

Next, I was intrigued by the concept of using headphones and music as a way to cut yourself off from those around you.  Since the bus stop in theory should be a pretty sociable place with everybody trying to get to the same place for mostly the same reasons, but instead people would rather be alone and listening to music, something they could be doing when they are actually alone.

Lastly, I was disgusted by the lack of conversation while people were waiting for the bus.  All of the people packed so tightly together should have been utter chaos with people trying to talk, picture a classroom or a small get together with friends, but instead it is desolate aside from a few friends whispering.

If you have yet to notice the reoccurring theme, the thing that stuck out to me the most in every way was the social environment at the bus stop, or rather the lack there of.  While watching the drab silence and people staring at their phones, I kept trying to think of reasons or excuses why not one person wanted to talk to the other, and I realized that it's a lot more obvious looking from a distance than when you are also waiting for a bus.

Who am I?

Before I take you on a virtual tour of place that you may have never been to, or at least never actively studied, I think it would be best for me to introduce myself and say a little bit about me. I'm Ryan Santana, half Puerto Rican, and 18 year old freshmen student at Rhode Island College that has lived his whole life rarely leaving Johnston. I get good enough grades to be considered an honor student, but I can be a bit lazy at times because I tend to procrastinate assignments a lot. Also, I come from a middle to upper middle class, single parent family with a brother and a sister. Lastly, and most importantly, I like to try to mix a bit of creativity and entertainment into my writing, so I hope you enjoy what you see!

Now, why am I telling you this? Simply put, because everything about me and how I grew up can potentially affect how I perceive or describe my fieldsite. Since everybody is different and can see two vastly different things in the same picture, I hope to tell you about my biases before I take over to be your eyes.
In my opinion, the thing which I believe is going to affect my view the most, is my race. Since “National research shows that minority populations use transit to a much higher extent than non-minority populations.” Since I'm half Hispanic, I will be able to easily blend into this subculture. On the other hand, since I was 5 years old, I was raised by my Mother and two older siblings, who are Caucasian, and went to a predominantly Italian high school. So through socialization I may have a slightly different perspective than other riders.

The same study also says that lower income households use public transit much more commonly, which makes me an outlier in the group because I come from a family that more than gets by. I take the bus simply because it's easier than getting a ride and I never had the initiative to get my license, not because it is a necessity. Also, I am way under the age of average riders, so again that can make my observations different with all of the recent advances in technology and the change between generations.



But I hope after all this you still allow me to be your electronic tour guide through Kennedy Plaza and teach you the truth about Rhode Island's public transportation system. Sorry for the more serious mood of this post, we have to get all of the background information out of the way before we can start having fun, but I have something fun to share to make up for it.  In my freshmen honors class, we passed around our paper so that our classmates had a chance to share their ideas or assumptions of what the people were like in our fieldsite, enjoy reading their thoughts!

Also, if you've ever heard anything about or been to Kennedy Plaza, please, feel free to talk about it in the comments.

The Vital Metaphor

I just want to make a quick post to introduce you all to my Field, I chose Kennedy Plaza.  It stands as the major bus terminal for every bus in Rhode Island and is also in the center of many important business buildings with its own miniature park.  Every day and night countless people pass through this station usually to transfer from one bus to the next and rarely say a word to each other.  Even though it always sounds loud on a macro scale, individually it almost seems as if nobody is talking since they don't interact.

I also want to share with you all why I consider it to be The Heart of Rhode Island.  It is the beginning and end of bus routes that go all over state, the veins if you will.  With each bus holding numerous people all with different tasks to carry, some making sure that the city as a whole operates, like workers, the red and white blood cells in the veins.  So without this station and these buses, it would seem that the whole state would shutdown since the people can't get to where they need to be, sounds vital, doesn't it?