My Norm Violations

Every day of our lives we are expected to maintain certain behaviors. Our behaviors are constantly being observed by those around us. Whether we are at work, school, or even at a family gathering people are observing us. Every setting has different expectations for the behaviors we should have. For example, at work we are expected to behave in a professional manner and to greet customers politely. While at a family gathering it is more acceptable to joke around and be yourself. These behaviors of our everyday lives are known as Norms. “Norms define how we behave in accordance with what a society has defined as good, right, and important, and most members of a society adhere to them” (OpenStax, 58). There are various ways to violate these Norms.
That day I got off work at 4:30 p.m. This was the perfect time to do my Norm Violations because many people are coming in to visit after they get off. Or as well as many people are getting off work from there departments at Floyd. I walked over to the nearest elevator, got on, and sat down. I still had my scrubs on so everyone who got on knew I worked there. People soon started getting on the elevator as well. While sitting down on the elevator floor, many of the reactions I received were good mixture of both positive and negative ones. The first person that said something to me was an older gentleman. He saw me sitting down and smiled and asked me if I had a long day at work. I replied yes and he just laughed and said he hoped my day would get better. After the gentleman got off a few more people got on and most of them gave me a weird look. There were two young girls who, I’m assuming were friends, laughed and one of them even took a picture of me. I was very tempted to pose and smile when she took the picture, but I had to maintain my character. My favorite reaction was by a little 3-year-old girl who got on with her dad. The dad smiled at me and the little girl laughed and asked me why I was sitting down. I told her I was tired and had a long day at work today. The little girl sat down beside me and told me she was tired too. Her dad responded by saying they too had a very long day. I asked them why and the little girl said because her little brother was born that day and that they had been at the hospital all day. After the little girl and her dad got off I decided it was time to switch it