Derive. My companion and I set off in a random direction and walked down the commercial street.
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Derive
My companion and I set off in a random direction and walked down the commercial street. The street was busy and the air smelled stuffy. These activities reminded me of the times when I used to work in the mall. I felt quite uncomfortable especially when I saw a White lady shouting at a young Asian lady to stop staring at the passers by and concentrate on serving the clients. We entered the mall and the smells we encountered were of new clothes. These were being unpacked and put on the shelves. The respective smells reminded me of the days when I was young. My mother used to take me shopping and would buy me almost everything that I wanted. This feeling became better when we passed by a cosmetic shop and smelled my mother’s cologne. For a moment, I felt that I was in company of my mother and relaxed a bit.
We then proceeded to the central park where we met so many people resting on benches. Most of them looked tired because of the hot and humid weather. We spoke to a young African American lady who looked a little bit frustrated. She informed that her mother had just passed on she was feeling a little bit distressed. The park was well kept and had litter bins in almost all places. Landscaping was also well done and the place generally looked beautiful. This heightened our emotions a bit and we proceeded to the next commercial building. The building was filled with the smell of disinfectant. It was already five o’clock and since most of the occupants were leaving, it was being cleaned. This smell reminded me of a hospital environment. Only that in the later, the smell of disinfectant was mixed with that of medicine. The cleaner that we spoke to told us that he was not satisfied with this work because it always made him feel sick.
Reflection
At this point, it is certain that my previous personal experience greatly influenced my perception of space. Notably, when I entered the mal, I assumed that the place is crowded and very busy because previously, I worked in a mall under similar circumstances. This made me to feel very tired and considered the place to be unworthy of exploring further. Notably, the smell of disinfectant made me to remember the hospital because I had smelled the respective disinfectant in the hospital. This made me to make certain presumptions about the cleaner regarding his lack of satisfaction with his profession. This turned out to be true as the cleaner affirmed that his work made him to feel sick.
To a great extent, my racial and gender beliefs influenced the decisions that we made with regards to interviewing certain individuals. In the mall, I only saw an Asian lady being shouted at by her boss and not a White lady. In addition, I only say an African American woman in the park feeling distressed and decided to interview her. This does not imply that there were no White men in the park looking tired or frustrated. My racial and gender beliefs made me to consider the abovementioned individuals to be requiring more attention and to possibly be more troubled than the later. The relief that I felt after smelling my mother’s cologne can also be attributed to the relationship that I share with her. Whenever I think of her or come in contact with anything that reminds me of her, I feel comfortable and safe.
