Fashioning the Body: Versions of the Citizen, the Self, and the Subject

When I read my first Corpus over, I realized that I had phrased it in the form of a confession. I took the opportunity to analyze why I had done that. The first thing that came to mind was I wanted people to have a context for what I was talking about. I really didn't want to come off like I was talking about things that I had no idea about. The next thing that ran through my mind was that the beauty parlor and the barber shop weren't just about being able to go somewhere and have someone style your hair or do your nails. They were places to go and find a sense of community. I was told once that if you wanted to find out about somebody in a small town, go talk to either the bartender or the person who does hair. When I remembered that I started to think about the places that people are somehow expected to confess. The first and most obvious place is in church. Another place is a taxi.  It's my opinion that there's a few factors that contribute to this phenomenon. One is that fact that the driver isn't looking at you. Another is how the taxi looks almost like a confessional. You get in the back and start talking to a person. A taxi driver once told me that he could tell what to ask someone by where they were going. If they were going to the airport or some other place where they would be traveling to another destination then they would want to talk more and about more personal issues. He didn't mind because it meant he got to talk to some interesting people. Which makes me wonder about how traveling can make for some strange compaionships. If anyone has ever taken a trip on a Greyhound, you might know what I'm talking about. If you're traveling for any significant distance, you can make some amazing friendships that may or may not last.

Another aspect of confession that I was thinking about was the need that some people have not only to confess but to question people in their life. On one hand I do have an understanding that they might be looking for commonalities or want to express an interest in the other person. On the other hand, if they are asking questions that the other person isn't comfortable answering or they're revealing too much information about themselves for the other person's comfort level.

The last thing that I can think of about confession is those people who take every opportunity they can to confess. For example, I once had a custome service position that as part of my job, I had to ask people "How are you?". The worst part is they would tell me.