Anthropology

In class we're learning about how anthropologists do their work and their field methods. It's making me realize that basically I've been an anthropologist since birth. We read articles explaining how to 'read' the people you're studying and respond to social clues and such. I've always done that to figure out what to say to a person and how to respond. I guess I lack the natural comfort that most people feel in their own culture. I use the same methods and considerations that anthropologists use to broach controversial topics in their culture of study to talk about every day things with people I know. At first when reading, I was like duh, of course you'd start out with general questions and not interrogate them and try to establish comradery. But then I realized that maybe this never occurs to some people. These are the skills I use when meeting new people of my own or another culture, and even when interacting with my friends that I've known for a while. I guess I've always been an ethnographer. It makes me wonder if I've ever felt like I've belonged in a traditional, circumscribed culture. I'm sure I have at many points, but perhaps it is not with such regularity as others.