In most cultures, people’s private and public behaviours are different. More casual behaviour is tolerated at home than in public.
Yet in large cities people can revert to the casual and uninhibited when part of a large crowd. People enjoy the anonymity of the CBD of cities and unless agoraphobic, enjoy ‘losing’ themselves in the crowd, window shopping, trying on silly shoes or hats, watching passers-by, even staring at people’s bodies, without fear of being noticed by peers.
Normal Codes of Conduct
Domain #1 Private –– casual/uninhibited ie home
Domain #2 Public with peers – more formal/inhibited– at a social gathering, school or business function
Domain #3 Public, without peers – casual/uninhibited – busy city
This is not the case for Brissos. They avoid most crowded places, especially the CBD, and if forced to go there for work or dental appointments, will hurry through the busy streets avoiding eye contact, getting from A to B as quickly as possible (Buskers are aware of this and play near hotels where visitors to the city might pass by).
photo by Lawrence Impey, Brisbane CBD Jan 1974
If you do have dealings with Brissos in such settings, they will be guarded and formal. Their polite exchanges will seem stilted, old fashioned and almost English in their lack of sincerity. This would not be worth noting if not for the striking contrast with their uninhibited behaviour when in public with peers.
Brissos Code of Conduct
Domain #1 Private –– casual? (unknown)
Domain #2 Public with peers –extremely casual, uninhibited often to the point of un-socialised.
Domain #3 Public, without peers – formal, extremely inhibited
If you ask a Brisso about their #3 public manner – “You don’t seem yourself? is there something wrong?” – he/she will assure that you all is well. If you have his confidence, he might reveal he is just aware that he is being watched. People he knows are everywhere, judging him, finding fault, just waiting to report to others about it. It will eventually get back to his mother (or mother’s friends) with terrible consequences.
Now here’s the thing. In other places, if someone tells you this you wisely see it as a sign of mental illness, paranoia, regression. You immediately think about getting him or her help. But for Brissos things are different. Brissos are not paranoid. What they say is true. They really do know just about everyone in the city, and a walk down the street with the head up would lead to an impossible number of time-consuming conversations and awkward greetings. Social ties and obligations are at an intolerably high level in such dense settings. People they know are indeed everywhere, watching them, waiting to notice some behaviour they can report, with spin, to friends and family. If the Brisso lets down his/her guard for a minute, consequences can be disastrous.
“I saw Martin in DJs trying on the kind of shoes only gay men wear. He was talking to a woman who was dressed like a prostitute, and I think he had something… a gift? in a Wallace Bishop bag”
And this information, with disputed variations, will eventually get back to his mother or mother’s friends and/or wife, with difficult consequences.
This effect is magnified for the Greek or Italian Brisso.
Many astute business people choose to do business with Brissos in restaurants in such public places, because Brissos are more docile and agreeable in such settings.
In spite of their highly regulated public demeanour, Brissos revert to primitive form when driving through those same city streets in their cars. In this sense they are like urbanites from other cities, maintaining an illusion of privacy, and will unashamedly pick their nose or check their makeup as if noone can see them.
