Audra Kosh
EDUC 830
January 29, 2014
Field Notes #1
Observation Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Observation Time: 4:17pm – 4:58pm
Location: Chapel Hill Transit CW Bus, beginning at Sitterson Hall (UNC), out to Jones Ferry Park and Ride,
and back to Main St. & Westview Dr..
Weather: Clear skies, temperature in the 20s, forecasted snow to begin falling around 6pm.
Time
Location
4:17pm Sitterson Hall
4:22pm Franklin St. &
Columbia
4:24pm
4:27pm Weaver St. Market
4:29pm Carrboro Town Square
4:30pm
4:31pm High St. and
Goldsboro St.
Observation
Approximately 10 people get on the bus as I do. I walk towards the
back and sit down. There are now approximately 21 people on the
bus. Four people are reading books or printed materials (e.g.
articles). One person stands at the front even though there are at
least 10 seats still available. Two people are looking at their
phones and wearing headphones.
One blonde-hair young woman and one blonde-hair young man
(both around 20-25 years old) are sitting at the front of the bus
and talking to each other. No one else is talking.
Two people get on the bus and walk to the back. No one says
anything to the driver as they enter. Blonde-hair man and woman
are still the only ones talking.
Three people get off the bus and don’t say anything to the driver.
At the next stop 1 person gets off and waves to the driver as he
leaves.
Blonde-hair man and blonde-hair woman are still talking to each
other. She smiles and laughs. She says “yeah, it was good to see
you” and the man stands up from his seat. About 20 seconds later,
he gets off at the next stop.
The bus is silent again. The same people are on their phones or
reading.
Blonde-hair woman puts on lipstick. Another woman in the back of
the bus stands up like she’s ready to get off, but she never pulls
the “stop requested” rope. The driver looks in the rear-view mirror
and stops the bus at the next stop. The woman gets off.
Four people get off. A woman in her 20s and a man probably in his
40s, stand up from their seats (which are across from each other)
at the same time. The man gestures his hand to indicate he was
letting the woman go first. She exits and then a third person that
was sitting in the aisle seat next to the man exits. Then the man
takes the 20s woman’s seat across from where he was sitting
earlier.
I get up to switch chairs where I can see better now that more
seats are available. I accidentally bump into someone and say
4:33pm
4:35pm Carrboro Post Office
4:40pm
4:42pm Jones Ferry Rd. and
Davie Rd.
4:44pm Jones Ferry Park and
Ride
4:50pm
4:54pm Westview Dr. and
Main St.
“sorry”. She doesn’t look up or say anything. She is wearing
headphones.
Three people get off, one says “thank you” and driver says “you’re
welcome”.
Two people are reading (one is also highlighting) and 2 people are
on their phones. There are about 10 people left on the bus. A man
gets off, smiles and waves at the driver, and the driver waves back.
Two people are waiting at the stop. The bus stops and opens the
doors but no one gets on. At the stop in front of ABC liquor store,
two people get on and 2 get off. One person says “thank you” but
doesn’t look at the driver. The driver does not respond.
There are now 4 people on the bus (1 female and 3 male), not
including me. One male (late 20s) is holding a notebook and pen
but not writing anything, just looking out the window. He gets off
at the next stop along with the other male.
The last female gets off and says “thank you” to driver.
The last person (other than me) gets off.
The bus passes the JFX bus and the CW bus driver honks the horn
twice, with a brief pause in between each honk.
The bus pulls into the Park and Ride lot. No one is left on the bus
to get off, and no one is waiting to get on the bus. The driver
briefly looks at me. I smile. He doesn’t say anything or smile back.
He reaches into a black bag which is sitting on the “table” area on
the front of the bus and gets out a bag of chips. He eats the chips
while standing in front of the bus and looking out the front
windshield. He then gets a Gatorade bottle out of the same bag
and takes a couple of sips. The liquid is clear (either a Gatorade
bottle filled with water or clear Gatorade). He walks off the bus for
about 20 seconds, gets back on, and starts the bus.
The bus pulls out of the Park and Ride lot with just me on it. At the
next stop, 2 people (1 male, 1 female) around the undergraduate
age-range (18-25) get on the bus and sit next to each other side by
side. They talk to each other and the woman looks at her phone
intermittently.
The bus doesn’t pick up any more people or stop until I get off.