Study Area 1: Beach, Day 1

Most years, the beach in World War II Memorial Park is occupied beyond belief.  Usually, I have to push, shove, "excuse me", and practically parkour through the crowd.  Much to my surprise and disbelief, the beach was practically empty at around 2:30pm on the first day of AutumnFest.  In place of the usual mobs of teenagers I found a group of 10 teenagers playing hacky-sack.  Rather than being obnoxious, loud, and immature, the group was polite, quiet, and peaceful.  Intriguing to me was the fact that there were now groups of families walking across the beach; people walking hand-in-hand, or with their children.  I hadn't seen that in a long time.  Usually children are off with their friends or parents are turning a blind eye.  I couldn't help but wonder, has the economic situation of Woonsocket brought its people more together?  I overheard a group of my friends discussing how to avoid a girl.  To them, the best solution was to pretend to be gay.  This made me question the ethics of my friends, but also realize the idea has the ability to work.  Interestingly, a question formed in my mind: do other people in Woonsocket behave similarly or have similar ethics, or is this a contained situation?  On another note, I was disturbed by the sight of a woman in a ill-fitting wedding dress.  She was clearly not getting married, especially at an event like this, and she wasn't one of the Beacon Charter School of the Arts "Living Statues" that are in the park every year.  She was parading across the beach, not appearing to be drunk, but still disturbing to the eye.  It bothered me to see a woman dress like that for no reason.  Needless to say, the beach on day 1 of AutumnFest was interesting and by far a different experience than anticipated.