The Tyranny of Extroversion

Here are two examples of a phenomenon I can't stand:





Spending a lot of time in crowded spaces has always been difficult for me, and though it's gotten a little easier in the last few years, I still have the occasional flash of panic if I get stuck in too big a group of people. I realize that public spaces are just that--public--but I still think people can reasonably expect to go about their business without being interfered with.

That's why I find stunts like those linked to above so irritating. The people who organize them (they're anything but, as the second video implies, "random") probably think they're brightening everyone's day, but for some of us, they're just making things harder.

The problem is that a lot of people don't consider these to be "opt-in" events. They think that those who don't want to participate are somehow lesser people than those who do. Just look at the comments generated when The Friendly Atheist linked to the high five escalator video. The most egregious says "The more you hate this idea, the more you need it." Really? I had no idea that high fives cured agoraphobia.

The people in the first video at least seem to have good intentions. Those in the second come off as pretentious twats. There are numerous examples of this same stunt on YouTube (I'm not sure if it's always done by the same group), and they always happen in malls or big department stores. At the end of the video above, someone holds up a sign reading "You've just experienced a random act of culture." The implication, to me, is that these people who would lower themselves to shopping at a mall are clearly culture starved pleebs, desperately in need of some classical music. Is it impossible that some of the people out shopping hate having to go to the mall, hate the chain stores and the consumerism, but wanted to buy a gift for someone, and want to get in and out as quickly as possible? If only those singing idiots weren't blocking all the exits...

I wonder how many of the people who champion this kind of public performance are morally opposed to graffiti. I fail to see a difference. Both are acts of people who feel superior enough to think that their values need to be forced on the general public, especially those who just want to go about their business and not be bothered.