But more than the specific incident, she couldn't understand the phenomenon. That people could sit and stare at a group of people they didn't know, didn't particularly care about either way, doing nothing at all, seemed a peculiar way to spend time. Particularly when there were so many other ways of doing the same thing without appearing quite so idiotic.
Airports, for example, provided excellent opportunities for such observation. Armed with The Guardian and Costa's hot chocolate, one could sit and watch for hours - as many did, waiting for connecting flights, or conference buses. And airports, just like Big Brother, offered many opportunities to observe racism.
"Ah," countered Bronstein, "but your airport observations are not the same as my airport observations! The random incidents of daily life you observe will feature different people, different spaces and times from the random incidents I observe! And while there may be common themes, framed by a guiding hypothesis, analytic work is required to position those sensibly into an argument of commenality. Big Brother doesn't require any such hard work. Switch on to Channel 4 and chances are you're watching the same people doing more of the same thing that your colleague was watching a few hours ago. You need only mention a name, and your colleagues will summon all of their remembered observations, and your common framework is established!"
"Instant ethnography," snorted the Cow derisively. "Just add watcher."
Bronstein chuckled. "Perhaps," he shrugged, "but I'd love to know whoever thought of naming such things 'reality tv'. If that's reality, they're clearly on the wrong drugs..."