Ethnographic study - part II

Language and Behaviors

Wow! My ethnographic study continues to be fascinating, with the past week being particularly enlightening. It has taken a while for the Unemployeds to let their guards down around me, but I feel like I am finally earning their trust and respect.

I believe that I am beginning to really understand the Unemployeds’ behaviors and daily routines. There are so many interactions that appear to be what I am used to, but actually take on vastly different meanings than in the Employeds community. This has been especially true linguistically. While their vocabulary and sentence structures are familiar, the meanings are often different, if not the complete opposite from what I would expect! It is quite remarkable to see the variations within the same language.

Even more than before, I think that if we can just gain a better understanding of their use of language, then we can surely avoid so many of the miscommunications of the past that threaten to catapult us into violent, drunken, unattractive unrest. I will now try to shed light onto some of the key phrases used by Unemployeds that are often misunderstood by Employeds.

“I’m between jobs”

My initial assumption with this phrase would be that the person is a consultant of sorts; that he or she had one position, is taking a week off, and has another position lined up that will begin shortly.

However, the implied meaning among Unemployeds is actually quite different. The latter job, does not exist at all. In fact, the person making the statement usually has no prospects of employment whatsoever. Absolutely nothing. No possible leads, potential jobs, or even hopes for the future. Yes, they have completed one position; but they are not “between” jobs in our understanding of the preposition. Rather they are “after” a job or “post”-job. Interesting!

“I’ve been networking”

This very commonly used phrase is intriguing as well. Typically, I have assumed networking to be a process of building relationships with others that have the potential to be mutually beneficial for both parties. Networking in that context is most often conducted in person, over a lunchtime appointment, a meeting in one’s office, or sometimes with casual drinks. Regardless of the location, in all situations, there is a back and forth exchange of words between individuals and a collaborative relationship-building process.

However--now this is really fascinating!--the Unemployeds’ use of the word “networking” is actually most comparable to the Employeds’ use of the words “reading,” “stalking,” or “pathetically short-circuiting one’s computer through tears.” Networking among Unemployeds is typically done in private, at home, on facebook, peering through other people’s photos, and includes contemplating what life could have been.

Can you imagine the escalations that may have resulted over such a simple linguistic misunderstanding?! No wonder the tensions!

“I’m staying positive”

This phrase is also a very peculiar one. I have normally assumed “staying positive” to refer to a person’s involvement in altruistic activities, or having a generally cheery outlook on life.

Among Unemployeds, however, “staying positive” is most commonly used to signify the meeting of basic hygienic needs; for example, brushing one’s teeth on most days, showering at least as often as many French people, and feeding oneself.

“I’ve been working on my writing”

This phrase is usually uttered in response to the question, “what have you been up to?” or a similar derivation of that inquiry.

The response is fascinating though, because it actually has nothing whatsoever to do with writing or creativity. Rather, “working on writing” among Unemployeds most likely means going to coffee shops in order to gain a sense of human contact, to find comfort in seeing other people who have nothing to do on a Tuesday at 2pm, and to be in a safe space where loitering aimlessly is generally accepted.

Can you believe that all this time, I thought those folks were artists and writers?!

“Keeping busy”

This phrase has been one of the most interesting lessons for me! Among Employeds, when one says that he or she is “keeping busy,” the activities that we assume to be included are things like:

• Working late at the office
• Visiting relatives
• Hosting in-laws
• Going out for dinner and drinks
• Attending a film release party or a gallery opening.

However, among Unemployeds, the experiences are remarkably different, and in some cases, even the opposite of what one would consider “busy” within the Employeds community. What goes for “busy” among Unemployeds would more likely fall into a category of “idleness” or “sad, lonely, pathetic, and unfit to see the light of day and commune with the rest of society” among Employeds. So curious! For example, typical behaviors implied by the phrase “keeping busy” by Unemployeds might include:

• Crying
• Binge eating
• Binge drinking
• Lying in bed
• Lying in bed, crying, drinking, and eating
• Wearing a bathing suit and sitting on the couch with the fan on eating ice cream
• Being nauseous
• Feeling remorse
• Putting on pants, checking the mailbox, finding a bill, shaking one’s fist at the mailbox, placing the bill back in the mailbox, shutting the mailbox door
• Feeling regret
• Noticing the beastly state of one’s eyebrows
• Repeating mailbox process
• Crying
• Trying to remember the last time one showered, narrowing it down to one of three days. basking in life’s small successes.
• Smelling the milk in one’s refrigerator to gauge the degree of sickness it might cause upon ingestion
• Praying for a stalker so as to feel vaguely desirable/ of value/ possibly the future victim of a bloody gruesome murder that will attract media attention
• Pondering going to the superm--sitting back down on the couch
• Peanut butter.

The variations of language meanings that I’ve just mentioned are only a selection of the range that exists. These linguistic differences are much greater than I imagined, to the point where we may actually be looking at distinct dialects in the English language!

I hope that you have found these clarifications useful, and I look forward to sharing more of my research with you soon.