Table Of Content

DOORMEN PETER BEAB iAN DOORMEN FIELDWORK ENCOUNTERS AND DISCOVERIES AserieseditedbyRobertEmersonandJackKatz DOORMEN Peter Bearman The UniversityofChicagoPress/ChicagoandLondon PeterBearmanischairoftheDepartmentof SociologyatColumbiaUniversityanddirector oftheInstituteforSocialandEconomicResearch andPolicy. TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Chicago60637 TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Ltd.,London ©2005byTheUniversityofChicago Allrightsreserved.Published3005 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica 14 13 12, 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 1 2 3 4 5 isbn:0-226-03969-2(cloth) isbn:0-226-03970-6(paper) LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Bearman,PeterS.,1956- Doormen/PeterBearman. — p.cm. (Fieldworkencountersanddiscoveries) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. — isbn0-226-03969-2(cloth:alk.paper) isbn0-226-03970-6(pbk.:alk.paper) 1.Apartmentdoorkeepers. I.Title. II.Series. HD8039.B895B42 2005 305.9*6472—dc22 2004028621 ©Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetsthe minimumrequirementsoftheAmericanNational — StandardforInformationSciences Permanence ofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials, ansi Z39.48-1992. ForNora CONTENTS Preface ix 1 InterpersonalClosenessandSocialDistance 1 2 AFootintheDoor 38 3 ServingTime 64 4 CrossingtheLine 102, 5 StatusDisplays 139 6 TheBonus 171 7 TheUnion 206 8 Conclusion 247 Appendix: StudyDesign(andSomeNotesonTeaching Field-BasedClasses) 263 LiteratureCited 277 Index 283 PREFACE Many books are reported bytheir authors to have a longhistory. This book is anexceptiontothe general rule. But, aswithallthings, one canlookback to abeginningofsorts andtellastory. Here is astoryofthisbook. In 1987 I cameup to Columbia Universityfrom Chapel Hill, NorthCarolina, to give a talk. Intheevening, Iwastomeetthechairofthesociologydepartment, Ron Burt, at his apartment. Fromtherewewere goingout for dinner. I was late gettingtohisapartment. I hadalreadyarrivedatthe conclusionthatcoming to Columbia at that time was a mistake, and I compounded the problem by makingaseriesofbaddecisionsallevening. Fearofthesubwayledmetotry to take ataxi. But I wasn'tvery successful. Now I find it somewhat amusing to watchtourists in NewYork Cityhail a taxi. Theyhave a certain hesitancy that seems to invite taxi drivers to pass right by them. Back then it wasn't funny, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't seem to get a taxi to stop. Inability to hail ataxiled meto decide I might aswelljustwalk.And I hadalongway to go. Burt's apartmentwas on Riverside Drive. Itwas a cold andwet night, andthewind offthe river made walkingup the sidewalk especially painful. Alight rain, almost sleet, cast aneerie silence onthe street. As I walked up Riverside, I sawfewsignsoflife. Theneighborhoodwasdeserted. I finally arrived at the building, entered through the first set of doors, found Ron's name, and pushed the buzzer. As I was talking to him on the house phone, a shadowy figure appeared at the outer door and started to come in. I don't remember much about what he looked like. I remember thinkingthenthatI shouldtryto getagoodlookso I couldpickhimoutofa police lineup, but I didn'twant to let him see that I was lookingat him. He waswearinga dark raincoat. I brieflysawa large hat coveringhis face. As I reached for the door, waitingto be buzzed in, I positioned myselfto block his entry. The door buzzed, I slid to the right, opened it, and tried to slide through. Behindme I couldhearhimsayingsomething.As Igotthroughthe door, hishand reached outandgrabbed it. I knewthat I neededto stop him from enteringthe building, and so slashing at his arm, I broke his grip on the door, slammed it shut, and raced for the elevator. Luckily, the elevator was waiting on the first floor. Looking back through the door, I could see that he had his hand back through and that, somehow, he had managed to push the inner door open. The elevator door closed and I went up to the ix " x Preface tenth floor. I pushed the buttons forfloors 11 to 14. I figured that thisway, the elevatorwould continue to go up before itwent backdownto the lobby, givingme more time to find and get into the apartment. As it turned out, it was no problem findingthe apartment. There were just two to a floor, and myhost'snamewasonthedoor. HeopenedrightawayandIspedin, relieved tobesafebutalsostillextremelyworried. Duringthe first fewminuteswe were inthe apartment, I told Ronabout theguywhohadbrokeninandhowIhadfearedthathewouldfollowmeup. I wasespeciallyworriedbecauseIwasafraidhemighthavethoughtIhadseen his face andtherefore had motivationto figure outwhatfloor I hadgoneto. I knewthat Ronhadlittle children, and Iwasworriedthat I mighthave also put them at risk. I felt bad that I hadn't made sure that the doorwas really closed behind me. Ron seemed concerned, too, and asked me to describe the intruder. I didthebest I could—buttherewas notmuchto say. The coat andthehatobscuredmostofhispersonalfeatures,andIreallyhadn'tgotten a good look at his face. But, somehow, I had said enough for Ron. He went to the phone and made a call. When he returned, he saidthat we neededto getmovingsincewewerelate. Onthewaydownthe elevator, IthoughtI saw himfumblingforhiswallet. IthoughtI shouldfollowhisleadandsoshifted mywalletfrommybacktomyfrontpocket forextrasafety.Thedooropened , to the lobby. Directlyinfront ofuswas the intruder; he hadn't followed me up, buthe hadwaitedformeto come down.As I steppedback, Ronstepped forwardand (Ibelieve) handedhimsomemoney. "I'msorry,"hesaid. "Hedidn'tknowwhoyouwere.Youscaredhim. "That's okay," he said. "I tried to keep him out ofthe building, but hejustpushedmeaway. Itwasmyfault." ThatwasthefirstdoormanI evermet. ItwouldbeelevenyearsbeforeIreturnedtoColumbia.WhenIcameback to NewYork, I was a little more sophisticated, but not much. The city had changed. Nolongerdiditseem(tome) reasonabletothinkthateverycorner was a potential minefield replete with crack-crazed killers. The crime rate waslower; the citywasinarenaissance.Andthistime, instead ofcriminals everywhere, I sawdoormen everywhere. Onthe streetwhere ourtemporary apartment was located, there were always at least four doormen out at any one time. In our building we had doorman service from 4:00 p.m. until midnight. Withinthe first few days, the doormenlearned our names. They recognized my kids and started to keep an eye on them. And they were