Staten Island Listening Post

My listening post was a hair salon on Staten Island called Caprice. It is located in a busy part of the Grant City neighborhood, near a train station, some apartment buildings and shops. I figured that places like hair salons and barber shops are very community-based. People go there regularly and have very interesting relationships with their hair stylists. Plus, I needed a haircut, so I figured I could get that done and listen at the same time - kill two birds with one stone.
My time there went well. People who cut hair are generally very talkative people, so there was much to listen to. The women who work there may seem stereotypical, but once I started listening it was easy to see that their conversation ranges many topics one may not expect. They laugh, sympathize, reminisce, give advice and catch up with customers. People spoke about school, divorce, hockey, news, TV, friends, etc.
As a beginning assignment covering Staten Island, I didn't find the task too difficult. I am familiar with the people in the area, but I found that this assignment allowed me to begin looking at these people in a different way. I started asking myself: Why is this what they are talking about? Why do they feel the way they do? What do their relationships with each other say about the community? How do they form part of the community? I look forward to uncovering the Staten Island community and I think this post offered a great start for me to understand people I have seen everyday in a way i never knew.