There are two benches that are awkwardly placed on the pathway that leads to campus center. To me, it seems like a strange place to put benches. It’s right in the middle of walking space and seems to disrupt the flow of traffic. One time I saw a biker (going pretty fast) trying to weave through a group of walkers while also trying to dodge the island created by the benches. —A close call to pretty painful collision. Maybe the disruptive aspect to the benches attracts people to sit there. Similar to the video that we saw in class of people stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to talk or simply stand there, the benches force people to sit in the middle of the walkway. It seems difficult to explain why people enjoy being an obstruction. Perhaps it is the human contact and a feeling of connection that comes with being in the middle of other people. By sitting in the middle of traffic the sitter can take on an observational role while also shortening the gap between the observer and the subjects.
Even though I am guilty of sitting on those benches, I am constantly baffled that people actually sit there (I guess that I am drawn to sit there even though I am aware that it’s a strange place to sit). It has an ugly view (looking straight to the entrance of the campus center) and is surrounded by seemingly more appealing places to sit including the benches in front of the chapel and the long winding brown bench in front of the fisher studio art building. It is a mystery to me, that people seem occupy the disruptive island of benches more than the benches in front of the chapel. The benches on the path are ugly and chaotic and the chapel benches are visually appealing and somewhat removed.
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