Blog Post 2

My friend and I went to a park to watch people and describe and interpret perception. We wrote down the descriptions and actual real things that were occurring and interpretations of what was happening. While most of the things that we wrote had strong similarities, there were interesting differences that came up.

Example 1:

Description:

Me:

• Two people holding hands, a man wearing blue shirt and black shorts, woman wearing hoodie and pants
• Smiling and talking to each other
• Walking on the pathway in the park

Friend:

• Man in blue shirt, late 20's, bright socks and shoes. Woman late 20's, yoga pants, gray long-sleeved shirt and black North Face vest
• Walking and holding hands, appear to be dating

Interpretation:

Me:

• They seem to be happy together
• Seem to be fit and getting their regular exercise in

Friend:

• Seem to be happy

Parking lot:

Friend:

• While they seem happy, they do not seem married or engaged based on the way that they were only casually walking

Example 2:

Description:

Me:

• Two younger girls, probably around 8 years old, playing soccer
• They are smiling and running around
• One girl is wearing a green shirt and black pants and has lighter hair and one is in a white tank top and jeans with dark hair
• Running and playing well with each other

Friend:

• Two young females playing soccer
• One wearing a white shirt and black pants, the other an olive shirt with black pants

Interpretation:

Me:

• They seem to be friends, maybe family members
• Active and healthy kids, maybe playing sports on a regular basis

Friend:

• They do not appear to be keeping score or be athletic
• They are happy and having fun

Parking lot:

Me:

• If they are family, they appear to be cousins
• The parents seem to be very engaged in what they are doing and should pay more attention to the girls

Example 3:

Description:

Me:

• A man, woman, and a dog
• He is wearing khakis, a striped shirt, and a dark blue jacket. She is in jeans and a blue jacket
• They are maybe mid to late 50's and are casually walking

Friend:

• Man and woman around 40 years old
• They are walking slowly
• They have a dog with them
• Man is in khakis and a nice jacket, woman in jean jacket and black pants

Interpretation:

Me:

• They appear to be a couple, maybe married
• Appear to come to the park often and are familiar with the area

Friend:

• Walking slowly, as if they don't know where they are going or they don't walk at the park very often
• Their clothes look nice and they seem to be upper-middle class

Parking lot:

Me:

• Walking slowly and are not talking much, which makes it seem as though they have been married or in a relationship for awhile

Friend:

• Married and happy together
• Trying to be healthier 

In general, my friend and I have similar backgrounds, making our impressions of things alike in a lot of ways. I discovered that when I am noticing things, I pay a lot of attention to the things that people wear. Because I have a religion and certain values, that also influences the way that I see people. While I try to let my personal beliefs affect me in only positive ways, I should try to not let them affect me at all. My first impression is often tainted by my past experiences and I should work on allowing my first impression to have no influence on how I view people.