Popularity Contest
Think about eating lunch at school. You probably have your own table, and your own group of friends that you sit and talk with. You have your own designated area. Most people do.
But have you ever tried to breach the boundaries?
A few years ago, some friends and I attempted this social experiment to see what would happen. Instead of taking our usually seats, we decided to sit with the popular people.* We positioned ourselves at the very end of the table and waited.
*This reference shouldn’t be stereotypical. Not all people exhibit the behavior that these girls did.
I couldn’t believe what I heard. They greeted each other with some sort of profranity. It got worse when the other girls sat down. They tried to ignore our presence by SHOVING US OFF THE BENCH. They couldn’t fit in the rest of their posse, so they had to get rid of us. Eventually it got to the point where we had to call one of the lunch aides (the people that dismissed you) over. She pointed out that since we had arrived their first, we were allowed to sit there. They relocated.
The next time we came to lunch, they presided over a different table. I was surprised. My conclusion was this: People like the hierarchy they have. Try to mess with it, and things could get ugly.
We never went over there again. We didn’t need to, and personally, I didn’t really like being in their company. I wasn’t fond of competing in their popularity contest again.
February 20th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I think this is so true. people think they are so good and they just cant get that out of there mind. They think they are good and all the other people suck. But whatever if they want to be all cool tthen let them do that. i say we should be able to be freinds with every one but some people make that impossible.