The path I often pass by on my way to school.
Assignment description:
I’ve selected a path I often pass by on my way to school. I have a focus on the particular phenomenon: INDULGENCE. I’ve selected five stations for my tour, each station includes a photograph and explanation at each of these stops and what would I say as a guide.
The Photos Documentation:
Station 1:
This is the first station on my way to the UC, and it’s always been the number one spot where I have found the weirdest trash laying around. Old electronics, vintage furniture, and overall eccentric and unrecognizable trash can be found in this first corner. Sometimes I’ve been slightly attached to things that looked so unique. In a way, it’s sad how we have gotten so detached from our personal objects, and what happens when you throw stuff? You are probably seeking new things. The one thing I’m sure about is that I could stand there for at least 15 minutes and be entertained by the trash and the dogs that head to the Stuyvesant park. This struck me the first time seeing this very particular type of trash as it would be completely unusual to find this in my city, without a doubt, people would pick it up. Maybe it’s because of a cultural difference but keeping old furniture is something that families still do in my country, this tradition certainly helps to avoid unnecessary shopping.
Stations 2:
This little fruit market is located on 12 E 15th St, in front of a subway exit and Starbucks. Being a perfect spot for commercializing food, this fruit stand has taken most of the 15th street corner. It is amazing the variety of foods and vegetables you can get on the way to work, avoiding lines, etc. Knowing New York City is a fast-paced city, it makes sense why people would prefer to buy food on their way rather than entering a supermarket and waiting in lines. The interesting observation is that the sellers couldn’t afford to fill a street with a variety of fruit and sometimes even make people taste them if they wouldn’t make good money from it. Just by its location we see this stand as a casual one, but stands usually don’t occupy a whole street corner, and fruit stand don’t usually have more than one vendor. This just shows how frequent people are to buy fruit on their way every day as a routine and it’s incredible how much goods the vendors have to take to the streets to satisfy new york’s indulgence.
Station 3:
My station third station is located in Union Square, in the park, there are three different statues: George Washington Statue, Mohandas Gandhi Statue, and Abraham Lincoln Statue. From my perspective, statues are one of the most unnecessary and indulgent things there can be. I respect history and how people can feel proud by having an important figure which reflects big changes for the good. But, probably half of the people that go to visit union square won’t recognize the statues. For international people, it would only be somewhere they can take photos and the newer generation doesn’t really care about them, in fact, statues are usually located on parks, yet it’s just one more monument where people don’t really care bout that its taking space from the trees. Besides that, it’s not cheap to build those types of monuments, instead of building that, they could’ve used it in something locals would benefit from, better transport, better health care. Monuments are part of our history but it should be something that hinders nature nor basic services.
Station 4:
This station is right across the previous one. Its where people are known to charge for playing chess with them. The tables that are found in the park are quite a lot, most of being portable tables, very rustic looking. Every morning and afternoon people play chess, the strange thing is how they always seem to be occupied even though everyone around them is rushing to work. If you think about it, who are the ones that play and how do they have time to spare, the thing is that they are not wasting time, for them playing chess is a way to make money, it’s become an investment. Would people really play in the middle of 15th street if there was no monetary gain behind?
Station 5:
The last station is probably my favorite one and one I can say I’ve also indulged in it. Usually, there are around three to five tables filled with an innumerable amount of crystals, gems, booksellers and sometimes tarot readers. The way these minerals shine attract locals and tourists, some gems showcase your personality while others carry different energies, either way, they serve either jewelry or ornaments. The striking pattern here is how we not only see one vendor, but multiple, the variety of crystals you can get is interminable. By seeing the number of vendors and the excess of goods, it’s easy to see how difficult is to resist this type of extreme consumerism. We clearly don’t need it but we don’t see that, indulgence has become a trait of our generation, we no longer have a favorite thing, instead, we get new things every day we can. This cycle just reinforced indulgence, every day it’s harder to see how easy would be to give that money to the homeless, to see how buying more means being closer to live an unsatisfied life.
Reflection:
The easy aspect to explain through a walking tour is clear the repercussions of an indulgent society and its effect on the city. Instead of looking at charts or percentages, it’s more shocking when all of your senses are affected by it. By walking through it, you can smell it, see it, and hear it making it easy to feel overwhelmed by it. By doing a walking tour, we can notice not only the physical effects but also identify how indulgence, in general, affects the city’s population and its lifestyle. We can see indulgence in people’s extravagant clothing, high-end clothing brands, and the contrast between homelessness and expensive, rich housings.
In a way its more difficult to see indulgence if we walk bypass it every day, or if we are born on a generation that doesn’t know anything else than it. Big food, brands, or clothing posters not only shows big commercialization but shows how dependent we are to it. If we can afford it we will buy it. Yet, this is more of a psychological part of indulgence, shopping addiction, technological addiction, even fast food addiction, it all falls into the excess of indulgence. Excess of waste is what we see, yet this topic is not only how the city gets affected but also how our mindset has changed as a generation to a more consumeristic and selfish place.
