The other week, when Stefanie and I were working on our "sustainable design" definition via Google Docs, I happened to be sitting at the Argo Tea near campus. A woman came in talking extremely loudly on her cell phone, which she had on speakerphone for some reason, so everyone in the room could hear both sides of the conversation.
Via chat, I jokingly suggested to Stefanie that I should go over and sit down at the table at which the woman was sitting. My thought was that, if she asked me what I was doing, I would tell her that I hoped having me sit right next to her would cause her to lower her volume. Stefanie suggested this would be a good way to violate norms, and I nervously vowed to do so.
Needless to say, she hung up shortly thereafter and left almost immediately. To be honest, I was rather anxious about doing this and probably wouldn't have followed through if given the opportunity. Which made me think this: why, when this woman was violating norms which clearly affected nearly everyone in the room (as evidenced by all the glares she was receiving - to which she was seemingly oblivious), was I unwilling to violate a norm in order to stop her? This probably says more about me than it does about her.
So, in a nutshell, three words: norm violation fail.
I would have probably fantasized about doing it as well (and kind of did for you). But in the end I prefer keeping my cool and have a good chuckle about it. So.. thumbs up!
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