There
goes the first week. So far, I’ve handed out four cards and, surprise-surprise,
no callbacks. In defense of these people, maybe they weren’t as lonely as they
looked at the time, and I did hand them all out in the last three days. But, it’s
only the first week, and I’m only at four cards, so we’ll see how things go
from here. I don’t have enough data yet to start generalizing about anything,
so that will have to wait a week or so.
Only
one of the reactions so far could be considered noteworthy. When I hand someone
a card, I don’t elaborate; I tell them that I’m doing a project for a Civic
Life class, and offer to go to lunch with them or get coffee or something of
that nature. The first two people were polite, if not a bit curt, and went
about their merry way. The third guy brought up a good point though. After
giving him my little introduction, he said “Am I allowed to know what this
project is about?” I realized that this could be a bit of a road block; after
all, I don’t want to be telling these people “Well, you look like a lonely
sad-sack, so consider me your lucky day,” because frankly, that may be how some
people would perceive things. I played it off, telling him that it’s an experiment
to see who calls back, and he didn’t push the point further. In the future though, maybe I should be
prepared for this sort of thing.
I’m starting
to pick up on things that I haven’t thought about before, for instance, iPods.
There were a few people that would walk by or be sitting around, looking like a
perfect mark, and I would get halfway to them and realize they had earbuds in
their head. While it wouldn’t be impossible to get their attention, it would at
least seem a little rude. How would you feel if someone approached you with
this experiment while you were listening to an MP3 player? I myself wouldn’t
care, but then again, I haven’t used my iPod since July. It makes me wonder
what people are missing around them when they opt to listen to their iPod
everywhere.
So that’s
what I’ve picked up in my first week. Hopefully I’ll get some responses by next
Thursday so I have a little more to write about. In the meantime, feel free to
ask questions or, even better, to comment on how you think this experiment
could be modified for the better.
I'm so anxious for someone to call you back! One thing you might try is instead of only giving them the option to call you, giving them your email, maybe? I know this adds another (less personal) element to the experiment, but it might be something to try if you still get no calls back after another week or two.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, can you give us a little background on the people you give the cards to? I'm interested to know what they were doing when you approached them.
Wow, I cant wait for next week to see if anyone has called. I feel like someone will defnitely call soon, expecially since you are telling them its for a class, I know I would. Maybe you should even try sitting for a little longer and trying to make conversation so that they know you a little better. Some people may be hesitant to call because its somewhat awkward having coffee or lunch with someone they dont know at all.
ReplyDeleteThis is a hyterical experiment. I would call you back.
ReplyDeleteAs far as convincing people to call you back, maybe offer to pay for coffee? Lunch can get kind of expensive. But honestly, I will be very surprised if someone does give you a ring. People are not exactly open to things that seem strange or out of the ordinary.
I agree with Jeremy that offereing to treat them to a cup of coffee or a sandwich might just do the trick. I think this is a great idea, and a very interesting one at that. I'm excited to see how this plays out.
ReplyDeleteAt least you gave it a try. Keep giving out cards, I'm positive someone will give you a call back. You can also try speaking to them for a bit and giving them a brief insight into your project before giving them your card. They will probably feel better calling you back if they knew more about you and what you are trying to achieve.
ReplyDeleteI've thought about the email thing, and I agree that someone would certainly be more comfortable and likely to call me back if I conversed with them a little first. My reservation is that I really want to test how far out on a limb people will go; having to actually call really shows cajones on their part. Paying for their coffee is a good idea, but I wouldn't want to TELL them I would buy their coffee. After all, I want to see who calls back for the social interaction, not the people who call back for a free hot beverage. But thank you all for the input!!
ReplyDeleteAnd also, if they don't know much about me, they're REALLY going out on a limb, so if I don't tell them much and they call me back, they really deserve that free coffee.
DeleteYou have a good point about how the whole experiment is about how far out of their comfort zone people can get, but I think you should also take into consideration that you are handing out cards to people who you perceive as "loners", for lack of a better term, and those tend to be the type of people that wouldn't just go out on a limb like that. Although there are always exceptions.
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