gor[b] Paul Gorbould: Words and Pictures

Commuting by Numbers: People Edition

Back in February I started a semi-regular feature called Commuting by Numbers. From time to time, on those rides to work where I can't read (busy streetcar, or on my bike) I'll count things of interest to see what patterns emerge. My tallies, and those of some other bloggers I strongarmed into playing along, can be found in my Commuting category.

The other day, my otherwise brilliant friend Chris admitted to counting groundhogs on his way to work, and I pointed him to my blog. He had an interesting comment:

It occurred to me that you are engaged in Mass Observation, which was a movement that existed in the 30s and 40s that encouraged as many people as possible to observe and record the minutiae of a particular place and time. The organizers were actually hired by the U.S. and British governments to record war-time activity.

Myself, I just figured I was borderline autistic or something. Anyhow, there's a fabulous New Yorker article on the Mass Observation here. Chris went on to say how this sort of analysis is the opposite of most blogging:

Reading the article, I was thinking that what blogs represent today is a "Mass Introspection" movement - but yours actually runs counter to that and closer to Mass Observation. Now that you also have me counting animals during a commute, that is.

The phenomenon was more about human behaviour than groundhogs, but you can certainly deduce certain behaviours from physical objects. Which brings me to the dataset below. I'm tempted to draw certain conclusions from the results that surprised me: the ratio of newspapers to iPods, the prevalence of smoking, the fact that I should probably stop carrying a backpack, etc. But I'll let you decide for yourself.

Later this week I'll have two more editions: Transportation, and Animals. Observe well!

Commuting by Numbers: People Edition

Commuter: Paul Gorbould
Location: Downtown Toronto
Commuting time: 45 minutes
Route: Queen/King Streets, via streetcar

People carrying a coffee cup: 52
People carrying a reusable mug: 6
People smoking: 37
People smoking AND carrying a coffee: 4
Men using dainty cigarette holders: 1

People carrying shoulder bags (not incl. purses): 202
People wearing backpacks: 143

Goth kids: 7
People with dreadlocks: 6
Homeless men dressed like Santa: 2 (!)

People wearing baseball hats: 30
People wearing Castro hats (tee hee): 8
People wearing peaked caps: 3
People wearing fedoras: 1

Men on cell phones: 23
Women on cell phones: 26
People wearing iPods: 41
People wearing all other music players: 23
People using a Blackberry: 5
People carrying a newspaper: 4
People using cameras: 3

People wearing ties: 16
People wearing "Frankie Says Relax" T-shirts: 1

As I've said before, I'd really be delighted if anyone out there wants to count something and let me know about it - I'll link to it or publish it here. And if you have suggestions for me to count, I'm all ears. Well, 2 ears.