sacks - doing being ordinary

8/20/2019 Sacks - Doing Being Ordinary

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Lectures on Conversation, Volume I, II Harvey Sacks© 1995 The Estate of Harvey Sacks. ISBN: 978-1-557-86705-6

Lecture 1Doing 'being ordina

Usu lly I s h cou s y oi g h I o i h cou s , i hou p og mm ic s m s, i hou y i ic io o hy i shoul oi s o ny o y. Bu his m y u i h cou s ill u

o much mo s v ly ch ic l h mos p opl coul possi ly i s i , som goo p c g ill op ou , usu lly h

h co s qu c h h y g o hi g ou o h cl ss i h y l s on I ci o sp h s im lli g p opl som hi g h I k ih lynot o in s o h m. Th , h n h y op ou , h y h v go h I gu oul o h h p ic o h cou s . A I gI shoul s y ithis is so i g, you coul h ly im gi ho u soi g h s ill b .

No , his is i m y ys o hi g lik h y I ll p oc h oughou s o h cou s . In h cou s I ill ki g s o i s o i co v

n su j c ing h m o yp o lysis hich is co c oughly oh h i s possi l o su j c h ils o c u l v s o i v s ig io , i o m iv ly. Th loos s m ss g is h h o l you lis much mo ly o g iz h you im gi . As ll s h loom ss g , h som lly sp ci c hi gs ou ho o i s o k

h y o k h y h y o. I ll o h om x im o . Bu i his lI o s u yi g h o g iz io o lli g s o i s i co v s io

o mp ing o p ov y hi g. I ll s yi g som hings ouh s u y o s o y lling shoul o i s o y o y. Bu p opl

h v o s y ou h h v c ugh h m ss g , o hm i h som m i ls h oul p mi h m o oo ici g hi gs h h y migh o h v o ic , h m gh s lI v s u yi g h o g niz io o s o i s, ho h y o k, o

im . A o so o issu is, h o p opl m k s o i s ou o ?p icul , giv h h ymight m k s o i s ou o , h o h y m ks o i s ou o ? I s o p icul i s o m hy y o y ls

i s i such issu , u h qu s io os n o ill co sh usi ss o his l c u : Wh so o l g sc l i s o s h

m k s o i s o o h h y o m k s o i s o , h v ? A goo l oI ll s y h s i s o scu in ll c u l sou c (I s y o scu c us i

o h ook i s o lik ly h h y h i s ys hu i h som co si io h y migh s ho i is h I o h

s ying o his sou c in ov l c llBetween L and Death y F chov lis , N h li S u . Th ook is solu ly o ssig ; I m

ci i g b .2 15


5/10

2 16 Part IV

A k nd o rem rk b e th ng s how, n ord n ry convers t on, n reposome event, peop e report wh t we m ght see to be not wh t h ppened, butthe ordinariness o wh t h ppened. For who e r nges o th ngs th t you

m ght gure to be k nd o exc t ng, someth ng ke th s w be o ereo ow ng sorts o th ngs re not m de up but re ctu ): Somebot k ng bout m n they met the n ght be ore m ght s y He's very n cHe's very very n ce." Or they s w mov e they m ght s y It w s regood." I they went w y or weekend, they s y someth ng ke Wwent to m Spr ngs. Bud p yed go w th the guys nd I s t round tpoo w th the g r s.'' The reports do not so much g ve ttr butes o thscene, ct v ty, p rt c p nts but nnounce the event's ord n r ness,usu ness. We m ght gure th t ots o these th ngscould be stor es, butthey're not m de nto stor es. And you th nk o ter ture or poetry yc n per ect y we know th t out o ny such event s s p ssed o s It

n ce even ng. We s t round nd t ked," re y e bor ted ch r cterre o ten presented. So I've been wonder ng bout the -product on o

stor es.Now I come to the centr sorts o ssert ons I w nt to m ke. Wh tever w

m y th n bout wh t t s to be n ord n ry person n the wor d, n nsh t s not to th nk o n ord n ry person' s some person, but s somebh v ng s the r ob, s the r const nt preoccup t on, do ng be ng ordIt' s not th t somebodyis ord n ry, t's perh ps th t th t' s wh t the r bus ness

s. And t t kes work, s ny other bus ness does. And you ust extendn ogy o wh t you obv ous y th nk o s work s wh tever t s th t n yt c, nte ectu , emot on energy then you c n come to see th

sorts o nom n zed th ngs person ch r cter st cs nd the ke wh ch re done, wh ch took some k nd o e ort, tr n ng, etc. So I'm ngo ng to be t k ng bout n ord n ry person' s th s or th t person, osome ver ge, .e., non-except on person on some st t st c b s ssometh ng th t s the w y somebody const tutes themse ves, nd, n e ect

ob th t they do on themse ves. They nd the peop e round them m y becoord n t ve y eng ged n ssur ng th t e ch o them re ord n ry per

nd th t c n then be ob th t they undert ke together, to ch eve th t e cho them, together, re ord n ry persons.

The core quest on s, how do peop e go bout do ng be ng n ord nperson' ? In the rst nst nce there' s n e sy nswer: Among the w ys you g

bout do ng be ng n ord n ry person' s spend ng your t me n usu h v ng usu thoughts, h v ng usu nterests, etc. so th t you h veto be n ord n ry person' n the even ng, s turn on theT set. It' s not th t

thappens th t you' re do ng wh t ots o ord n ry peop e re do ng, but thyou know th t the w y to do h v ng usu even ng' s to do th t. It's n

ust th t you're se ect ng, Gee I' w tchT

ton ght, " but you're m k ng ob o , nd nd ng n nswer to, how to do be ng ord n ry ton ght.' Speop e, s m tter o k cks, cou d s y et's do be ng ord n ry ton ght. go w tchT, e t popco , ' ' etc. someth ng they know s be ng done t thes me t me by m ons o others round.


6/10

Lecture 1 2 1 7

We can see, then, that t's a jo Yo have to kno hat any ody/every ody s do ng do ng ord nar ly And yo have to have that ava la le todo There are people ho don't have that ava la le to do, and ho spec cally

can't e ord nary f, for exa ple, yo 're n pr son, n a roo th no fac l t eat all say, t has a ench and a hole n the oor and a sp got then yo ndyo rself do ng th ngs l ke syste at cally explor ng the cracks n the all fro

oor to ce l ng over the years, and yo co e to have nfor at on a o t theall n that roo h ch ord nary people don't have a o t the r e rooall t's not a s al th ng to do, to say Well th s even ng ' go ng to

exa ne that corner of the ce l ng Of co rse t ay e that pr son alls areore nterest ng than other alls, s nce a ong the other th ngs pr soners are

occ p ed th s leav ng nfor at on on the all that they've een there, sothere's th ngs to read on the alls B t t's perfectly ava la le to any ody tospend an afternoon look ng at a all Yo co ld choose to do that f yo takedr gs yo 're per tted to do that B t nless yo take dr gs yo o ld not

nd yo rself allo ed to do t, tho gh no ody's aro nd That s to say, ne ng an ord nary person,' that's not a th ng yo co ld allo yo rself to

spend the day do ng And there s an n n te collect on of poss l t es, th ngs that yo co ldn't r ng yo rself to do; not o t of oredo , tho ghthat's one ay yo co ld for late t, t n the dst of the ost tterly

or ng afternoon yo no etheless o ld rather l ve thro gh the oredo nthe s al ay hatever that ay s than see hether t o ld e less or

ore or ng to exa ne the all or to look n so e deta l at the tree o ts dethe ndoThere's a place n Fre d here he says, th regard to atters of

che stry or phys cs or th ngs l ke that, lay en o ld not vent re an op n onW th regard to psychology t's q te d erent; any ody feels free to akepsycholog cal re arks ' ' And part of the s ness he tho ght he as engaged

n as chang ng that aro nd, e , to oth develop psychology and ed catelay en, co jo ntly So that the lay en o ld kno that they don't knoanyth ng a o t t and that there are people ho do, so that they o ldevent ally stop ak ng psycholog cal re arks as they stopped ak ngche cal and phys cal re arks

ra se th s eca se h le e all can see that that' s q te so, there's a relatedand n a ay ch ore nterest ng th ng that I do t e've not ced If one

ere to p ck p the note ooks of r ters, poets, novel sts, yo 're l kely to ndela orated st d es of s all real o jects L ke n the note ooks of the poetGerard Manley Hopk ns there are extended nat ral st c o servat ons of a verydeta led sort, of, e g , clo d for at ons or hat a leaf looks l ke, look ng pat t nder vary ng types of l ght And for so e novel sts hat yo have sextended character o servat ons No , y not on s that as t s for che stry

and phys cs, so t s for ak ng d st nct ve o servat ons a o t the orld andts persons That s to say, that's the jo of novel sts and poets and not anord nary person t's j st a th ng that, n e ng ord ary, yo don't do Foexa ple, cons der ng the s t at on of the Pal Spr ngs eekend descr ed as

sat aro nd the pool th the g rls," yo don' t get, fro so e ody do ng


7/10

2 18 Par IV

bei g ordi ry, repor of h he i d did o he er i he posome ch r c er observ io s o her h She s ice," She s o

ice, " She s ge i g older, of he people i h hom he e oo

spe .A d I hi i s o o ly h o e does m e he s ory b doesm e he observ io s, i s h he c s of mi d of doi g bei g ordiesse i lly his: Yo r b si ess i life is o ly o see d repor he s l of y possibly s l sce e. Th is o s y, h yo loo for is o see hosce e yo re i c be m de ordi ry sce e, s l sce e, d hi is.

No pl i ly h co ld be ob; i co ld be or . The sce e does irs i s ce simply prese i self, de e i self, s i s er bly s l, oo be s id bo i ; i s m er of ho yo re goi g o c i , re goi g o see i i , h yo re goi g o see i i h yo c s y

i . Pl i ly, people re mo i ori g sce es for his s ory ble possibili y. I l gr esome i s ce of i , from boo c lledAn Ordina Camp by Micheli e

M rel. She repor s he rs d y i co ce r io c mp. The rs hoerribly horrifyi g, d he here s l pse.

i le by li le co vers io spr g p from b o b . The r morere lre dy begi i g o circ l e. c ily he e s is good. We ll be

home soo . We ll h ve s l experie ce o l bo .

A y i hich his eve s de l i h hile i s i g pl ce hich, for experie ce hich migh le ve o e erly i ho hope, e c

see s o derf lly relev for bei g ble o s rvive i s h i hei ill o o h ve bee good s ory. A d e ve ll experie ced bei sce es he vir e of hich s h s e ere i hem e co ld see hi s e co ld l er ell people h d r spired. A d here re pres m blyof hi gs hich, le s some poi s i people s lives, re do e s fi.e., i seems f ir o s ppose h here s ime he ids do issi

elli g, h hey re doi g he issi g i order o h ve some hi g o o h hey h ppe o do issi g d h ppe o do elli g, or h ho do issi g d h ppe o do elli g, e c . , b h y o ge hemhe issi g is vi he f c h hey li e he elli g.I seems pl i e o gh h people mo i or he sce es hey re i for

s ory ble ch r c eris ics. A d ye he esome, over helmi g f c is hcome y i h o s ory ble ch r c eris ics, here pres m bly y of s

y i co ld m e of his h lf ho r, or of he ex , r her l rge rrhi gs o s y. B h o ld e i d of e or h co ld m e o

f lly comfor ble.

So, here s b si ess of bei g ordi ry perso , d h bi cl des e di g he orld, yo rself, o hers, ob ec s, so s o see hoh i s s l sce e. A d he o eri g h r spired, yo prese

i s s l o hi g m ch f shio , i h h ever v ri s of b l chiz io s yo migh h ppe o se, i.e. , here s o p r ic l r di ere ce be


8/10

Lecture 1 2 9

s ying It s nothing much" nd It s outt sight. " Th t is to s y, 'vll h rd th usu l ch r ct riz tions of our Prot st nt soci ty' or our Purit n

b ckground, ' hich involv th t ordin ry p opl Am ric ns Europ ns r

built in such y th t th y r constr in d from doing lots of xp ri nc sth t th y might do, r th y not r pr ss d. And think of th kinds ofr pr ssions th t p opl h v th t r sociologic lly b s d, i. ., th Purit n

thic involv s sp nding most of your tim orking, holding o pl sur , tc. ,hich think of s d nitiv ly h t it m ns to b usu l p rson i

W st rn civiliz tion. Though th t's m nif stly import nt, it miss s nss nti l p rt of th thing, hich is: W r you tohave ill gitim t xp ri nc s,

th ch r ct ristic of b ing n ordi ry p rson' is th t, h ving th ill gitim txp ri nc s th t you shouldn't h v , th y com o in us th usu l y th t

th y com o for nybody doing such n ill gitim t xp ri nc . Wh n youh v n ir, t k drugs, commit crim , tc., you d th t it's b n thusu l xp ri nc th t oth rs ho'v don it h v h d. R ports of th mosts mingly outr g ous xp ri nc s, for hich you'd gur you'd b t lossfor ords, or ould h v v il bl xtr ordin ry d t ils of h t h pp n d,tu out to pr s nt th m in f shion th t h s th m com o s utt rlyun xc ption l. So could p rf ctly ll r mov th Purit n constr ints sp opl r port th y' r b i g r mov d nd our utt r usu ln ss, th ordin ryc st of mind, ould non th l ss b th r to pr s rv th y go boutdoing b ing ordin ry. '

My gu ss is th t could no t k th t point ith us, nd, tchingours lv s liv in th orld or tchi g som body ls if th t's mor pl s nt could s th m orking t nding ho to m k thi gs ordin ry. And

pr sum bly it ould b from such sort of p rc iv d r n ss of, .g., ths ith hic ft r pr ctic you s only th most usu l ch r ct ristics

of th p opl p ssing (th t's m rri d coupl nd th t's bl ck guy ndth t's n old l dy or h t suns t looks lik or h t n ft rnoon ith yourgirlfri nd or boyfri nd consists of, th t you c n b gi to ppr ci t th t th r ' ssom imm ns ly po rful kind of m ch nism op r ting i h ndling yourp rc ptions nd thoughts, oth r th n th kno n nd imm ns ly po rfulthings lik th ch mistry of visio , tc. Thos sorts of thing ould not xpl inho it is th t, .g., you c n com hom d y ft r d y nd, sk d h th pp n d, r port ithout conc ling, th t nothing h pp n d. And r youco c ling som thing, if it r r port d it ould tur out to nothingmuch. And, s it h pp ns ith you, so it h pp ns ith thos you kno . Andfurth r, th t v ntur s outsid of b ing ordi ry h v unk o n virtu s ndunkno n costs, i. . , if you com hom nd r port h t th gr ss look d lik

long th fr y, th t th r r four notic bl sh d s of gr n som ofhich ust pp r d y st rd y b c us of th r in, th n th r m y ll b

som tight ing up on th p rt of your r cipi nt. And if you r to do itroutin ly, th n p opl might gur th t th r 's som thing odd bout you;th t you'r pr t ntious. You might nd th m lous of you; you might losfri nds. Th t is to s y, you nt to sk h t r th costs, nd if p opl h vch ck d out th costs of v uring v n slightly into m ki g th ir lif n pic.


9/10

220 Part IV

No it 's lso th c s th t th r r p opl ho r titl d to h v thliv s pic. W h v ssig d s ri s of story l p opl , pl co j cts, d th y st d s som thi g di r t from s. It m y th t

pr tty m ch v ry circl th r 's som ody ho's th so rc dj or ths j ct of ll t o s rv tio s, s th r r for th soci ty i gcoll ctio of p opl o t hom d t il d r ports r m d ; r ports th

o ld v r, ot m r ly v t r d o t oth rs, th y'd v r thoughtofo t oth rs. h y i hich Eliz th ylor t d ro d is som thi

otic l , r port l . h y i hich yo r moth r t r d ro d som thi g s l , m ch l ss o r port l .

h q stio is, hy i th orld sho ld it th t it's lmost v ry odysi ss to occ p tio lly ordi ry? Why do th y t k o th jo it's

th t oth rs do it for th m of k pi g v rythi g tt rly m d ? I 'm ogoi g to s r th t q stio , t I g ss it h s som di g ostic i t r st, th r r pr s m ly r lly l rg coll ctio of h t s m to s rch g s i th orld ch g s i gov r m ts, co omi s, r ligio s

o ld ot ch g th si ss of i g ordi ry. Across s ch ch g s iforc d o pr tty m ch v ry ody th t th y st y, di g o ly ho it is th

h t's goi g o is s l, ith ll th ir ort possi l .A d it's r lly r m rk l to s p opl 's orts to chi v th ot

h pp d' s s of r lly c t strophic v ts. I'v coll cti g fr go t of sp p rs, o t hij cki gs d h t th irpl p ss g rs th

h hij cki g t k s pl c . h l t st o I h pp d to d gosom thi g lik this: I s lki g p to rds th fro t of th irpl y th c i I s th st rd ss st di g, f ci g th c i , d f l

st di g ith g i h r ck. A d my rst tho ght s h ' s sho i g hth g , d th I r liz d th t co ld 't , d th it t r d o t h hij cki g th pl ." A d oth r; Polish pl is i th midst of ihij ck , d th g y r ports, I tho ght to mys lf j st h d Polishij cki g mo th go d th y'r lr dy m ki g movi of it." A dcl ssic lly dr m tic i st c is th t lmost iv rs lly th i iti l r port oK dy ss ssi tio (th rst o , s of cr ck rs.

J st im gi r riti g th Old s m t i its mo m t l v ts, ordi ry p opl h vi g go thro gh it. Wh t o ld th y h v h rd s , .g. , h voic s c ll d o t to th m, h it st r d to r i , tc. h

t l st o pl c i th Old st m t h r th t h pp s. Lot s of th g of Sodom d Gomorr h, d giv p rmissio to ri g hisd ght rs d so s i l o t. A d Lot t o t, d sp k to hii l , hich m rri d his d ght rs, d s id, Up, g t yo o t of this pl cfor th Lord ill d stroy this city. B t h s m d s o th t mock d to hso s i l . " A d th y st y d hi d.

r I'm o ly givi g sp ci c lly dr m tic sorts of thi gs, s comp r d ts i g th i t r sti g possi iliti s i v t th t c lso s ordi ry hich is r lly m ch mor f d m t l ki of thi g. A d h

st rt co sid ri g stori s, t l st o t ck c t k is to tr t ov r h lmi g lity of th stori s co t r i my d t , i o r o


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Lecture 221

exper ences as not so uch so eth ng that, e.g. , allows or stat st calanalys s o var at on, or that akes the there ore un nterest ng to study, butas a spec c eature wh ch turns on a k nd o att tude; say, an att tude o

work ng at be ng usual, wh ch s perhaps central to the way our world sorgan zed.Now there are enor ous v rtues to see ng the usual n a scene. It pe ts

all k nds o rout ne ways o deal ng w th t. Also, you're deal ng w th autter stranger, e.g., so ebody n an approach ng car when you're about tocross a street, t see s to be aw ully use ul to know that what he sees, look ngat you, s the usual th ng anyone would see, w th ts usual relevanc es, and notGod only knows what You do not, then, have to ake an each-and everyt e dec s on whether or not you' ll be allowed the r ght o way. So, then, I 'not say ng let' s do away w th the ways n wh ch we go about be ng ordinary.Rather, be ng ord nary s the sort o th ng I ' suggest ng t s, then we wantto know what portances t has.

sacks - doing being ordinary

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