All of a sudden, I found myself thinking sociologicaly when I was in the cafeteria (commons). I was with kelsey and kaityln. We were looking over at a table when we saw someone that we didn't exactly like. She sat at her table and began to talk to her "friends." Now, I use quotation marks because everyone knew that those were not her real friends. She was more of a follower. A sad little puppy. Really annoying, but you can't turn her down. We were really just watching the situation. She tried to join in on the conversation but everyone kind of just ignored her. They were all white, including the sad puppy, a mix of female and males and around 16-18 years old.Everyone at the table was just talking and eating their lunches trying to exclude the poor girl. They all seemed like they wanted to be there. Especially the girl.They were laughing and joking and eating their lunches, except for the sad girl, she desperatley tried to fit in and laugh at all the appropriate moments. Some of the people played along with the girl, laughing along with her and trying to make her feel welcome, while other people just flat out ignored her or gave her mean looks.
I wanted to ask the girl why was she trying so hard to fit in with these people that clearly did not like her. They obviously wanted her gone, but she did not give up. Why try so hard to be part of one clique, when the clearly don't welcome you? She had no reason to be there at THEIR table, but clearly she didn't really care. She didn't mind being shuned or treated poorly. Some people, I came to find out, will do anything to be in with a certain crowd.
Being able to read social cues is a skill that you never stop learning, and it's something that can be difficult to do, especially at your age. Do you think that you could apply any of the beliefs of the sociologists we have studied to the scenario that you've described here? There are a few that might fit....
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