Deviant but Harmless Behavior 101

I just finished my exercise. I did 32.17 minutes before I realized the time.

The topic of the day was inspired by an assignment given in a psychology class at Wellesley College. The assignment was to behave deviantly in a public place and observe the reactions. The study was an investigation into what determines deviant behavior and also how people react to deviance.

The trick of the assignment is to be completely normal in appearance except for one, slightly off-color behavior - so you have to pick something that cannot be construed as psychotic or dangerous, just slightly-off color.

Here goes:


Deviant but Harmless Behavior 101

1. Wear underwear on the outside of your clothes
2. Wear your coat backwards
3. Ride the T and read a book, very loudly
4. Ride the T with a relaxed, normal face but laugh once really loudly every few minutes - at this point you can have a laugh face but just when you laugh, then you rface goes back to normal
5. Walk down a public area and hop once every few feet
6. Sit on the T with a finger in your ear
7. Walk around with a big snot on your cheek
8. Look at a blank piece of paper studyingly, crumple it into a tight ball, unfold it, flatten it, look at it again, crumple, flatten...
9. Walk around saying "it's ok" and then direct it to people that look at you
10. Write something, like just simply "Hi" on your forehead and walk around
11. Walk around like you are blind (maybe with a stick or with your hands out) but do something so it is clear that you do have sight
12. Play an instrument or sing in a public place for money - do it badly, see how many people snicker, cringe, feel bad and give you money.
13. Cry in public and see how many people move away, stare or show compassion
14. In a fancy restaurant eat without your hands but do it elegantly (as much as possible) but use your silverware and/or hands to mave your food around on the plate
15. Sit on the T and count while you brush your hair, look and act as classically normal as possible. You have to be counting high numbers so it looks like you've been brushing for a long time.
16. Ride the T and just breath deeply and loudly (but be careful not to hyperventilate)

That's it folks! That's what I came up with in 30 Minutes on the Machine.