Sociology 4038:
Invisible Ottawa Assignment
by Shannon Gamble
inspired by Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities
“It is not so much by the things that each day are manufactured, sold, bought that you can measure Leonia’s opulence, but rather by the things that each day are thrown out to make room for the new. So you begin to wonder if Leonia’s true passion is really, as they say, the enjoyment of new and different things, and not, instead, the joy of expelling, discarding, cleansing itself of a recurrent impurity… Nobody wonders where, each day, they carry their load of refuse. Outside the city, surely; but each year the city expands, and the street cleaners have to fall farther back. The bulk of the outflow increases and the piles rise higher, become stratified, extend over a wider perimeter… This is the result: the more Leonia expels goods, the more it accumulates them; the scales of its past are soldered into a cuirass that cannot be removed…"
- Continuous Cities 1
The storefront window displays a sign: “OPEN” in neon pink light. Another sign in the lower right hand corner of the window reads “Come On In, We’re Open”. It is an odd looking building for downtown Ottawa, a small older two-storey house. It sits around the corner from a very busy street with constant pedestrian traffic and cars. The music playing inside the store can be heard through speakers on the street, hoping to lure people in as they saunter by. Once you open the main metal and glass door to the store, you find yourself in the pine-walled mud-room. The walls are covered with posters for local theatre, music, charity, and art events. One large sign stands out: “CD CASES ARE EMPTY”. A warning that those who may have visited for the purposes of shoplifting are wasting their time.
The inner door leads you from the mud-room to the large, open store-space. Bright lighting, music playing, and the comforting smell of aged objects, like old dusty books. Your eyes are almost overwhelmed at the sheer volume of visual stimuli. The walls are lined with posters of musicians and bands: The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd. The shelving along the walls hold thousands of CDs, DVDs and videos. Two large CD display cases are placed in the center of the room, dividing traffic into two aisles on either side of them. For a first-time visitor, these display cases act as the first spot of exploration within the store. Regular customers, determined in their mission, turn quickly to their left and walk up a single step onto a small landing in front of the large floor-to-ceiling window. This is the “New Arrivals” section. The newest of the used goods. The quick grabs. The most recently purchased movies and CDs will sit on this shelf and if not sold quickly, they will be alphabetized and moved to the main floor. From the street, the people on the “New Arrivals” landing look like headless bodies. Their heads dislocated behind the shelving units that rest at shoulder’s height across the window.
A wooden staircase leading to the second floor has signs “Records” and “Upstairs” on the wall, the first flight up. Another sign reads “No Bags Allowed” and another “Please leave bags and merchandise at the counter”. Upstairs there are shelves and shelves full of used vinyl records. Your mobility is more limited here because the space is smaller and the shelves are more numerous. Only the able-bodied can climb the three flights of stairs upward. The second floor, also, provides you with an experience that you don’t have in the rest of the store: video surveillance. Two video cameras watch you as you move amongst the records. Downstairs, behind the counter, the television screen blinks from one camera to the other. Only a few spaces on the upper floor cannot be seen on screen. Signs indicate the surveillance, so that people are not shocked or surprised by it. The signs and the cameras deter robbers, as does not having a bag with them to sneak the records into. This is the one section of the store where all of the album cases are full, and where shoplifting could be a problem.
It seems that many of the signs in the store repeat themselves. Including the “9.95 each or as marked” signs that can be seen in almost every section of the store. The products are inexpensive, less than half the price they would be at a Blockbuster or HMV. New. The CDs, DVDs, videos and records in this store are used. They come from people who grew bored with their music, who wanted to try something new, who needed money, or even from estates. The Turning Point is a place where people can easily make money from the ‘garbage’ they are getting rid of. The store is, in a sense, a garage sale. The storeowners buy other people’s ‘waste’ for cash or exchange, and then sell it to someone else. In this sense, the store is re-valuing garbage. Even a used record seems ‘new’ to the person who adopts it. Most customers even turn down bags because they are wasteful or they have brought their own. Backpacks, usually. This is a store unlike many others; the waste here is of great value. It can be worth hundreds, even thousands of dollars.
With the vast amount of garbage that accumulates daily in a city like Ottawa, it is refreshing to enter an environment like The Turning Point where garbage is re-valued and re-used. I consider all of the useful things that people throw out these days such as toys, clothing, books, paper, or furniture. A lot of this waste could be recycled if the owner hadn’t been too lazy to sort it out from the rest of his/her trash. Other people might value those discarded items. There have been a number of occasions when I have picked chairs, mirrors, office supplies and decorations out of a stranger’s garbage can. Working with groups of children I have transformed juice containers, toilet paper rolls, cardboard boxes and film canisters into animals, spaceships, costumes and castles. One person’s waste is another person’s treasure.
The only waste that The Turning Point does accumulate and discard in garbage cans are products that the store has too many of, or items they are unable to market. Damaged CD cases and dirty album sleeves are thrown in the trash bin. Every garbage night, the trash that is put out onto the street for waste disposal is picked clean by others on the street. By the time the garbage truck gets there in the morning, the Turning Point trashcans are already empty. Even the minimum amount of trash is again reused. Recycled by someone else, for some other purpose.
Most of the treasure hunters at The Turning Point move through the store at a very leisurely pace. ‘Wanderers’, as I like to call them. At first glance, it appears as if everyone in the space is a mannequin. They stand in one spot, unmoving. If you look closely you will notice that only their eyelids flicker, repeatedly scanning titles. Many of their heads are craned sideways. Their ears resting on their shoulders. Still. Reading the titles on vertical cases. They will stand this way for minutes, until they find or don’t find the prey they are looking for to appease their hunt.
Traffic in the store differs from day-to-day, hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute. On the days when it was warmer, there seemed to be more people. Even then, the store could go from empty to crowded in a matter of minutes. The pace always remains the same: slow. Wanderers take their time, as does everyone. The constant music playing overhead keeps people relaxed. Many customers lip-sync, hum, or have their own iPods or Discmans playing in their ears. This is where music lovers come to relax. Their leisurely pace reflects their sheer love of music. Since around 95% of the customers are regulars, they know to leave themselves time to scope out the shelves.
Most of the customers don’t really talk to one another unless they came together. A polite “Excuse me” is one of the few things you may hear coming from the floor of the store. In their excitement to find a certain special CD or record a customer might lose their quiet focused state to point out their find to a nearby customer, then quickly revert back to the search. Male customers get closer to one another than they would on the street, negotiating the space that they have and appreciating that they need to give up some of their boundaries to find what they want. Some men come very close together as they peer at shelves, their heads almost touching. The intimacy that this space offers is surprising, going unnoticed by those who I am observing. Due to a lack of conversation, the space becomes quiet, reflective.
You can see all types of people in The Turning Point. Every race, religion, socio-economic class, gender, and age can be found in this store. It is an inclusive environment. Even people talking to themselves or who appear to be homeless and/or marginalized can take refuge here, searching the shelves for something interesting, cheap. Most of the customers are men anywhere from their early twenties to mid fifties. They are usually alone. Regulars. When women do come into the store, they are usually with their male partners or friends. Otherwise, they are regulars. Music lovers to the extreme. I watch as one couple wearing matching black leather jackets and spiked hairstyles hold onto each other’s waists and stare, frozen, at the shelves. She looks to be around twenty-five and she ends up buying Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” on vinyl. He buys nothing.
This store offers its customers much more than music. It offers a sense of community, a place to go if you have any questions about music, film or the entertainment industry in general. A meeting place for friends and couples. The Frequent Buyer card, “12 Stamps and Something Free”, creates a sense of citizenship. You are a citizen of The Turning Point “club” if you are a frequent enough visitor. The circle of musically obsessed consumers. The store offers friendship. The owners maintain pleasant banter and musical advice with all customers. Many of the regulars are known by name, sharing their musical achievements and other interesting details of their personal lives. Gossip. This place acts as a cure for loneliness. Not all of these men, but many, are single. Unmarried. Wed to their music and their work. Some homeless, mentally challenged and ‘unusual” people come here to talk, for a psychologist or a confidant. For company. Joe, in his cowboy hat, wanders into the store carrying two alcohol-filled LCBO bags. He comes straight up to the cash counter. He talks to the storeowners of his personal encounters with Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Aretha Franklin. Bob Dylan’s manager lives down the street from him… in Ottawa. Sure. He remains near the cash register, lingering next to the “2-dollar tapes” bin. He talks to whoever will listen. Disruptive? Yes. Annoying? Yes. Dangerous? No. This store offers him comfort. Someone to talk to, and great music to hum along to in his wanderings.
Inside The Turning Point people feel safe to experiment with and consider their creative identities, developed through the music of others. Because of the buy, sell, trade nature of this store, The Turning Point has become a space that allows for fluid identities. One can take on any identity one wants to while in this store, changing and molding it differently from visit to visit. People are happy to unload their old music and acquire something that someone else has explored. People come in and try something new, deciding if they want to adopt a certain musical sound as part of their life. They may go through phases. They have the opportunity to sell back that identity and begin again. This is a place of constant re-evaluation and re-creation. People identify with music of a certain time period. Music can be nostalgic. It brings back memories. It reminds us of certain events, parties, years of our lives, people, struggles and joys. Many individuals want to hang onto or relive their old memories through music. Some want to build new experiences, experimenting, and taking risks in their choices.
Some people’s identities revolve around collecting one particular artist. They become a specialist on one certain type of music, one certain band. They develop an intense knowledge base and become an expert. This can build confidence; become a tool for discussion and sharing with other experts. Music is an intellectual and auditory hobby. Many customers talk about music, think about music, and participate in musical pastimes. They have been, or want to be in a band. This method of acquisition allows exchange in their lives. Adoption of something they yearn for. For some, music is a part of their identity and/or their livelihood. They may be practicing and professional musicians. For many, music is an essential element in their lives.
The Turning Point is the type of space that makes a notable difference in an urban center. The outside of the store is attractively decorated, brightening up quite a dark and unpleasant portion of the downtown core. A beautifully painted mural featuring various famous musicians hangs from the second floor window of the store, gracing the street with some visual art. The two large planters in front of the store are inhabited, every spring, with brightly coloured flowers, providing a small but important reminder of nature and the outdoors. Even in an area where garbage is picked through, these planters and flowers have never been disrupted. They provide a sense of beauty that the entire neighborhood seems to respect. The Turning Point is site that serves the multiple needs of those living nearby. The frequent and constant visits from regular customers allow the store’s owners to know that they are filling a certain void in many people’s lives, and they are making a positive difference in the lives of many.
Copyright 2006 Shannon Gamble