Workplace Observation

Words: 1941
Pages: 8

Humans interact in many different ways; weather they are talking to their family or texting friends. These conversations are constant when it involves people we know and are familiar with. Issues arise when people are met with interactions in a public space, with strangers they do not know. A big factor that causes people to not interact, is when they are met with others of a different race, gender or ethnicity. This difference in personality and appearance creates a disconnect between people, and they are not comfortable to initiate conversation with each other in a public area. In an essay written by Elijah Anderson, the Cosmopolitan Canopy, he makes the argument that there are specific public spaces in a city where people feel free to interact and initiate conversation regardless of …show more content…
The canopy allows these people to interact freely and with an open mind.
All throughout Philadelphia and Temple Universitys campus, there are hundreds of Cosmopolitan Canopies. Instead of trying to go out of my way to analyze one of these canopies, a place where I might have never seen before. I decided to observe a public space where I have been going every day for the past year, that place is one of the gyms on Temples campus. IBC (International Blue Cross Student Rec Center) can be found at the corner of 15th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, directly attached to the Liacouras Center. Before I go into my analysis of why this gym is a perfect example of positive interactions within a cosmopolitan canopy, let me go over the layout of the gym and what crowds they bring. Once a person gets past the security/ check in desk, they walk into the lobby area which holds lockers and some couches to relax on. Right away you can feel the energy in the room, from people walking around with sweat dripping off of them, to people laying in the chairs seemingly dead after a tough workout. Past the lobby is the first floor of the gym, this area is what contains the free weights, squat