saying thank you

[lockholm]

As I cross on crosswalks, I'll often thank the stopped drivers with a wave or a salute. On a number of occasions (in which Bo and I are in the same location, so a finite number :P) this has prompted a discussion about thanking people when they do something that they are supposed to do or even required by law to do. I recognize that drivers are

Comments

Re: The Social Contract

[math_avenger]

So do I understand that you are exploring the ways in which the status quo is maintained? I definitely agree that there are cultural constructs of "normal" that play a huge role in constraining individual expression. And the little rewards that are given for maintaining that status quo are legion. I feel this is particularly the case for people who are socially awkward (while I'm sure it's probably true for all people, I am most acquainted with this construct in boys/men). There's a huge pressure to be liked, but it is hard for the socially awkward. A way to try to get an "in" is to employ some of the many stock phrases/insults (e.g. "check out that fag", "([a-z]+)-er? I hardly know her") to garner laughs/acceptance. Sadly, I feel that so much of our society isolates people and doesn't let them realize that other people are people, too.

Regarding gentrification, it also depends on how the would be gentrifiers view the people already there. As an anecdote: After the San Francisco Fire, much of Chinatown was destroyed. A lot of developers wanted to come in and build on the prime downtown property, but there was (understandably) intense resistance from the Chinatown residents. To keep the developers at bay, the Chinese residents brought in non-Asian-American architects to rebuild Chinatown in a way that European-Americans would find pleasing. Whence was born the current San Francisco Chinatown: the developers and their ilk loved the new Chinatown (the quaintness, the Otherness, the "exotic"-ness, the "Oritental"-ness, or some combination of all of them), so they let the residents stay. Sadly, the Chinatown is having its residents bought out to make way for stores and businesses. Gentrification "wins" again.