This weekend Fru and I met up with friends and attended a baseball game at Camden Yards. I'm not a baseball fan in the loosest sense of the word, but I find watching a game at the stadium infinitely more interesting than seeing it on TV; the people-watching opportunity is excellent, and it's nice to get out into the fresh air once in a while.
One of the interesting aspects of stadium culture is vendor interaction. The vendor is an anomaly; very few places are left in America where you strap your goods to your person and wander around announcing your wares at the top of your lungs. Because of the concentrated audience that they cater to, they develop interesting means of transferring goods and cash. A hot dog may be held by a half-dozen people before reaching its recipient; I attended a Yankees game last fall where the peanuts vendor rifled bags to customers and then walked up to get the cash that would be passed to the end.
It says a lot that in a crowded area full of strangers we have developed a social norm where we trust each other with handling our food and giving the entirety of the money we send to its intended receiver. To what extent are we willing to rely on the cooperation of others to facilitate a successful outcome? Is this beneficial only in the bleacher section during the fourth inning, or could it potentially be translated into other applications outside of this setting? Would I be willing to have strangers touch my food before I receive it (think delivery)? Would I trust someone other than the billing company to take the money I intend for the bill (think cornerstore/supermarket bill services)?
The system's efficiency stood out to me as a family of four seated a few rows ahead of us ordered food. The mother was particularly indifferent to (uninformed of?) the system and insisted on stepping in front of, reaching over and across. When a gentleman reached for her cash to pass on, she hesitated before allowing him to facilitate. I think that, especially as we ascend economically, our level of trust in the common man has eroded to a level that we cannot comfortably depend upon each other. This is a loss for humanity in the long term.
