This Week's Assignment: People Watching

Trafton B.

January 31, 2010 - 8:00 PM

If you're wondering what I mean by people watching, it's exactly what it sounds like. The latest assignment for my ELP class was to observe group dynamics. Understanding what ingredients make for a good group is essential in implementing any successful lesson and creating a positive learning environment in the classroom. So, our mission was to find a public place and, for lack of a better word, spy on a group of people for 20 minutes or so. It reminded me how much fun the local Eugene crowd is.

I've seen some memorable people in my years at the U of O. There are the well-known campus characters like Frog, the portly bearded fellow that sells his personal joke books outside of the Blue Heron bike shop on 13th Avenue. There are the two Jesus Freaks in the amphitheater: one that preaches with his trusty canine sidekick and the other guy, Doug, who stands quietly with his Jesus U and Trust Jesus Christ signs.

My personal favorites are the self-proclaimed canners that roam the tailgating area around Autzen and occasionally down in the alleyway outside my house for recyclables. The Workout Bum (a name given by my roommates and me), does his same routines of pushups and squats every other morning outside the apartment complex across the street before he raids the recycling bin, although we haven't seen him in a while, and the couple that rides side by side with their matching beat-up bike trailers full of cans and bottles.

My friend has reported seeing a man in a gorilla suit walking around offering bananas to all those that acknowledge his presences. Everyone knows the guy who rides his bike making his disgust for LTD known to anyone within earshot. Just today I saw an elderly man in the library reading something off of a computer monitor while wearing tinted ski goggles. And I witnessed a girl nearly being run over by a unicyclist (an unicyclist?). Either way he had stellar balance. But back to the present.

First, I sat down at my favorite coffee shop, Cafe Roma, for a few hours this afternoon. I needed a place where I could be at least partially outside to enjoy more of the bizarrely temperate weather we've been experiencing, so Roma's backyard patio was the perfect place. The normal crowd wasn't out this afternoon, most likely because were all in the library right now preparing for the upcoming midterms week. I bided my time reading the 2004 Oregon Strategy for Greenhouse Gas Reduction and chatting with friends, but I finally headed out to a spot guaranteed to provide ample people watching opportunities.

The Erb Memorial Union Fishbowl. For those that don't know, the Fishbowl made a well-known cameo in the cult classic, Animal House. Although I've never witnessed an all out food fight, the Fishbowl is always a lively place no matter what day of the week. I was lucky enough to catch a group of four students recapping one of their lectures in preparation for a midterm I assume. I chuckled when the conversation evolved from studying to ragging on another student that didn't show up. It's so easy to get sidetracked when studying in a group sometimes. It was a nice discussion. I kind of wanted to be a part of it. That's not creepy if its in the name of education, right?