In my observation I chose to study affection at a Roller skating rink. I watched couples and many different groups of friends that were at the Roller City West. I wanted to figure out how people used different types of body language to communicate with peers or partners. I just sat in different areas “ on the phone” or doing “homework”, so that people wouldn’t get suspicious. I will protect their privacy by changing their names.
I expect to see people holding hands while skating, hugging when greeting each other, and sitting close to one another, knees touching and maybe one hand on a thigh. Also I expect to see a lot of eye contact and happy faces while they talk or skate together. I expect this because a roller rink is a perfect date idea for couples, and if you want to go out and have fun with a group of friends and/ or family. Also, a lot of people come into the rink to find a partner with the same passion as them!
On August 29, 2019, I started observing people at 8 pm. For the first 5 minutes I saw Elijah and Riley pushing each other around. They were blowing kisses at each other and Daniel. They were laughing a lot and Daniel was getting uncomfortable. He started to fake a smile and look around for an escape out of the conversation with them. Dawn and April were laughing and having conversations about their kids while they skated together. They were skating really close to each other and trying to read each other’s lips since the music was so loud. Also Beverly and Tom were skating side by side with Tom on the outside. They were holding hands and Tom must have been pretty funny because I don’t think I ever saw Beverly's smile go away.
Around 8:10 I noticed that Kiki put her skates on. I saw a long train of people (Ben, Caleb, April, Kiki, and Daniel) all shuffle skating to a song with a slow beat. They all were going very fast and their arms were swaying side by side. They all were in sync with each other and everyone of them were following Kiki’s feet. They kept their eyes on her feet the whole time to make sure they matched her foot work. There was a couple that were shuffle skating as well. But they were holding each other’s hands; with the guy in the back and the girl pushed up against him in front. They spun and did a lot of other things that the others weren’t. I also went around and asked to hold hands with Elijah, Riley, Tom, Caleb, Daniel, and Ben to see if they would put their hand in front, for sociology. Around 8:20, I started skating around trying to get a different perspective and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a couple sitting on the benches on the side of the rink; his arm was around her and her head was nuzzled into his shoulder. She also had her right leg on top of his left. It looked like they were holding hands but I soon realized they were either found at a thumb war or just fidgeting with each other’s fingers. A little after that Aaliyah requested “Red Nose”. Of course Kiki played it for her and for the whole 3 minutes or so all you could hear was two girls screaming the lyrics as they threw their arms up going around the rink. After the song ended they went to go get water and by the water fountain there’s a selfie mirror. They were facing the right and took a lot of postures with their tongues out and flipping the mirror off and a lot more poses. A couple came in around 8:30 but they looked nervous. Her hands were together and she walked slowly behind him. He glistened which I took as he was sweating a little bit from nerves. They got their skates and put them on. He seemed to know how to skate. Not the best but good enough to show off to her. They walked up to the rink and he turned around and started skating backwards. She stumbled a bit; she couldn’t find her balance. So he held his hands out and looked into her eyes with a big smile on his face. She went for his hands but right before she could grab on she fell onto her knees. I looked at the guy's face and I could tell he was trying so hard not to laugh. He kept it together though and helped her up. They talked a lot after they started skating together. The tension was gone between them. It was 8:49 and everyone started to take off their skates and head home. Kiki gave Anna a hug because she was tired and she was about to leave. At the end of the night when they closed all you heard was “Bye Kiki!”, “Bye Maggie!”,and “Bye Ben!”. Then the rink closed and Caleb wouldn’t stop messing with me. Poking my cheek, hitting me with an inflatable hammer, and kicking the back of my knees so I would fall.
The results of my observations and my hypothesis were almost the same. I knew there would be a lot going on but for the rink being almost empty. Everyone had a person they touched. I never really have thought about how much people touch and how much eye contact we use on a daily basis. I learned that touch and interactions with others is how humans live their lives and affection has been around for so long, people do it without even thinking about it. It is impossible to do more with what I’ve seen because everyone acts differently when it comes to touching. Also that if I told them what I was doing they would act differently. They would be awkward about it and not know what to do. So there’s no study that can prove how much we touch on a daily basis especially since the same people aren’t all going to be at the rink at the same time again.
A psychologist might study how often people use affection to get what they want or they could research how different groups use affection. What’s the meaning of the different ways of holding hands or hugging? Everyone seems to hug in a different way and it all just depends on the person and how they grew up. Why is it that guys always are the dominant ones and the ones to hold the door or stand on the side by the street or put their hands in front while holding hands? I think it’s interesting because every guy does it and it’s not something that their parents teach them. It’s just always been around and I would like to know why.
