Social norms are defined within each culture as socially accepted ideas of behavior. Norms are often so subtle that people do not realize that these unspoken rules exist until they are broken. With this in mind, I decided to test the boundaries of these norms by taking my dog out in public. I chose to take my Yorkie-poo, Yoda, to both Target and Lowes of Rocky Mount. Before breaking this norm, I hypothesized that that neither place would warmly welcome us. Rather, I imagined that people would stare, and I was even prepared for someone to ask us to leave.
Upon arriving to Target, a store with no dog policy posted, I put my Yorkie-poo in the shopping cart and pushed him around. I passed four employees in my time there. Three of them seemed mildly curios, while only one looked like she wanted to say something, however she never approached me about having my dog in the store. Those that were shopping never looked directly at us, but instead people cut their eyes in our direction. Children in the store were very interested and made several exclamations about
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Some people may not like dogs, while others may even be allergic. In addition, dogs can be unpredictable, and that creates fear. This makes such a norm a useful tool for ensuring control over a situation. For this reason, I believe that many people are mindful and do not violate this norm out of courtesy. However, I am not the first to do so. In fact, where I work, the businesses that are next to me have office dogs that can always be found at work with their owners. This is a direct violation of such a social norm, since to some this would be considered unprofessional. This is proof that some people go against societies norms, most people do not think about taking their dog everywhere they go because it is frowned upon by society, yet every society has its own set of cultural