Breaking Norms

Imagine a society where people are rude; there are no laws, no rules, and everyone can do as they please without considering anyone else. I am not just talking about the laws and rules that government officials and authority figures have put into place or the morals that are imprinted on our brain as we grow. What I am talking about are folkways. The informal, common norms that keep society running smoothly. Most of these folkways are carried out everyday without even realizing it. It is common courtesy when a person is entering an establishment to hold the door open for the person behind them. There is no law that says it is required, but it is natural for most people to hold the door open for the person behind them. They do not even have to necessarily hold the door and let that person go before them, but just make sure that the door does not slam in their face.

Before doing this experiment with breaking a folkway I was extremely nervous. The thought of slamming a door in someones face, or even just not having the common courtesy to hold it open made me very uncomfortable. I did not like the feeling of knowing that I was going to intentionally be rude to another human being. After someone has had a door swing shut in their face I would expect negative reactions. Therefore, I was expecting nothing more than dirty looks, snippy remarks, rolling eyes, and possibly the exchanging of a few heated sentences. My expectations were exceeded.

My first interaction happened when I was walking into the Boca Raton Center Mall. Person One was a mother with two young kids. I was walking closely in front of her up to the mall entrance. As soon as I approached it I opened the doors, slipped myself through the doorway and then quickly made sure the door slapped back in front of her. Person One gave me an extremely dirty look that included eye rolls and grabbing her children closer to her. She mumbled under her breath something about "rude, arrogant, inconsiderate teenagers". Person Two was a young high school girl carrying 4 bags full of new clothing and shoes. As I walked through the door again I made sure that the door slammed right in front of her face. The door shutting in front of her face caused one her bags to actually fall. Person Two gave me a look that said "I am really pissed off right now!". When I did not turn around to open the door for her or help pick up her bag that had fallen she proceeded to follow me and called me names such as "Bitch" and making rude remarks such as "Okay let the door slam on my face, you stupid hoe". After that encounter I continued to slam doors in other people's faces. My next victim (Person 3) was an elderly man. As I slammed the door on his face he seemed to be nothing but startled. He opened the door and just kept walking without giving me a second look. Although, the old man said nothing, another man that had witnessed me slam the