An Urban Ethnography
Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies 4.1 (2008)
ISSN 1557-2935
Renee Human
University of Kentucky
Field notes and photos
deflection at the door field notes
November 11 , 2006
transit station
...After a few interviews at the transit station, I decide it’s time to ride the Northside route. At the transit center and on the buses I have ridden I have not seen a single issue related to skin color. However, friends that know each other tend to keep to each other and many of those groups are ethnically homogenous. Ideally, I’d blend into the background. This will be a little harder to do. I approach the bus and the driver takes one look at me offering my ID to him and he says, “I think you want 3S, not 3N. Are you heading to UK? That bus is right over there.” Of course, I can’t say, “No, I’m getting on this bus to observe interactions among your riders,” so I lamely say, “yes”.
I head home; taking the very bus to which I’ve just been referred. [aside: The wind has been knocked out of my sails. I’m going to have to think through this one.]