Reflection On Breaking The Elevator Norm

When I walked in, everyone was very welcoming and nice. Many people stared at me intensely

Of course I was freaking out, thinking to myself, “Why are people staring at me? Is this normal? Ahh! What do I do? Keep

The way I violated this norm was for the entirety of a day I would either look straight down or straight up when talking to someone. By doing this it would prevent me from making eye contact thus breaking the norm.

As stated earlier, this experiment completely proved my hypothesis wrong. Many of the people that rode the elevator with me stared at me as though there were something wrong with me. Most were uncomfortable and fidgety and kept looking over their shoulder at me as they rode forward, and me, backwards. More than a few asked if I was alright and even asked my friend, who was acting as if he did not know me, knew what was was wrong. I even conducted a few controlled experiments where I rode the elevator forward to see if people would react to me then, but not a single person outside of the experiment even acknowledged my existence. I would have thought that in a place like L.A. County, people would be too busy to notice others, or people would have been raised to mind their own business and keep to themselves, but apparently abiding my social standards and making sure that others do as well is a higher priority.

For my breaching social norm experiment I was determined to do something I would never do even if it was a dare, especially since my ability to interact with strangers is not the best. So, I decided to make people feel uncomfortable by holding their hand. What I would do is walk up to the person from behind and slowly make my way to their hand to make them feel even more uncomfortable. People normally hold hands with their significant other, or with someone they know like a friend or family member, so to be holding hands with a stranger is out of the ordinary and awkward.

I was able to check the patient in a systemic order and to make her feel comfortable around me allowing openness and honesty about medical conditions. I responded to the patient in a professional way as to not make her feel uncomfortable and to represent myself as a professional. The patient felt very comfortable with me during the interview, I had asked her upon completion if I was professional and if she felt comfortable. She said that I was very gentle in examining her and that she was very comfortable speaking to me. During the examination there were moment when the patient and I had light conversation, as I did not want the experience to feel cold and calculated. She showed me picture of her family and the books that she loves to

My day started off pretty well. I am familiar with 3C because my mom is a nurse on that floor. I found the respiratory therapists’ lounge without a problem. I walked in with one of the respiratory therapists and she told me that they all were expecting me, and thanked me for coming on time. I sat in on their meeting, which they do every morning at the beginning of their shift. In the meeting, they went over hospital regulations and reminders on how to use certain devices correctly so there are no errors. Also, they went over hand hygiene. Over all, the respiratory therapists averaged to a 95% of washing their hands in and out of a patient’s room. The manager stated that some of them were only at 50% though. Honestly, that grossed me out. I am a germaphobe. I always have been

At around 6:30 on Wednesday, March 9th, my group and I headed over to the HCMC to conduct our ethnographic research. We had to park about a block away from the doors since we didn’t have any type of parking pass and that was the closest public parking. When we entered at first, we entered through the wrong entrance, which was intended only for emergency medical personnel. A

For my breaching social norm experiment, I was determined to do something I would never do even if it was a dare, especially since my ability to interact with strangers is not what I consider advanced. So, I decided to make people feel uncomfortable by holding their hand. What I would do is walk up to the person from behind and slowly make my way to their hand to make them feel even more uncomfortable. People normally hold hands with their significant other, or with someone they know, like a friend or family member, so to be holding hands with a stranger is infrequent and abnormal.

Self-awareness is another important aspect to consider during this stage. I try to prepare myself for the encounter with a patient by clearing my mind from any distractions/stresses caused by previous consultations, so that I can focus entirely on the new patient. Walsh, Crumbie and Reveley (2004) explain that consultations can be stressful and emotionally draining and, in a busy clinical environment, it is easy to hang on to charged emotions from a previous encounter. Kaufman (2008) agrees that before the patient arrives in the room the practitioner should deal with, or at least acknowledge any negative feelings or stress.

1.What social norm did you select for your breaching experiment? The social norm that we selected for our breaching experiment was invading people’s personal space and creating an instant intimacy with a stranger by saying “I love you” at the end of a short conversation. To breach the norm we conducted a social experiment where we initiated conversations with 16 men and women aged 20+ of different ethnicities to test out their reactions. The reason I chose this social norm is because I have observed that people do not interact with people who don't fit our personal social criteria.

My experiment consisted of me asking strangers, on the streets of Downtown Grand Rapids, for directions to Rosa Park’s Circle, and invading their personal space. To start, I would approach a stranger; tell them that I am lost, and that I am in need of directions to the Rosa Park’s Circle. As strangers began giving directions to me, I inched closer and closer to them. In addition to invading their personal space, I also held intense eye contact with them, trying my best not to blink. The whole time, although it was difficult, I kept a straight face while I performed my experiment. To make sure that I gathered enough information, and a variety of results, I tested my

This area includes behaviors such as observing facial characteristics, embracing, touching, or whispering. In situations where this space is invaded, such as in an elevator, people usually don’t make eye contact with other, much rather stare at a wall or a ceiling to avoid the awkwardness, or the invasion of the intimate space.

On Thursday the 9th, I worked with a patient who is a 74 years old male, with general weakness. His admitting diagnosis was caused by the metastasis of prostate cancer to the bone. Talking to the patient was an amazing experience for me because we liked the same thing such as the NBA. He told me that he was a lawyer and that all of his children are grown up and successful. He does a wife, who I did not see during my rotation. But, it was easy to talk to communicate with him. I have always had social anxiety growing up. Talking to people had always been my weakness because I was always worried about how people would perceive me when I talked. However, now that I have grown up, I learned to look past my social anxiety. I learned that from shutting my brain off that caused me overthink, facilitated me to

At the clinic, the nurse greeted me and attended to my registeration promptly. She informed me of the estimated waiting time and suggested to me that I could go for my breakfast nearby while waiting for my turn. Since I had my breakfast already, I chose to wait. I was warmly greeted by the doctor when I entered the consultation room. His room is simple and neat, there is also a large professonal certificate plaque hanging on the wall behind him. Unlike other doctors who would start by asking for my sickness, he started a friendly conversation to understand my basic background such as my school and my specialisation. It felt genuine