The Modern Jungle

Week 1 Observations
As I walk into the Modern Jungle from one of multiple entrances, I enter the Honey Bear book store and walk toward the exit which leads to a walkway that ends on the other side of the jungle. A Stargaze coffee shop is positioned on the right side of the store in which the smell of coffee and sweetness fill the air. I exit the book store and walk to the other side of the jungle, observing people as I do so. The air seems thinner here and smells of dust and different spices and foods from the feeding hole. It is a Thursday afternoon and I am interested in observing what type of people come to the jungle during this time, what type of social interactions occur, and what age groups are present.

Once exiting the store, I search the surroundings and approach a sitting area in which a woman, probably in her 40s, is sitting alone and playing on her phone. She is wearing large sunglasses which don’t allow me to read her expressions very well. She is holding a few full bags from different stores. As I sit down, she does not seem to acknowledge my presence and continues to play on her phone so I continue to observe other interactions occurring. The sun is shining directly on us from two large windows up towards the ceiling, creating an emphasis of light and warmth. However, as I begin to walk onward, I notice there are other spaces in the ceiling which have similar windows allowing light to shine directly to a specific spot. Dim lights illuminate the rest of the areas creating a darker and calmer mood.

It seems that, within the crowd, there are multiple age groups from toddlers to 75 years of age or older. It is hard to determine a person’s age, so therefore I will simply assume a general age group in which they can be in. In addition to age, there are vast differences in body type, race, gender, style, and overall presentation of oneself. Small children and toddlers purposely try to attract attention from many of those around them. As I continue walking, a 3-year-old is ahead of me between a man and a woman, most likely in their mid-20s, who are presumably his parents. He stares at me from behind, smiles, waves, and embarrassingly turns his head when I smile back. Generally, I have noticed other teenagers around my age (17-19) seem to be anti-social and unaware of their surroundings. For example, a couple of teenage girls pass by me and stare for a brief moment, so I smile, but they react back to me by simply turning their heads and returning to their conversation… “I’m getting better about spending my money”.

Due to these differences in characters, they each act differently, especially since they do not know they are being observed. A lively older woman of about 70 briskly walks by me and smiles. She has a glowing aura as she waves and says, “Hi Pretty girl! It’s so good to be young and pretty!” My cheeks begin to blush from such a kind complement and my immediate reaction is to simply thank her as she waves goodbye. While she seems to be much more experienced, friendly, and consistent in her actions, others, such as many of the teenagers I have been observing, are wandering around with no clear direction as to where they want or need to go and for no identifiable amount of time.

While walking back towards the other end through which I came in, I notice many of the similar people, which I had passed, acting and performing similarly as observed before. Overall, what struck me the most was the large amount of older people (60s-80s) which were present. It made me realize they must have experienced an unexpected change in life from working or going about their life in a different manner to sitting at The Jungle for the afternoon. These people seem to be very aware of their surroundings as they ponder and observe those around them. Later on, I hope to focus on this specific age group in comparison to others.