Chaos like a Colony of Ants in the Modern Jungle

Week 5 Observations

As I walk in on a sunny Saturday afternoon, the Modern Jungle is packed with more people than I have seen in the last few weeks. The halls are filled with noises of every kind from the cries of small children to laughter and chatting. It’s hard to hone in and focus on one person so much because so many things are happening. Nearly every table in the feeding whole is flooded full of families, children, friends, elderly, and couples. The booths in the middle of the walkways are surrounded by more people than usual and business is popping in nearly every store.

            The time goes on and the walkways clear up a little as some people begin to leave, but it is still quite packed. The feeding hole, however, has died down and most of the tables are empty despite a few groups here and there chatting or going through their bag of purchased goods. A huge sale is going on in Bee & Buzz Body Works and several people (mostly women, a couple men with women here and there) are hovering around the items inside the store, taking advantage the money they can save on scented shampoos, lotions, body washes, and the works. Many older woman seem interested in the lotions and soaps as I have seen at least three or four already buy the package deal of 4 soaps for a little over $20 or 3 lotions for $10. One woman spontaneously made her way over as I was looking at the candles and started conversing with me. She asked me a few questions and told me countless time about how much she loved this store and I laughed and told her I felt the same. Then she whispered too me as if she were sharing a secret, “It’s best to buy these things when they’re having a sale like this. You get the super expensive stuff for super cheap”. Then it dawned on me, I hardly ever see women her age in this store unless they are having a sale such as this. These older women seem to have budget strategies or they are more aware of money and how they want to spend it.

 Walking down towards the Honey Bee Bookstore I pass quite a few people, among them were about three elderly couples (all of about 60-70 years old) trolling along. Both the man and the woman from the first couple has brown hair and I heard a southern accent as the woman asked which store he would like to go to. The next couple was of Hispanic culture which was reflected in their choice of clothing and the woman’s dark, braided hair. There seems to be much diversity in culture and race every time I visit; the Modern Jungle provides an environment in which many different cultures can find purpose/harmony in eating food, socializing, and/or shopping together.

            The last thing I notice is the Lioness creature again for the third time charging the halls of the Jungles. A radio in one hand and files in the other, she swiftly makes her way through the crowds of people and walks towards a door in which she disappears. This week she seemed a lot stressed and more carefree as she smiled and had a little jump in her step.