Now launched on Facebook in an attempt to change the face of Britain..
"We the members of this group will defy British culture by smiling, saying hello and potentially sharing a wave with people we do not know in order to change Britain. In short, we're going to change Britain!"
In 2008 if you smile and say 'hello' to someone you don't know the chances are that they will think you're some kind of a crazy person after their bag or some larger part of their body. If your lucky you might get their foot in your mouth.
We, the people who live in Briton, are fed up of silent commuter trains and journeys where people do not speak to each other. We're tired of those places where if you look at someone you are at increased risk of GBH. We're bored of a smiles in the general direction of someone who thinks that they are attractive being misread/misled. Time enough we say for this Britain of darkness.
So let's reverse this reserved psychogeography of our nation(s)... for one day at least....
On the 1st of April 2008 shun unfriendly behaviour, become an activist of change and...
1. Smile at everyone you make eye contact with (if they smile back, say 'Hi' or if they are a long way from you give them a wave.
2. Ask 'how do you do?' to people you walk past or sit next to. If they reply, go mad and ask them how their day is going.
...no matter who they are or what they look like. Let's go crazy and show an interest in our fellow Britons!
If 2 million Britons take part in this campaign 1 in 30 people should smile at you or say 'How do you do?'... this will change the geography of Britain as we know it... even if it is just for one day.... so please ask friends and strangers to join in.
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4 comments:
What has this got to do with geography?
hmh. i'm usually quite a happy bunny when i have to commute - but that is probably because i
a) have to commute only once a week
b) i cycle most of the way
i can understand why people don't feel good enough to smile if they have to face crammed commuter trains every weekday and prefer to sink back into their own world. i sometimes wonder whether the smiling people are the ones who have been driven insane already.
If we can change the way people feel about places we are changing the geographies of places.. this is the geography.. an active rather than passive or simple reactive geography.
Just think about travel. Travel is an act of changing our geography... to move through space to arrive at a destination. On this journey our experience of place(s) is influenced by the relationships with have with the people and objects around us. If they are freindly, warm and polite our sense of place changes... this is psychogeography.. an with 'We're going to change Britain' this is what's happening... not just the potential of the 2nd of April but also the conversations and experiences people are having from their chairs as they meet on the wall in Facebook.
Are you with me....???
Because, of course, everybody's an extravert in their little world, and everybody wants to make fake happy conversation with strangers.
You know what'd make me smile? Watching those bliss ninnies being fed into a woodchipper. Feet-first, so I could watch their expressions.
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