There is a norm that in the mall you shop, walk and sit, you don’t lay down, you don’t read a book. You are there for a purpose and those things are more reserved for home or the library. The mall is the wrong place and context to do homework and lay down on the bench. So in order to violate this norm, I went to work an hour early and just laid down on the benches and read my textbooks. I was alternating positions from laying down, putting my feet on arm of the bench, etc. much like I would do at home.
At first it was really hard to bring myself to lay down on the bench. I was really concerned about what other people would say and I was embarrassed to break this social norm. But once I did it, it was easier to keep doing it. I was still embarrassed each time someone walked by though. I felt really awkward as well.
When I first laid down, I was pretending to read my textbook, but I was watching the reactions of the other people around me. Most people stared at me and gave me dirt looks. They gave me the “what is that girl doing” look. If they were with someone else, they usually whispered to the other person to look at me. If I made eye contact with anyone, they looked away and pretend like they were looking at something else. The best reaction I got though was from a mother with about three kids. Her kids asked her if she wanted them to sit down on the bench. Then she saw me and said “yes, we’ll sit down on the bench, but not on this monkey bench” indicating to her children to not sit by me. It was really funny. I could tell by how I was feeling and other people’s reactions that something as simple as laying down and reading my textbook in the mall is definitely socially unacceptable.
Social Experience Blog 