Pilvi Takala

SCENE: ARE YOU LOST?
Category: Approach ñ surprised
Reaction Intensity: 3
Time: 10-15 seconds

This person walks quite fast and with purpose, P is walking at more of a stroll, she approaches the person slowly, says ‘hi’ and touches them on the shoulder. The person stops and turns toward P, shuffling their feet a little and making small steps, they pull their jumper down as if they are feeling a bit uncomfortable or think it is riding up to show their lower back. As the person turns they say in a loud and firm but not unkind voice ‘are you lost?’ as if P’s behaviour can only be explained as someone who wants something. P says no to the question and the person laughs in a way that seems to say ‘what nonsense is this?’ and then carries on walking quite quickly away swinging their arms.

SCENE: EXPECTANT GIGGLE
Category: Approach – welcoming
Reaction Intensity: 4
Time: 10-20 seconds

P approaches Giggle in the corridor. They are at opposite ends of a corridor, as soon as Giggle sees P they start to smile in a semi-nervous and expectant way. They know P is going to approach them and try to touch. They don’t try to escape it or signal in their body language that they don’t want the contact. Giggle doesn’t make eye contact until they are closer, the whole walk towards P they look to the side or look in other directions, Giggle smiles and laughs quietly, slightly nervously. They don’t seem to know exactly what to think of the whole situation but perhaps they don’t mind so much. Because they perceive it to be unusual they are still a bit awkward and not able to be totally natural. The giggling also may be because their potential enjoyment feels slightly taboo. When Giggle gets closer to P they slow down, as if they are waiting for the inevitable touching. They don’t turn their body towards P, they keep it straight, they are slightly tense but in a positive way. When P touches their arm she says: ‘Hey’ and smiles more than usual because she has registered this person’s mood. Giggle replies: ‘Hiiii’ and drags it out slightly, exhaling in a way to indicate a slight laugh as they say it. After they pass each other Giggle looks down as they walk and smiles with their mouth shut, almost bashfully.

SCENE: PHONE WALK
Category: Approach ñ avoid
Time: 5-15 seconds

Details: A person enters the same space as P, they are walking to somewhere at a medium pace. As soon as they notice P they take their phone out and look intently at it, holding it out in front of their chest very obviously with both hands. Their pace picks up a bit but not too much so it looks like they are moving in a way that is naturally preoccupied, as if something just occurred to them. They scroll through intently, frowning slightly, adding little pauses into this routine so it looks like they are thinking, they do not look up from the phone. In doing this they try to look busy, hoping that P will respect their work ethic and not speak to or touch them. This allows them to avoid her and avoid having to say ‘leave me alone, as well as avoid being put in a position where they feel too awkward to say ‘leave me alone’ perhaps feeling annoyed afterwards about their passivity or inability to assert themselves. They continue this behaviour until they have walked past P and it lessens only when they are out of view.