Too Close for Comfort

Hello readers!

Exciting news, my final research paper has been completed and submitted! Basically this means that I know have tangible results for my study. From my experience at the five concerts I attended, I found that the component that had the largest impact on the development of aggression at concerts was the amount of space designated to each individual within the venue.

What this means is that it when the venue is being built, the architect should take into account the capacity to size ratio. For example at the Marquee, the venue is built to accommodate a maximum of 2,500 people. Based on my experiences at the concerts, specifically at the Neighbourhood and Hoodie Allen, it was made apparent to me that the Marquee did not provide enough space for each individual. The crowd at Guster, which had maybe 700 people in attendance proved to me that an increased amount of space would indeed make a difference and minimize risk at concerts.

The lack of space at concerts has even had a literal impact in my life. In April 2015, I attended a small one day music festival hosted by a local radio station, alt az 93.3. The festival featured Panic! at the Disco, Death Cab for Cutie, Glass Animals, and Family of the Year. I attended with a few friends and we got into the crowd halfway through the second band's set. In front of us was a group of three women who had all clearly had several drinks. They were also relatively very large, so they took up a lot of space. It wasn't long before the biggest one tripped and fell on me. I caught us before we hit the ground though and it was alright. She apologized and I said it was okay and we went back to enjoying the concert. Not ten minutes later, the same lady turned around, looked at me, and angrily shouted, "Do you have some kind of problem?!" Everyone around me and I were confused. She continued to yell at me, stating that she could see through my disguise, and that she knew I was trying to push her, and maybe even steal her wallet or touch her inappropriately. I was completely blown away by this lady's shouting and told her that we were all standing in a crowd pressed together and that I had no special interest in her. She then looked me the eye and literally said, "just back off, or else." I literally couldn't believe it. I asked her what she meant by or else and she responded, I kid you not, by taking one step closer, pressing her nose against mine, blowing air out of her nose (much like an angry bull), and in a more breathy tone whispering "or. else." I started laughing. To me the idea that this lady would hurt me intentionally was ridiculous. Through my laughter I asked her if she was implying she was going to harm me. She nodded vigorously. This only made me laugh harder. I told her that would probably result in a lot of negative legal consequences for her. At this point everyone around us had noticed what was going on and one of the lady's friends pulled her out of the crowd. So I did not get fought. But clearly I was too close for comfort.

Keep on keeping on,
Sabrina

Count: 565