Closing up closings: Showing the relevance of the social and material surround to the completion of interaction

Abstract

The authors analyze naturally occurring communications within a beauty salon. Videotaped data show how two clients suddenly recognize each other and conduct a reunion in the midst of onlookers. Through various vocal and visible forms of communication, the two women negotiate with one another (and others present) the onset, performance, and conclusion of their ritualistic involvement. By examining in detail a single encounter, much longer in duration than the segments of interaction employed in related studies, the authors show that the function of behaviors in a departure sequence may best be understood by analyzing their relationship to the social and physical situation in which they are embedded.