Musings: The Beginning

Here's the deal: I offer introspection on various and sundry topics, you give feedback, and eventually I compile the entries into some kind of volume that makes people laugh.

So, first topic: Seating in Public:

This one has bugged me since high school when I first started to going to church with any regularity. Everyone had free range to choose seats, from the front row to the balcony (yes, it was a big-ass church).

After a few months, I noticed a pattern. Cappuccino and doughnut people sat in the balcony, and upward-palmed hand-wavers sat in the first couple rows. Week in and week out, people occupied the same seats according to their worship comfort level.

The phenomenon continues in college. Eager hand-raisers / forceful answerers stick together like they're in their own gravitational field. But what's more, people sit in relation to familiar students.

I usually sit in the fifth row, left side in Anthropology 120. The outdoorsy-fratty guy sits in front of me, the annoying person who comes late (and always walks over me even though there are plenty of open seats) sits to my left, and the girl who looks like a sunken-eyed skeleton with skin sits two rows in front of me. That's just the way it is.

But if I choose to sit two rows closer in the third row, they all follow suit and sit in the same relative position. They all look really confused and uncomfortable for a minute. They all get on with class as usual, except for the kink I threw into the system.

But I'll be damned if at least one of them doesn't get there before me the next class period and sit in their "rightful" seat, putting everyone else back in their place.

I'm not sure why this occurs, but allow me to speculate:
1. It helps them pay attention better by having the same perspective of the board every day. I doubt this, but it's worth investigating. Some people swear by their habits; I prefer to move around a bit to alleviate the tedious nature of a 10 a.m. lecture.

2. People are no better than sheep (or cows, or other herd-able organisms). We shamelessly follow crowds, even for something as trivial as seating, because of mob mentality - or sheer laziness.

3. My personal favorite: Sitting in the same place in a big room makes you invisible. You'd assume the teacher would begin to recognize students; no, it's like being assigned a number. They might notice a gap on a slow day, but not enough to pinpoint the skipper. It's safety in numbers at its finest.

This is a small gripe, and not a very funny one, but they'll get better. I promise.