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Fordham University Observation

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Going to Fordham University, I’ve always heard about the student friendly bars located nearby campus. I figured the colorful social dynamic at these bars would make for important observations that I couldn’t pass up. The Friday night ritual of going to the bars sounded as if it had its own mythos, with police raids replacing great floods and bouncers replacing riddle-making sphinxes. As such, I decided to leave campus on a Friday at around 11 pm to go to an area with multiple bars that were known to admit Fordham students under the age of 21. Essentially, I observed the act of “going out”. On the way to the bars I noticed a large, but hard to spot, exchange of people, ideas and even items. Most people moved in large flocks that tended to fuse and split spontaneously. There were parallel floods of students going out and returning home. From what I heard while eavesdropping, some students told others about what lay ahead--for instance, ”cover charges” at bars, or people they weren’t fond of--and others about …show more content…

What appeared to be the main bar was situated on a corner, while two other ones were to adjacent to each other on the next block and on the opposite side of the street. I focused my attention on the more important bar on the street corner. It comprised the first floor of a rugged, two story brick building. A long line of students, starting at the open door of the bar, snaked along the front of the building and around the sidewalk on its left side. I got in line and waited about five minutes to get up to the door. This was perhaps the most critical part of “going out”. Once it was my turn to enter the bar, I was approached by the bouncer. He was a tall, barrel-chested man with a wisp of hair on his head and a crooked nose. I showed this man my license. He nodded upon seeing the year “1996”, accepting my age as good enough, and proceeded to pat me down to make sure I didn’t have any drinks on

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