Observation #2

In Central Hamilton, during ‘rush-hour’ at the Transport Centre’s bus terminal, the area was very hot, and fairly busy. It was 3.00pm on a Wednesday; there were buses and people moving constantly; all with an air of confidence and certainty.

There was an impatience and restlessness about the place. People’s feet were twitching when the buses arrived. They did anything to not be aware of the time they were waiting, they read, sat down, made phone calls, walked around, up and down, stood in little cliquey groups. Once the buses arrived they became focussed. It was as if they all had this great purpose for waiting.

A mix of ages, ethnicities and agendas were present. Parents with prams and babies, school kids (mainly high school girls- is there something telling about this? Do girls get their driver licenses later then boys? Does a girl’s parent tend to be unable to pick them up from school?), business people and the elderly. The youth didn’t have cars but seemed to use the station as a chance to catch up with friends, meet ‘hidden’ older boyfriends, engage in situations they may not be able to at home. One school girl was seen smoking and standing around with a black hooded male. When no one interacted with them, no one was challenged.

It was unpredictable. In a sense it was as if this place provided more than just a transport terminal. It came across as a social ground, a specialised village, made of a subculture/co-culture of ‘bus people’. Everyone that was there seemed to have this knowledge for why they were there, how they were meant to act while being there, and why others were there as well. How did they know their purpose and that of the place? Was it by observing others, how they made use of the area?

The relationship/connection between the place and its people was that the bus station was a service. Everyone had their own motive for being there. For some it was their job i.e. bus drivers. For others it was a place to socialise and kill time, which makes me think about the colloquial term ‘to hang out’. What does it mean? Why do it? How do they know that it is acceptable to ‘hang out’ in such a public area? That was another thing about the place, though it was for the public, was easy to access; it seemed like a secret society. Where up the street people were walking basically everywhere. Here they just stood around, or sat down. It was like a whole different culture, different interactions took place as opposed to the ‘street people’. There was a sense of ownership. People were doing as they pleased, within the constraints of bus stop etiquette. Taxi cabs were all lined up, in a way marking their territory. The bus drivers were walking around in a manner of importance.


The practices of the place that were socially represented were in the people, how they interacted. How by being at and sharing the same place, they still had variations of groups. These groups kept to themselves mostly, sometimes socialised with other groups, but created their own space. For the most part, were social but kind of cliquey, informal with their texting and nonverbal hugging, raised eye browed greetings; formal with taxi and bus drivers. An example of today’s society, where though we are more accepting, not everybody gets along with everyone. It’s just the way people react to letting people into their circle. There seems to be a general limit on who and how many can be in your personal space. Why is it, that we can’t all socialise in a group, is our sense of identity reliant on belonging to a group?



The historical objects in the place were I think the layout of the bus terminal, the shelters, the seats in the shelters, the shelters being numbered. What we’d expect of a bus station? Not the design of the setting, as it was sleek and modern, oddly shaped and ran in a sweeping curve.

The place was used as a hangout, buses were used, shelters and bench seats were used. Not so much the car parks and sidewalk. Some routine action that took place was the catching of buses, getting on and off, sitting, waiting.

An example of discourse in the place was in the form of the varying clothing and uniform. There were the school uniforms, a mark of conformity, varying in colour and style in order to differentiate between the different schools. Perhaps for the purpose of making sure they don’t get lost or end up with people from the wrong school, the wrong crowd? That was something that I found, the school kids though they were willing to interact with a range of ethnicities (unlike the general adults) they did tend to stick to their own school ‘groups’.

The oddest thing was that most of the people stayed in tight little groups of 4-5. They stood around in semi circles … most talking, laughing, eating, drinking and texting. Only a few groups stood/sat in silence. Another unusual presence was the police and patrolling security guards, what does this say about our society? That we’re too distrusting?