Crowded Travel!

The best example of the Romantic in Action for me (which is clearly not universal as you can see from the pictures and obviously several ‘structures of feeling’ is my twenty minute bus ride from on the campus connector from East Bank to St. Paul heading over my for my night class. I feel like in this brief encounter in a confined space with several strangers, you can still learn a lot about their life without initiating conversation or direct interaction. My structure of feeling during this trip is relaxed and intrigued while most of the people around me are fatigued and annoyed. I look forward to this trip because I think it is fascinating to learn about people through their actions and reactions in a personal spaceless place. I would assume most people don’t think twice about this fascinating simple trip that they take each day and only look at it as a means of transportation.

So why is this trip romantic and make me feel so interested in the people around me? Think about when you have an open seat next to you and had placed your bag there so no one would sit next to you. Who do you move it for? Why don’t you move it for? Did a cute guy or a cute girl walk on the bus and you simultaneously shifted your bag onto your lap? Did an older person hobble onto the bus and needed a place to sit so you decided to stand instead? On the contrary, did someone of a different race or gender or whatever walk by and you didn’t even touch your bag to move it out of the way? These are all mini romantic stories constantly happening right in front of us. The gentlemen that allows the girl to walk off the bus first. The dedicated student who reads a textbook during the extra twenty minutes she has to stay on top of her homework load. The jerk that likes to talk on their cell phone during the whole ride at an extremely loud volume oblivious to the whole world around. The puzzler who likes to finish the crossword in the newspaper so he doesn’t have to think about school for twenty minutes of his day. I could go on and on about the stereotypes and representatives of our society that makes up this short meaningful bus ride.

Culture does structure feelings; I feel differently and react differently to situations just based on watching others and seeing their reactions. When someone moves over to allow me to take a seat, I feel good about myself and I appreciate that other person. Next time, I will move over and make someone else feel good and appreciated. The most romantic part of the trip is that it is never the same twice! Each ‘episode’ brings on new characters, new twists, and new acquaintances.

This romantic example argues that our everyday life is ROMANTIC! Your life can be romantic if you take the time to look around. It doesn’t have to be found in a two-hour movie or during the perfect date or even creating a perfect life. Romance can structure our positive feelings even during the simple pieces of time that gets us from A to B. Enjoy the car ride home, enjoy the airplane flight, enjoy the bus ride to your next class. This example gives you the opportunity to watch people when they are temporary bound in the vehicle and truly watch their communication with the strangers around them. We are all social structures of society and how we interact with each other builds the foundation of our social construction.